Campus Briefs

Globalization at VCU

VCU’s international-student enrollment has increased by 67.5 percent since 2003, according to an article on Tuesday by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. About 943 students from 96 countries attend VCU, and university officials plan to increase international-student enrollment by 1,000 more students.

University President Eugene P. Trani has traveled to China, Russia, London, Spain and Italy in the past three years to spread the word about VCU.

The university currently has collaborations with universities in about half a dozen countries, and officials plan to partner with 15 universities abroad.

Some school administrators say the diverse student body offers an advantage for VCU’s 29,000 students, who mostly hail from Virginia. Van Wood, professor of international business, said it gives students a glimpse of their competition as globalization expands.

Trani told the Richmond Times-Dispatch international students who stay in the United States upon receiving their degrees would aid the country’s next wave of innovation.

VCU has a design college Qatar, a desert kingdom, which recently signed a 10-year, $180-million agreement with the university.

Alumnus to chair radiation oncology department

A 1981 alumnus has been appointed chair of VCU’s Department of Radiation Oncology.

Dr. Mitchell S. Anscher, a graduate of the VCU School of Medicine, will assume his role as chair of the department on June 1, according to University News Services.

Anscher is a prostate cancer expert from the Duke University Medical Center, where he is professor, vice chairman and clinical director for the Department of Radiation Oncology.

Among his duties as chair is heading a department of more than 30 radiation oncologists, medical physicists and scientists who work with the VCU Massey Cancer Center interdisciplinary teams to develop treatment plans for patients.

Anscher is a fellow of the American College of Radiology and received the Outstanding Medical Alumnus Award from the Medical College of Virginia Alumni Association in 2001.

In 1977, he received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and joined the Duke University faculty in 1987.

VCU Health System earns Magnet Status

The VCU Health System on Feb. 15 was awarded Magnet status, an honor designated for nursing excellence in national and international health care, according to University News Services.

The American Nurses Credentialing Center developed the Magnet Recognition Program for excellence in Nursing Services in 1994. Health systems that apply for Magnet status must meet criteria such as quality of nursing leadership, professional models of care, quality of care and a commitment to quality improvement.

Carol Crosby, vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer, told University News Services there are about 200 healthcare organizations worldwide who have received the honor. Virginia hospitals that have earned Magnet status are Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Carilion Medical Center in Roanoke and Centra Health in Lynchburg.