By Gabrielle Martin, News Editor.
Recently, a study was released showing that 84 percent of respondents support legislation that would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees in nursing, as well as other technical fields.
According to current state law, community colleges can offer four-year degrees in culinary arts, maritime technology, cement technology and energy production. Even though Delta College could allow these programs, it currently does not offer any four-year degrees.
“We haven’t gone for any approval because there hasn’t been the need in our local community,” states Dr. Jean Goodnow, president of Delta College. However, if legislation that would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing were passed, President Goodnow says that the college would seek approval to offer a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Tanya Densmore, 42, is a student in the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program at Delta. She thinks that students in the area would certainly take advantage of a BSN being offered at the college.
“I think it would be a great asset to the community. If another four-year program was offered, people would utilize it,” she says.
Kelli Prena, assistant professor of nursing, says the American Nursing Association has been pushing for more nurses to have their bachelor’s degree for several years.
“When you think about it, I mean, we have the opportunity to save lives… so you want someone that’s well-educated and you want someone that’s well-prepared,” says Prena.
There is always a need for nurses; however, with the baby boomer generation retiring, there will be a large number of positions to fill in the next several years.
“Recently, we learned in a press release that Covenant, for example, is going to be hiring over 80 nurses,” states Goodnow.
In addition, Prena says that nurses who are teaching will be retiring in the next few years so we will need more nurses who have their master’s degrees and doctorate degrees to educate the next generation.
Prena adds that offering a four-year degree in nursing at Delta would be a great addition for students to graduate with.
“A bachelor’s prepared nurse from Delta would be one of the top hiring prospects in this area. Delta student nurses are already at the top of the list so if we could add that bachelor’s degree, that BSN behind that title, that would be at the top of the hiring list,” she says. For many students, cost can be a large factor when deciding whether or not to pursue a BSN. Densmore feels that if students could get the degree at a community college cost, more would pursue it.
“I would probably consider it,” says Densmore, who currently isn’t sure if she will pursue a BSN after she completes her LPN.
That being said, the addition of a BSN Program at Delta could actually raise the cost of tuition.
“Definitely we will be looking at and exploring the potential of differential tuition, which may mean we may have to increase our tuition in some of the career programs,” states Goodnow. She adds that she feels certain that – even if Delta’s tuition were raised – it would still be far below that of other institutions.
Senate Bill 98, which would allow community colleges to add bachelor’s degrees in nursing, ski area management, information technology and a few other programs, was introduced to the Michigan Senate on Feb. 11, 2015 by Mike Shirkey. It was then reported in the Senate on June 30. There has been no further progress in passing this legislation.
Lori Gagnon, Nursing program coordinator, was interviewed about the potential for a baccalaureate program. At the conclusion of the interview, Gagnon requested editing and approval rights of the story. The Collegiate declined that request.
Gagnon then asked to “withdraw” the article. Although the Collegiate decided to publish the article because it is of interest to our readers, we decided to honor Gagnon’s request not to participate in the report.