SALINA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas Wesleyan University’s nursing program has voluntarily withdrawn its accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education.
The Salina Journal (https://bit.ly/1BVKLaJ ) reports that the school’s withdrew its accreditation effective March 11 as part of a plan to pursue accreditation through the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education instead. That process is expected to take about two years.
According to Matt Thompson, president of Wesleyan, the new accreditation is “more appropriate” for programs that offer bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degrees in nursing. The university has been just one of two four-year nursing programs in Kansas accredited through the ACEN. All other nursing programs have CCNE accreditation.
“We’ve been with the accreditation agency since we only had the two-year degree and had never switched accrediting bodies,” Thompson said.
Thompson says the lack of accreditation will not affect the school’s graduates. According to him, about half of the graduate nursing programs in Kansas don’t require incoming students have a degree from a program with ACEN or CCNE accreditation.
Wesleyan still has accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, and the nursing program is licensed by the Kansas Board of Nursing.
Mike Terry, CEO of Salina Regional Health Center, agrees with Thompson.
“We are partners with Kansas Wesleyan in medical education. This transition will not affect that relationship,” said Terry. The Salina Regional Health Foundation donated $1 million to the school to create an endowed chairman of nursing a week after the program relinquished its accreditation.
Pamela Ferguson, dean of nursing at Methodist College, Peoria, Illinois says “Our admission is on a case-by-case basis,” she said. “In our opinion, looking at accreditation is similar to just looking at the GPA on a transcript - there’s so much more to the person.”
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Information from: The Salina (Kan.) Journal, https://www.salina.com
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