Sarah Best | Jackson Sun
In collaboration with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Lane College students will now have a direct pathway to continue their education in nursing once receiving their associate’s degree from Lane, a partnership that was announced on Jan. 18.
At a press conference on Lane’s campus, Lane students and administrators as well as faculty from UTHSC met in Bray Hall to discuss the launch of the program. One benefit of the program is the newly amended biology major’s track for pre-nursing which allows students to take all courses needed for a degree in nursing from the biology department.
Melanie Van Stry, Lane College Chair of the Division of Natural and Physical Sciences and professor of Biology, spoke to the importance of this partnership between the two institutions.
“I’m really super excited because we have so many students that are interested in a career in nursing and before we didn’t have a direct admission process so we would have to try to find programs they would fit in,” Van Stry said. “This is going to be great because they will have opportunities at Lane, and also to meet and work with UT Health Science Center faculty before they get there so they’ll have an easier transition.”
UT has similar existing program partnerships with other colleges and reached out to Lane with plans to expand and include them in their direct pathways initiative.
President of Lane College Logan Hampton expressed gratitude for scholars to now have the “opportunity to pursue additional career pathways.”
Additionally, Executive Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at UT Health Science Center Charleen McNeill explained the various routes available within the pathway partnership, each varying in length and rigor depending on the academic needs of a student.
“The first pathway is the accelerated pathway, the accelerated baccalaureate degree in nursing. It’s one year, it’s pretty intensive as you can imagine, and it’s for students who already have a degree,” McNeill said. “The other is the traditional BSN, which is the same degree, it’s just at a little bit slower pace, so it takes two years to complete that degree.”
The third pathway entails one of two pipelines a student can follow: BSN to a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) or the BSN to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) option. The variety of available programs is what McNeill describes as being catered to “whatever your niche is.”
Though students can sign on to the pathways program as freshmen, the only requirement is that they be a current Lane College student with at least one semester remaining before graduation.
“It’s also important for nursing to be representative of the populations that we serve, and so partnering with an HBCU like Lane provides an avenue for students that we really need in nursing to serve the public,” McNeill said.