St. Joseph, Mo. —Missouri Western State University has established a new School of Nursing and Health Professions.

The change was approved by Missouri Western’s Board of Governors in a telephone poll Tuesday.

“Our health-related programs are extremely well respected and warrant a ‘school’ designation,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “The change recognizes the important role these programs have at Missouri Western, and will enhance the already strong external relationships our nursing and health professions programs have with Mosaic Life Care and other health industry organizations.”

The School of Nursing and Health Professions will be housed within the College of Professional Studies and will be led by an associate dean. The School will include Missouri Western’s master’s degree program in nursing and undergraduate programs for nursing, health information management, physical therapist assistant and the new population health management degree, established by a gift from Mosaic Life Care.

“The number of faculty, number of students, and number of graduates annually from programs in the existing Department of Nursing and Allied Health are similar to the numbers in the current Craig School of Business and the School of Fine Arts,” said Dr. Jeanne Daffron, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “School designation recognizes the excellence these programs have achieved and positions us well to reach new heights.”

Dr. Kathleen O’Connor, dean of professional studies, says the programs in the School of Nursing and Health Professions are complex and require extensive management.

“School designation will help us recruit an effective leader for the associate dean position who can provide strong oversight of the student admissions processes, regulatory expectations, clinical affiliations, and other factors that make these programs unique,” Dr. O’Connor said.

The search for the first associate dean of nursing and health professions is expected to begin immediately.

The St. Joseph School District is holding a job fair for teachers Wednesday in St. Joseph.

“We’re asking for all individuals interested in getting into education, whether it be for the upcoming school year or future school years this is an opportunity for them to come out and really learn about the St. Joseph School District and what we have to offer,” said Amy Todd, Human Resources Dir. “It’s a meet and greet where we can really talk to any potential applicants and anyone interested in the St. Joseph School District.”

She said the number of vacancies for the 2016-17 school year is not yet known for sure but the average vacancies going into a new school year run between about 50 to 75 positions.  She said they won’t know for sure how many openings are available until after June.

“People will have until June 1st to notify the school district whether they’ll be leaving or staying with the school district so we won’t know fully until that time,” Todd said. “We have had some individuals already turn in their retirement for the upcoming school year.”

She said anyone interested in attending the job fair is encouraged to bring copies of their resumes and will have a chance to meet with administrators from various areas.

“There will be opportunities to give them information on our upcoming interview and recruitment process as well,” Todd said “We will ask that people apply online officially but we will take information there to be able to contact individuals to set up screening interviews.”

The fair will be held Wednesday, Feb. 10 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Troester Media Center located at 3401 Renick in St. Joseph.

CLICK HERE for current job openings with the district.

Crews from the St Joseph Fire Department were dispatched to a midtown neighborhood to battle a house fire.

Fire department companies were dispatched to 1116 South 17th Street shortly after 8:20 a.m.

The first engine company to arrive at the scene spotted heavy smoke but no flames showing. The address is near the intersection of 17th Street and Penn.

The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating after a vehicle hit a fire hydrant on Jules St. Monday afternoon.

Scott Gray with the St. Joseph Police Department said around 12:30 p.m. a Ford Taurus ran into the steps of a home located on the southwest corner of 16th and Jules and then hit a fire hydrant knocking the hydrant off.

Missouri American Water was called in to take care of the fire hydrant due to water gushing over the roadway. No one was injured. Gray said the cause of the one-vehicle accident is still under investigation.

The wind apparently blew down a huge tree in Midtown St Joseph Monday, narrowly missing a house, an RV, a pickup truck and another vehicle.

A neighborhood street south of Frederick Ave. and 17th St. was closed for hours.

The first report came in shortly after 5 a.m., on Kemper Street, just north Clay Street. By 9:30 a.m. Kemper street remained closed. A city crew was helping cut the huge tree into more manageable pieces and clear the roadway.

Wind gusts regularly topped 40 miles per hour Monday morning. St Joseph and large area of Northwest Missouri and northeastern Kansas are under a wind advisory until 6 p.m.

A Missouri Western State University Craig School of Business graduate has come back to St. Joseph for a new business endeavor.

“I’m really excited to be back in St. Joseph,” said Scott Lassen, the new owner of Golden Corral located at 715 N. Belt Hwy.

He took over the business January 28th. Lassen said he was born in St. Joseph and grew up just outside of Atchison, Kan. in a small town called Cummings.

“I competed in the Craig School of Business Entrepreneurship Class in 2013 and I won the competition and I was awarded a store in Portland, Oregon.  It was a Mexican restaurant and through that experience and kind of combined with the connections I made through the program I was able to work out a deal with the family that previously owned this Golden Corral in St. Joseph and get a close on that,” Lassen said. “Again I’m excited to be back and I think it’s going to make a big difference with this store having a local owner.”

Lassen graduated from Missouri Western in 2010 then went out to California to earn his MBA.  That’s when he found the job market at that point in time to be a little tricky.

“I got my MBA there and having a rough time trying to land MBA jobs with the economy being what it was at the time so I worked in retail for awhile. The competition opened up for Alumni and I decided I was going to try to go ahead and compete and so I did and I won and here I am now,” Lassen said.

He said he’s hoping to get involved with the St. Joseph Community.

“I’d like to reach out with some local community organizations like the Salvation Army.  Since I am with a restaurant I’d really like to get involved in feeding people who can’t afford food. Also getting involved with some churches,” he said. “We’re a big small town and we like to take care of each other and I want to see that continue.”