SBU expands radiography program capacity

Brittney Hendrickson: Applicants outnumber open cohort spaces for SBU's radiography program.

Jessica Atchison: Mercy hires around 70% of SBU nursing and radiography program graduates.

Darren Crowder: Radiography lab construction is last major project for campus renovations.

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Renovations are nearing completion at the Mercy College of Health Professions at Southwest Baptist University, officials say. They include the addition of a new lab that is part of expansion for the school’s radiography program.

With the intent of addressing increased need for skilled medical imaging professionals, SBU is boosting its total student capacity and streamlining the path to graduation for its Associate of Science in Radiography program. The student capacity is expanding 50% to 72 seats beginning with the fall 2026 semester, said Brittney Hendrickson, SBU’s Mercy College of Health Professions dean. She said the two-year program will admit up to 36 students per year.

“We are already tracking with increased applicants and should already be able to fill those expanded numbers in August of 2026,” she said, adding there’s currently over 70 applicants.

Hendrickson said interest was strong during the last admission cycle for the two-year radiography program. The school had a wait list of around 15 students who were qualified applicants, she said. The radiography program is part of a longstanding partnership between SBU and Mercy Springfield Communities, which also includes various academic degrees in nursing and health science.

40 years
Mercy and SBU have been partnering since 1986. At the time, SBU entered into a joint nursing education agreement with Mercy, through which SBU nursing students have completed their clinical hours at the Springfield hospital.

Ahead of the student capacity expansion for the radiography program, SBU worked with Mercy to expand some of its clinical sites beyond Springfield. Students now have clinic options in Bolivar, Branson and Ozark.

“All of our clinical time is completed for our radiography program at Mercy facilities, so we’re expanding between those clinics,” Hendrickson said, noting it requires getting creative with scheduling for nights and weekends. “That offers some more flexibility with our adult learners, as well as letting them have more time in the hospital and seeing different areas of departments throughout different shifts of the day.”

SBU also has plans to add another clinical option this summer in Ozark, following the opening late last year of Mercy’s $32 million emergency department that is attached to its orthopedic hospital along U.S. Highway 65.

Jessica Atchison, executive director of nursing and operations at Mercy Springfield Communities, said SBU’s increased student capacity for the radiography program benefits the entire community.

“Being a two-year program, they do a ton of clinical hours,” she said, noting that strengthens the experience for students. “Radiography is rooted in clinical hours. The majority of their training is done in a live environment with live patients and with a preceptor. Having that hands-on training gives them the ability to integrate into the workforce much quicker upon graduation, versus someone who doesn’t have that integration.”

Atchison noted the uptick in student interest in careers in radiography are representative not only of SBU and Mercy’s partnership but also of opportunities with The Alliance for Healthcare Education.

The alliance was formed in 2023 by CoxHealth, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Springfield Public Schools. The partnership was started to create affordable pathways into health care careers and address workforce shortages.

“That is important for our community to see,” Atchison said. “Springfield is one of the larger producers of radiography students in southwest Missouri.”

Campus work
The renovations to SBU’s Springfield campus at 4431 S. Fremont Ave., just south of Highway 60, have included refreshed classrooms and additional student space. Darren Crowder, vice president of regional campuses and church engagement at SBU, said the renovation work, which started last year, is getting close to finishing. An open house is being planned for a yet-to-be-announced date this spring, he said.

“We’re not done, but we anticipate when it’s all said and done, it’ll be close to $1.8 million of renovation on the facility,” he said, noting that is mostly dedicated to lab spaces, including anatomy, physical therapy and radiography labs.

Work on the newest radiography lab, which officials say should conclude later this month, is the last major construction piece on campus, Crowder said.

Cindy Todd, division head of post licensure of nursing and health sciences at SBU, said the new radiography lab will be the second on campus.

“To mimic more real-world, they really needed one of those overhead X-ray machines, and those are a lot of money,” she said, noting Mercy donated the machine. “SBU had to reinforce the room with steel beams and pretty significant investment to build out that room to accommodate that equipment.”

SBU and Mercy officials declined to disclose the equipment’s cost.

Additionally, Todd said the radiography program curriculum last fall was reduced from 81 credit hours to 72, noting the move was made to reduce class time but still preserve the program’s depth and structure.

Aside from the ongoing building renovations, SBU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program moved to its Springfield campus from its prior home in Bolivar. For around 15 years, the program operated off campus in Bolivar on South Springfield Avenue in a former grocery store building. Officials said The Hill Church purchased the Bolivar building for an undisclosed price.

“Over the last few years, we’ve seen a decline in our physical therapy applications,” Crowder said, which eventually led to the decision to move the program. “In doing surveys and research, one of the things that we found was location, students wanting the doctoral programs to be in a larger city context. We also found that a lot of our applicants were already living in Springfield and commuting to Bolivar.”

Terry Cox, division head and program director for the DPT program, said the move has generated an increase in applications. The three-year program has a maximum of 80 students per cohort.

“In the last few years, we’ve averaged in the 50s and right now for next year, we’ve already got in the 70s,” Cox said.

Adding those enrolled in physical therapy and other graduate programs, Crowder said SBU has around 600 students on its Springfield campus, noting the 450 undergraduates total is up about 20% over the 2024-25 school year.

In demand
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects growth for the number of jobs for radiologic and magnetic resonance imaging technicians at 5% between 2024 and 2034. It notes median pay in the field at $78,980 for 2024.

“I think with the increase in diagnostics usage across the board and then technology expanding, this is just going to continue to get bigger, especially with the radiologic technologists,” Todd said. “They can diversify in so many areas. They’re in every location in every hospital and clinic across the board.”

To meet student demand, Atchison said Mercy has expanded its clinical capacity for all radiography programming, not just with SBU.

“There is a demand for more clinical sites and the desire to keep (students) in our community,” she said. “The closer that we can keep them to do clinical rotations, the more likely they are to stay in our communities.”

Atchison estimated that roughly 70% of those who graduate the SBU nursing and radiography programs go to work for Mercy, adding 90% stay in the Springfield metro area.

There were around 272,000 radiologic and MRI technician jobs in 2024, according to the BLS, with 15,400 openings projected annually over the next decade.

“The horizon is very good for their growth,” Todd said. “Locally, we are seeing a need for them. Our graduates are getting hired prior to graduation, so there is still a need as we are expanding.”