University Programs:
Today’s academic programs mean tomorrow’s skilled and compassionate leaders.
Our communities need more Viterbo graduates, and they need them now. And we are committed to supporting, educating, and inspiring an emerging generation of servant leaders who will lead our communities forward.
Viterbo’s practical, holistic education is grounded in servant leadership, which empowers students to put their education to its highest and best purpose in communities around the world. It’s time we deliver on our promise to educate the workforce of the future—the educators, caregivers, and leaders of tomorrow—in the way only Viterbo can.
Together, we’ll support, educate, and inspire the next generation by focusing our campaign on four key programs:
impact pillar 3
University Programs
Goal: $8 million
Ensures Viterbo can attract and retain top faculty who will expand curricular and service learning opportunities by identifying and meeting the needs of our region and beyond.
- Faculty Chairs and Professorships
- Ethics and Servant Leadership
- Nursing and Health Sciences
- Student Entrepreneurship
Faculty Chairs and
Professorships
Academic excellence begins with our faculty, who are drawn to Viterbo as a place where they can serve as both educators and mentors. Endowed chairs and professorships help us recruit world-class faculty, provide financial support for their teaching and research, and acknowledge their contributions in our community and beyond. Taking classes from these experienced, committed faculty—not teaching or graduate assistants—ensures Viterbo students receive the best possible classroom experiences.
Campaign Priorities:
- Endow a Chair of Education
- Endow a Chair in the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership
- Endow a Humanities Professorship to honor distinguished alumna, Sister Thea Bowman
“Endowed chairs bring honor and prestige to Viterbo, elevating academics, shaping curriculum, and prioritizing faculty development. This is how Viterbo retains and attracts faculty that continually build our rigor and reputation.”
Ethics and Servant
Leadership
The D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership and the world’s only master’s degree in servant leadership are hubs of academic discourse in ethics-based leadership. Since the Reinhart Institute’s founding in 1999, it has educated and inspired thousands of leaders through conferences, certificate programs, and an annual sold-out lecture series dedicated to servant leadership.
Campaign Priorities:
- Endow a chair in the Reinhart Institute
- Expand and enrich curricula and opportunities through the Reinhart Institute
- Expand partnerships and collaborations with community organizations and businesses
“Servant leadership is not simply an intellectual exercise. We’re focused on the most pressing social and political issues of today’s world. We’re invested in helping students, civic and business leaders, and members of all communities become agents of change through conscious investments in relationships, hospitality, virtues.”
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Viterbo students pursuing a health profession are immersed in practical coursework, with learning that is intensified through research, collaboration with faculty, and real-world experience. As a result of these carefully crafted programs, 100% of health care graduates find placement within six months of graduation. What’s more, Viterbo’s pass rates on licensing exams far exceed the national averages for nursing, social work, and nutrition.
Campaign Priorities:
- Enhance learning opportunities in the classroom and in real-world settings
- Fill much-needed health care positions in La Crosse and the Coulee Region
- Address the regional health care shortage with more Viterbo graduates
“Taking care of people is core to the Viterbo mission and experience. That ethos is front and center in the nursing and health sciences programs. We’re teaching holistic care at a higher level. Our graduates are providing care, not just for patients, but for families, coworkers, and entire health systems.”
Student Entrepreneurship and Capstone Endowment
Viterbo teaches students how to use their education and talents to serve others at work and in life. Through senior-year entrepreneurship and capstone programs, students have the greatest opportunity to put their academic learning into real-world practice. They gain valuable experience in presenting their ideas to employers, gathering feedback, and adjusting their approaches—skills essential to personal and professional success.
Campaign Priorities:
- Increase student participation in entrepreneurship and capstone projects
- Solve problems and bring new ideas to market from Viterbo’s campus
- Infuse more Viterbo graduates into the local and regional workforce
“Viterbo’s entrepreneurship projects are all about pushing yourself to learn something new; to figure it out on your own. I’m working with professors and students in other majors on real-world ideas that we’re hoping will ultimately help people some day. The best part? I don’t have to do it. I get to do it. That’s why they call them passion projects.”