ASU Mid-South partners with UTHSC College of Nursing

Colleges band together to expand access to nursing programs

By LEIGH ANN ROMAN

lroman2@uthsc.edu

MEMPHIS — The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing has doubled its Partnership Enrollment Program (PEP) this year from _ve partner schools to 10 to address the nursing shortage and the need for diversity in the nursing profession.

The PEP agreements guarantee admission to UTHSC Nursing programs for students who meet certain pre-requisites. Most of the agreements provide a pathway for students seeking a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree. The two most recent additions to the partner pool are Arkansas State University Mid-South (ASU Mid-South) in West Memphis, Arkansas, and Dyersburg State Community College in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Other additions to the PEP pool in the last year include Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee; UT Southern in Pulaski, Tennessee; and Dillard University in New Orleans. Lane and Dillard are historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs).

The UTHSC College of Nursing and ASU Mid-South will of_cially launch their partnership at an Aug. 2 event at 11:00 am in ASU Mid-South’s Magruder Hall, when leadership from both colleges will introduce the program to ASU Mid-South students.

“These PEPs are vital to ensuring solid pathways into nursing for students from diverse backgrounds,” said UTHSC College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAANP. “It will take all hands-on deck to meet the workforce gaps in nursing. We hope these PEPs provide students at other institutions exposure to and clear pathways for a degree in nursing.”

Jeff Gray, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at ASU Mid-South, said, “This agreement provides an excellent opportunity for our students to continue to pursue their nursing education goals. The partnership creates a needed pipeline to a BSN degree close to home, and with that, further connects our region to quality training and ultimately growing the quality of nursing care for our region.”

The PEPs with Dyersburg State and ASU Mid-South apply to UTHSC’s traditional BSN program, which is a four-semester program. Students are guaranteed admission to the traditional BSN at UTHSC if they earn a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA), a designated associate degree, and science prerequisites at Dyersburg or ASUMid- South. Other schools that partner with UTHSC to provide a pathway to the traditional BSN include Lane College, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Le Moyne-Owen College.

A few of the PEP schools partner only with UTHSC’s accelerated BSN program. These include Rhodes College, UT Southern, and The University of the South in Sewanee. Lane and Le Moyne-Owen are unique because they have PEP agreements for both the traditional and accelerated BSN concentrations at UTHSC.

The PEP agreement with Dillard guarantees admission to the UTHSC Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program or PhD in Nursing Science for students who complete a BSN or master of science in nursing (MSN) at Dillard, which is also an HBCU.

About UTHSC College of Nursing

The UTHSC College of Nursing’s BSN program is the most highly-ranked BSN program in Tennessee on the list of pre-licensure nursing programs by U.S. News & World Report. The UTHSC DNP program is ranked No. 23 in the nation on the Best Graduate Schools list of U.S. News & World Report and offers eight practice concentrations and three dual practice concentrations. More information about the college’s PEP agreements can be found at https://uthsc .edu/nursing/partnership -enrollment-programs.php.

The mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is transforming lives through collaborative and inclusive education, research, scholarship, clinical care, and public service. With six colleges – Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy – at its main campus in Memphis, in addition to educational and clinical campuses at major hospitals in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville, and sites across the state, UTHSC strives to ful_ll its vision: Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities. For more information, visit www.uthsc .edu. You can _nd the University of Tennessee Health Science Center on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

About ASU Mid-South

Originally established as a vocational-technical school, Mid-South Community College became a comprehensive community college in 1992 and began with 139 students in the fall semester of 1993. Today, as Arkansas State University Mid-South, we serve more than 1600 students annually in credit and non-credit training programs. ASU Mid-South is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, Illinois 60604-1411, Phone: 800.621.7440, 312.263.0456, Fax: 312.263.7462, email: info@hlcommission.org.

For more information about programs offered at ASU Mid-South or how to register, contact the Admissions Of_ce at 870.733.6728 or email admissions@asumidsouth. edu.