ONONDAGA —Nursing students at Onondaga Community College (OCC) understand their associate degree is a “great first step” but they will need to eventually pursue a bachelor’s degree so “they can experience all of the things in nursing that they envision,” according to Casey Crabill, president of Onondaga Community College. “That requires students to move to […]
ONONDAGA —Nursing students at Onondaga Community College (OCC) understand their associate degree is a “great first step” but they will need to eventually pursue a bachelor’s degree so “they can experience all of the things in nursing that they envision,” according to Casey Crabill, president of Onondaga Community College.
“That requires students to move to a university program. Upstate, as part of the SUNY family, is a logical next step,” said Crabill.
The OCC leader had conversations with Dr. Mantosh Dewan, interim president of Upstate Medical University, about what they could do “to make it more evident” what students need to do as they begin pursuing their associate degree, not as they finish it.
“President Dewan thought that was a good idea but that it should happen quickly, which never happens. His leadership really brought us to this point in less than an academic year, which is lightning speed in higher education,” said Crabill.
Nursing students at Onondaga Community College and Cayuga Community College (CCC) now have a new, “guaranteed” path to a four-year degree and the chance for employment in the industry.
Crabill, Dewan, and Brian Durant, president of Cayuga Community College on Sept. 30 signed an agreement which creates 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,” Crabill added 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.
CCC’s Durant 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 must 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.