Photo courtesy of NCICU: From left, Dr. Hope Williams, President of NCICU, Dr. Sharon Sarvey, Dean of the Barton College School of Nursing, and Dr. Jennifer Haygood, Acting President of NCCCS
RALEIGH, N.C. — March 2, 2018 — There is great news for registered nurses with an associate’s degree who want to earn their B.S.N. degree at Barton College or one of nine other private colleges and universities in the state.
Under a new agreement between the N.C. Community College System and N.C. Independent Colleges and Universities, a student who completes an Associate in Applied Science degree in Nursing with a GPA of at least 2.0 and a grade of C or better in specified courses, and who holds a current unrestricted license as a Registered Nurse in North Carolina, will have fulfilled the lower-division general education requirements and nursing program entry requirements for 10 participating private colleges and universities in the state, including Barton College. Because nursing program admissions are competitive, students are not guaranteed admission to the program of their choice.
NCCCS Acting President Jennifer Haygood and NCICU President Hope Williams recently signed the articulation agreement. “This agreement reduces barriers for registered nurses with associate degrees who want to continue their education,” Haygood said. “It also creates a more seamless and rational transfer process for community college nursing students.”
“The RN to BSN articulation agreement is an important supplement to the Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement and an excellent example of the partnerships between NCICU and NCCCS, in this case benefiting thousands of RNs across the state who seek to advance their careers with Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing,” Williams said. “NCICU and NCCCS are already beginning work on additional supplemental agreements that are discipline-specific.”
The agreement describes a progression degree plan that includes required general education and nursing prerequisite courses acceptable to all participating RN to BSN programs. Students who follow the plan and take those courses at community colleges will meet the entrance requirements for those RN to BSN programs. Nurses may apply to any of the programs without taking duplicate courses.
“Students will be able to plan with confidence that their community college courses will both transfer and satisfy requirements of participating NCICU campuses,” Haygood said.
The NCICU Board approved the agreement Feb. 9, and the State Board of Community Colleges approved it on Feb. 16.
As of Feb. 15, the following NCICU campuses had signed the nursing articulation agreement: Barton College, Cabarrus College of Health Sciences, Gardner-Webb University, Lees McRae College, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Mars Hill University, Pfeiffer University, Queens University of Charlotte, University of Mount Olive, and Wingate University.
Related to the agreement, the NCICU announced plans to build an online portal to provide comprehensive information to community college students about course equivalencies with independent colleges. The portal will be funded by a $25,000 grant from the Council of Independent Colleges, with an additional $25,000 raised by NCICU.
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