KINGSTON, N.Y. >> In what is being hailed as a first for the state, SUNY Empire State College and SUNY Ulster have partnered to offer a bachelor’s degree in nursing at SUNY Ulster.
A memorandum of agreement creating the partnership was signed Monday at Empire State College in Saratoga Springs.
Through the arrangement, SUNY Ulster will offer classroom instruction for the nursing students seeking their bachelor’s degree through Empire State College, which until now had been offered as an online-only program, said SUNY Ulster President Alan P. Roberts.
“The Empire State College has an online program in nursing, the challenge is that the success rate is usually 30-40 percent, students struggle to get through them,” Roberts’ said. “Through this program, we’re offering it face-to-face on our campus and with our faculty.”
Roberts said that although several community colleges, including SUNY Ulster offer two-year nursing degree programs, there are no bachelor degree programs for nursing less than 100 miles away.
“We really have a void in Hudson Valley,” said Roberts. “A number of years ago one of the major universities … eliminated their four-year nursing program, so the cry from the community has been overwhelming.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said SUNY Empire State College president Merodie A. Hancock. “Empire State College was founded to serve the state. We’re the only SUNY (institution) that’s really meant to be statewide.
“This is a great opportunity of taking advantage of the partnerships, taking advantage of both face-to-face and online instruction and bringing the education where it’s needed.”
David Henahan, the director of communications for SUNY Empire State said the classroom instruction, or “residency,” will supplement the on-line degree program.
“What we’re looking to do is create cohorts, because that helps student’s persist,” Henahan said of the partnership.
Roberts said SUNY Ulster expects to work closely with the region’s hospitals, and expecially HealthQuest’s Vassar Brothers Medical Center Campus, which, he said, is “desperately in need,” of nurses with bachelor’s degrees.
Although it only requires an associate’s degree to become a registered nurse, Roberts said that in order for a hospital to get “magnet status,” hospitals need four-year baccalaureate nurses.
Magnet status means 80 percent of the nurses in hospitals have to have a baccalaureate degree. The financial reimbursement from the federal government is much higher when nurses have their bachelor’s of science in nursing degrees.
“It certainly will benefit our nurses,” said Roberts. “It’ll help raise the salary of our nurses, so it’s something that’s needed in our community.”
Henahan said all the credits earned by SUNY Ulster students for their associate’s degree will be transferrable to the SUNY Empire State program. Additionally, he said, students who have completed their associates will be able to take an additional 15 credits toward their bachelor’s degree at SUNY Ulster, paying SUNY Ulster tuition.
In order to be accepted in the SUNY Empire State nursing program, candidates must have a completed an A.S. degree in nursing, possess of an active, unencumbered New York State nursing license and completed an Empire State College admissions application, including an essay.
Hancock said Empire State College can use their nursing program to fill a need at Ulster.
Bridget Nettleton, the dean of the nursing program at SUNY Empire State, said the program anticipates a fall launch if possible, but the latest would be in the spring 2018.
Saratogian reporter Joseph Phelan contributed to this report.
