A Tempe college dedicated to holistic and natural approaches to medicine will be changing its name and expanding its programs later this year as it transitions into a university.
Beginning on Sept. 26, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine will be known as Sonoran University of Health Sciences, a step that follows the launch of new master’s degree programs in recent years, with plans to add more in the future.
“We are elated to share the culmination of years of hard work to become Sonoran University,” said Paul Mittman, president and CEO of SCNM, in a statement. “Our students, faculty, staff and trustees sought a name that reflects the institution’s values and aspirations. The Sonoran Desert’s biodiversity, beauty, and resilience, honors SCNM’s past and captures our expansive goals for the future. Becoming a university is the next logical step in establishing Sonoran University of Health Sciences’ position as the preeminent health sciences institution grounded in the healing power of nature.”
While the official launch is later this year, the school said rebranding will happen during the coming months, and all of the school’s colleges and services will be brought under the Sonoran University heading. The institution has a School of Naturopathic Medicine and a School of Nutrition, and the two will be renamed with the word “college” replacing “school” in their names.
The institution’s SCNM Sage Foundation — which provides funding to six community clinics in Maricopa County that are staffed with physicians and students from SCNM — will also resume its original name, Sage Foundation for Health.
The school launched its fully online master of science in clinical nutrition degree program in 2020, and then soon after launched a master of science in nutrition business leadership degree.
It also opened the Ric Scalzo Institute for Botanical Research, a molecular biology and phytochemistry laboratory devoted to the development of new and improved botanical therapeutics.
The school, located at 2140 E. Broadway Rd. in Tempe, had an on-campus enrollment of 358 during the fall of 2021, according to Business Journal research, and its online-only enrollment was 251 at the same time.
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