OCC, CCC, and Upstate Medical University sign nursing program dual-admission agreements

ONONDAGA, N.Y. — Nursing students at Onondaga Community College (OCC) and Cayuga Community College (CCC) have a new, “guaranteed” path to a four-year degree and the chance for employment in the industry.

Presidents from OCC, CCC, and SUNY Upstate Medical University on Monday signed an agreement which create a “direct path,” dual admission, registered nurse (RN) bachelor’s degree program and a “guaranteed” job interview at Upstate.

The schools’ presidents signed the agreement in the nursing suite at OCC.

“Something that we’ve been working on really hard at OCC is making sure that the pathway is completely evident to students so they understand how to get from where they are to where they want to be, and this is a huge part of that,” Casey Crabill, president of Onondaga Community College, said in her remarks before the signing ceremony.

Students pursuing an associate degree in nursing at CCC or OCC will be directly enrolled into the bachelor of science in nursing degree program at Upstate immediately after obtaining their RN license.

Brian Durant, president of Cayuga Community College, calls the partnership with Upstate Medical “something that’s been long needed for our students and for our programs.”

How the program works

During the first two years of the program, students at CCC and OCC complete their coursework and achieve a 3.0 grade point average by their final semester in the nursing program.

Students check-in each summer with Upstate Medical, interview for an RN position at Upstate, and must pass the national licensing exam for nurses, the NCLEX, which stands for National Council Licensure Examination.

Then, in the third and fourth years, students complete work toward their bachelor’s degree in nursing at Upstate. The school also offers an online bachelor’s degree in nursing.

“Equally important, I really want to see this collaboration be seamless. I think it’s very much true that as Upstate Medical University, we do not have an undergraduate program and we don’t have a campus so I would love to challenge all our SUNY brothers and sisters … to see Upstate as their medical school, not as a standalone but really part of who you are,” Dr. Mantosh Dewan, interim president of SUNY Upstate Medical University, said in his remarks.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com