Articles

Did You Know: Brenau Offers an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate

Jessica Pearson, affiliate assistant professor of nursing

In May 2017, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges approved an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate at Brenau University. The program, started in fall 2017, is run by lead faculty Jessica Pearson, who discussed the new program with Brenau Window. What is adult-gerontology acute care? The study covers different populations in different settings, and nurses with this certification are […]

Health Tips from the Ivester College of Health Sciences

JULIE BATTLE, chair, Department of Psychology Make good choices about where to exert your energy, and don’t get upset about things that really don’t matter in the long run. Take time to play and to give back. Both open up new possibilities, provide connections to others and add joy to your life. Read more about [...]

International expert heads OT school

Director of the School of Occupational Therapy Nicolaas van den Heever poses for a photo. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

Dr. Nicolaas van den Heever, an international expert in occupational therapy administration and education, recently joined Brenau as the new director of the university’s School of Occupational Therapy. Van den Heever was recruited after a yearlong national search to replace the 22-year-old school’s founding director, Barbara Boyt Schell, who retired in 2016. Van den Heever served for the past five years as founding dean […]

Brenau ‘multiversity’ extends vibrant mission

Brenau Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs James Eck speaks during the White Coat Ceremony for members of the Brenau Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of 2020. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)
Laurence Veysey’s book The Emergence of the American University reminds us that contemporary and innovative postsecondary institutions serve more than one purpose. Veysey’s reference to the “multiversity” signals a more complex learning paradigm that meets the needs of students across the lifespan. At many colleges and universities, inertia and stagnation cause significant challenges, but Brenau [...]

From horses to pools, Walker Therapy uses a variety of techniques to help children

Nicole Walker, BU ’01, occupational therapist and owner of Walker Therapy in Gainesville, Georgia, leads a horse while fellow therapist Nolina Varley, BU ’01, helps make sure a client maintains his balance during an equine therapy session. (Photos by AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

About 15 years ago, Brenau alumna Nicole Walker went into business with a couple of her old classmates to provide an unusual form of therapy for children in North Georgia. Today, Walker Therapy is a multicounty operation providing equine-based therapy, aquatic therapy and classic, clinical, physical and occupational therapy to children in need. Emily Moss, BU’ 16, supports her 10-year-old client with the help […]

Student Counselors Address a Need

Ivie Hall, a graduate student in clinical counseling psychology and Brenau University alumna from Gainesville.

Each of the past five years, the Brenau University Department of Psychology has received a grant from the United Way of Hall County to place student counselors in agencies that don’t have a mental health counselor on staff, yet have a need for it in their clientele. But the partnership has proven to benefit more […]

Doug and Kay Ivester: Changing Lives, Strengthening Community

Brenau health sciences students Bethany Green, Chandy Henson, Savannah Blalock, Dean of the Ivester College of Health Sciences Gale Starich, Ivie Hall and Martis Ferguson unveil renderings of the future letterings of Brenau's Downtown Center and Brenau East in Gainesville during an event announcing the naming of the Brenau University Ivester College of Health Sciences. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)
Ivester College of Health Sciences dedicated The Melvin Douglas and Victoria Kay Ivester Foundation continues to leave indelible marks across the greater Gainesville community through its most recent gift of $3.5 million in support of health sciences at Brenau. This gift, in addition to a legacy of personal generosity prior to the establishment of the [...]

Slice of Life: Brenau Makes its Mark in Stem Cell Research

Mason Garland works to place a cover slip on a slide during a research project for Dr. Jessi Shrout, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Heather Ross, associate professor of physical therapy, studying rat brains that have been carefully frozen and preserved for the purpose of studying the effects of stem cells in repairing brain tissue and subsequent function. (AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

Heather Ross is Brenau’s resident expert on neuroregeneration and neural injury. For years, she has been working on stem cell and rehabilitation research that is instrumental to her students and the field of research. Now partnered with certified cytotechnologist Jessi Shrout on a study of stem cells in rat brains, Ross is continuing a five-year […]

The Brave, The Bold, The Brilliant

Header text "The Brave, The Bold, The Brilliant"
Brenau University is proud to help its students begin new chapters armed with the skills to succeed in their chosen careers. For active-duty and veteran students, beginning a second career is perhaps more challenging, but Brenau aims to help ease the transition. Brenau University is ranked one of the Best Colleges for Veterans in the [...]

Christopher Russell: Motivated to Succeed

Navy veteran Christopher Russell, BU ’98, with office manager Crystal Rogers at the Jacksonville, Fla., offices of Hunter & Associates, where Russell works as a certified public accountant.

After 10 years of service in the Navy, Christopher Russell, BU ’98, knew he wanted something more. He grew up in rural New Hampshire, and following in the footsteps of his father – a petty officer who had been in the Navy eight years – he enlisted at age 18. Although Russell scored well on […]