GCC, BC3 Team Up to Offer 4-year Nursing Degree
GROVE CITY, Pa. — Grove City College and Butler County Community College are partnering to create a bachelor of science in nursing degree program that offers students the best that both higher education institutions have to offer.
Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty and Butler County Community College President Dr. Nicholas C. Neupauer announced the partnership last week.
“Nursing is a rewarding and fulfilling career that many students are interested in pursuing. There is also a pressing need for more and better trained professionals in the field. This partnership with Butler County Community College allows us to meet the needs of students and society,” McNulty said.
The program will be offered through Grove City College’s newly established Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing. Students will benefit from the liberal arts and sciences education from Grove City College and accredited technical and clinical professional training through Butler County Community College.
“This collaboration speaks to the power of BC3 and community colleges as a whole,” said Neupauer. “These are unique times. Collaboration is the key. And when a college like ours can partner with a nationally recognized institution like Grove City, it speaks volumes. Even better yet is that both institutions are addressing a high-priority occupational need like nursing.”
By 2022, the need for nurses will increase by 19% and by 2025 the number of RN vacancies will surpass 1.2 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Grove City College plans to begin offering the degree to freshmen in the fall of 2020. BC3 plans an $18 million project that includes the $12 million Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building that will house the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
Students will live on the Grove City campus, where they will attend classes in the first and fourth years of the program. In the second and third years they’ll attend classes at both institutions, with formal nursing classes and professional placement through BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health. At the end of the third year, students will take state exams and are expected to begin working in the field as they complete their fourth year.
The Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing, initially funded by a $1 million gift from Jayne Johnson Rathburn and the Rathburn Family Foundation in memory and honor of her parents, is being established at Grove City College for BSN students. Betty Johnson was a nurse. An additional multi-million-dollar estate gift from Mrs. Rathburn will go toward providing nursing scholarships.
Pictured at top: Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty and Butler County Community College President Nick Neupauer.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
