UW-Green Bay’s Nursing programs earn full CCNE accreditation
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay learned recently that a comprehensive review of its undergraduate and graduate programs in Nursing has resulted in maximum accreditations from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
The CCNE, a national nursing accreditation agency officially recognized by the US Secretary of Education, evaluated both UW-Green Bay’s longstanding Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and relatively new Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree programs. The University received confirmation in November that its BSN program was re-accredited for the maximum 10-year period, through 2025, and that the MSN was accredited for the maximum five-year period for new programs. Each program met all accreditation standards and had no compliance concerns.
“Specialized accreditation speaks to the high level of quality in the UW-Green Bay nursing programs and well-qualified faculty,” says Prof. Susan Gallagher-Lepak, RN, PhD, who chairs and directs the University’s Nursing programs. “This ‘seal of approval’ from CCNE helps students to know that they will receive an excellent education at UW-Green Bay.”
For more than 30 years, UW-Green Bay’s Professional Program in Nursing has specialized in “degree completion” — educational offerings for registered nurses who hold two- or three-year nursing diplomas and seek to complete additional coursework to fulfill bachelor’s degrees requirements.
The BSN program at UW-Green Bay began in 1981 with on-campus courses, and added its popular online track in 1995. The program is widely recognized as a leader in online nursing education, with a majority of students today enrolled online. The 400 or so students declaring BSN majors make Nursing one of UW-Green Bay’s largest academic programs.
The University launched its master’s program in 2012, offering the MSN with an emphasis in “Leadership and Management in Health Systems.” The program graduated its first master’s degree recipients in May 2015. While the national accrediting body, the CCNE, requires a program be operative for a minimum of two years before being eligible for evaluation, the accreditation that UW-Green Bay has just received is retroactive. The program’s first seven graduates in May, then, graduated from an official CCNE-accredited MSN program.
More information about CCNE accreditation can be found at the organization’s, website http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation. More information about the UW-Green Bay Nursing program can be found at http://www.uwgb.edu/nursing/
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