MADISON — The University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) will sign an agreement Thursday that will improve transfer opportunities and help address the state’s critical need for nurses.
Starting this fall, graduates of any WTCS campus who hold an associate degree in nursing (ADN) will be eligible to transfer with junior standing to any of the five UW System institutions that make up the Collaborative Nursing Program (CNP).
The five are UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-Oshkosh. Together, they offer a B.S. degree in nursing that allows students to utilize credit earned at any CNP campus. The CNP also offers coursework through distance learning, making it easier for technical college graduates and other students to complete the B.S. degree in nursing without disrupting their employment or family life.
WTCS graduates who received their ADN in May 1996 or later are eligible for the program, which allows the student to transfer up to 30 credits in nursing and up to 30 general education credits in communications, behavioral sciences and social sciences. Graduates prior to 1996 will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The agreement will be effective for a three-year pilot period, after which it may be reviewed and/or modified.
The agreement was approved earlier by the five provosts and the appropriate campus deans, and will be signed on Thursday at the Board of Regents meeting in Milwaukee by UW System President Katharine Lyall and WTCS State Director Edward Chin.
It is hoped that an improvement in transfer opportunities for ADN graduates will help address Wisconsin’s continuing shortage of nurses with bachelor’s degrees. Nationally, there may be a 400,000-nurse shortage in 20 years, according to Douglas Staiger, an author and economics professor at Dartmouth College.