Edwin Hernandez has been president of AdventHealth University, in Orlando, Florida, since August 2017. A faith-based college that specializes in healthcare, it has been making significant changes. For example, its 2018-2023 strategic plan noted that AdventHealth University intends to move from “a strong regional player to a national educational institution.”

But there are few colleges that partner with a healthcare company and a religious group as AdventHealth University does. It is aligned with AdventHealth, a faith-based, non-profit health care system headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Florida that operates facilities in nine states.

It is also a religious college connected with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is dedicated to its relationship with God and its commitment to Jesus Christ, though it is open to students of all spiritual backgrounds.

A native of Puerto Rico who graduated from the University of Notre Dame, Hernandez was founding director of the Center for the Study of Latino Religions at his alma mater, program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and vice president of academic affairs at the Antillean Advent University in Puerto Rico.

AdventHealth University offers a variety of degrees in health and biomedical services, including healthcare administration, nuclear medicine technology, nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy, physician assistant and sonography (a diagnostic medical procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves). It issues four associate degrees, seven bachelor’s degrees, six master’s and two doctoral degrees, and certifications in several areas. It also has a second campus in Denver, which contains 116 students, and an active online program.

In 2022, it was named a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), one of only 29 colleges in Florida with this designation. Its undergraduate enrollment includes 268 Hispanic students or 35% of all undergraduates, exceeding the 25% minimum to be considered an HSI. Being named an HSI makes it eligible for additional funding to expand opportunities for Latino students.

To attract Latinos, Hernandez notes that a large portion of its faculty is bilingual, which helps many Hispanic students feel at ease. It also targets high schools with large Latino populations. And many of its senior administrators, including Hernandez, its CFO, and director of nursing are Hispanic, providing role models for students. Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the population in central Florida, he adds.

Hernandez says the university was established thirty years ago “as a workforce development institution to fill the critical healthcare needs of a growing system.” The college creates a community of “clinical professionals out in the healthcare marketplace that joins us in the education of our students. We have programs that have unlimited growth potential in healthcare administration and pre-med but the bulk of our academic programs are clinically-oriented,” he notes.

Because he describes Orlando as “first and foremost a diverse urban metropolis, we have a large immigrant population, a large segment of Latinos, and many of our students are first-generation in college.” He also pointed out that many of its students transfer from other colleges.

In 2021-22, its student body consisted of 1,667 students, who were 34% white, 31% Hispanic, 14% African American, 8% unknown, 6% Asian, and 3% bi-racial. Despite being a Seventh-day Adventist college, its students were 31% Christian, 17% Adventist, 13% Catholic, and 4% non-religious, with a sprinkling of Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, and Protestant students. The most popular majors were Nursing at 21% of students and 10% for General Studies.

To help many of these first-generation students adapt to college life, it strives to create a “family environment, where faculty, advisers and mentors offer counseling and support services, and the ratio of students to faculty is small. When you put all of this together, it gives you a formula for success as students enter the job market,” Hernandez asserts.

In fact, more than 80% of students receive financial aid support.  AdventHealth University has a special fund that assists students with financial aid who require emergency financial support to help them stay in school. “And that can range from scholarships to help pay for their education or emergency funds to support a single mother whose car has broken down,” Hernandez cited.

Hernandez explains that the relationship between the company AdventHealth and the students of AdventHealth University benefits its undergraduates in several ways. “More than 80 percent of our students, on average, successfully find job-placement opportunities within AdventHealth upon graduation,” he points out. He explains that the university “plays a vital role in the workforce pipeline, and supports AdventHealth’s workforce needs, particularly during this critical nursing shortage.”

Despite their close collaborative relationship, Hernandez emphasizes that the university operates independently of the healthcare company, and has its own board of directors. “We abide by the standards of regional accreditation. No outside entity has undue influence on the operation of the university,” he states.

He described the relationship between AdventHealth and AdventHealth University as “symbiotic. We educate students based on the demands of the healthcare organization. It’s a collaborative relationship where we plan together academic programs that are needed in our system. It benefits students who have access to world-class clinical training  [and can] experience what students wouldn’t get anywhere else.”

He also said the university’s relationship with the Seventh-day Adventist Church creates an environment which leads to developing “skilled professionals who live the healing values of Christ.” Nonetheless, it “welcomes students of all religious backgrounds, providing a faith-affirming environment to explore the meaning of life, their relationship with God, and how to display a heart for service.”

Hernandez said the college is driven by Judeo-Christian values that are “ecumenically-focused and inclusion-driven that attracts students whether they have faith or not.”

As for himself, Hernandez says that “faith inspires me to serve our students in the maximum way possible, to provide excellent education, and create a nurturing environment.  We put them on the path to careers that will help them transform their families and future.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it is anticipated that 500,000 nurses will leave the workforce in 2022, creating an overall shortage of 1.1 million nurses. Because of this increasing demand to recruit skilled nurses, AdventHealth University established its Nursing Growth Strategy to devise innovative ways to inspire more people to enter the profession. “That includes expanding our nursing enrollment and investing in virtual and augmented reality research and development,” Hernandez notes.

In addition, it has been reaching out to local art colleges to form relationships with them, enabling its students to work in the world of video, technology and business. For example, at Full Sail University, its students are developing virtual reality resources in healthcare.

Asked where he expects AdventHealth University to be two years in the future, Hernandez replied that “You will see nursing growth happening on our campus. We anticipate opening a new campus in Tampa. We also expect to issue a greater deployment of health certificates to ensure a professional workforce and attract adults who want to return to the healthcare field.”