By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
A new partnership between Bowling Green State University and Owens Community College promises to increase the number of nursing graduates for BGSU and provide more highly educated nurses for Northwest Ohio.
The transfer agreement, which was signed Monday at BGSU, will allow nursing students who have completed their Associate of Applied Science in registered nursing at Owens to automatically move into the Bachelor of Science in nursing program at BGSU.
Jim Ciesla, the dean of the BGSU College of Health and Human Services, said now Owens nursing students will have “great certainty” that the credits earned at the community college will transfer.
BGSU’s BSN program is offered online so they will be able to juggle other responsibilities as they complete their bachelor’s degree, he said.
“What we hope happens is this gives birth to a whole new generation of Falcon nurses,” Ciesla said.
The potential is to accommodate hundreds of students, he said. Owens awards 200 nursing degrees a year. Ciesla foresees about 50 to 100 students enrolling in BGSU in the fall.
He also noted there’s a pool of nurses who have Owens associate degrees and now can more easily further their education through BGSU.
The agreement goes into effect this fall and continues through June 30, 2025.
Ciesla noted that the Institute of Medicine is recommending that 80 percent of the RN workforce have a BSN by 2020.
Catherine Ford, dean of Owens School of Nursing and Health Professions, said this partnership is important because it allows Owens students to “seamlessly” transfer to the online baccalaureate program.
Owens President Steve Robinson said that nursing is one of Owens’ oldest and largest programs.
The program is very clinically focused and that shows when Owens nursing students take the NCLEX exam and earn high scores.
When those students further their studies because they want to move into management or different areas of care, they sometimes leave the area. This new program keeps them local, and that makes it more likely they will stay in the local workforce.
BGSU President Rodney said that more BSN nurses are needed and this will allow students out of Owens to complete a BSN in a flexible way through the online program. “This is another example where BGSU is serving the public good.”
