“As Springfield’s medical district grows, there is a demand for additional highly qualified nurses in the area,” said UIS Chancellor Susan Koch. “This partnership will bring one of the top ranked schools for nursing in the country to Springfield, while helping to further boost undergraduate enrollment growth at UIS.”
The program can be completed in four years of full-time study and involves two phases: two years of pre-nursing and general education courses at UIS and two years of professional nursing courses, which will be delivered by UIC College of Nursing faculty at UIS. Admission to the professional phase of the BSN program requires recommendation of the UIC College of Nursing’s Admissions Committee after successful completion of the first-phase of coursework.
The addition of the Springfield Regional Campus of the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing will help further expand its presence statewide. UIC currently has four regional campuses in Peoria, the Quad Cities, Rockford and Urbana. A full-time director will be employed to administer the program in Springfield.
“This Springfield partnership, between a nursing college ranked second nationally in National Institutes of Health funding, a health system with two Magnet-designated hospitals, and a university whose Capital Scholars Honors program is recognized for generating incredible leaders, will produce academically strong, critically thinking nurses, practitioners and midwives that will meet the health care needs of the people of central and southern Illinois,” said UIC College of Nursing Dean Terri Weaver.
The UIC College of Nursing is consistently ranked in the top 10 for nursing schools nationally and was recently awarded a #2 ranking in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The BSN program will be supported by a number of scholarships made available to UIS students by Memorial Health System.
“We are pleased to partner in this extraordinary initiative to increase educational opportunities for students to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees within our own community,” said Ed Curtis, president and CEO of Memorial Health System.
“This is a solid fit with our mission to improve the health of the people and communities we serve.” Classes are scheduled to begin in August 2015 when the first group of UIS students enrolls as freshmen. Interested students are encouraged to apply to UIS now by visiting www.uis.edu/nursing/how-to-apply/.
The first cohort of nursing students starting upper division nursing courses will begin in fall of 2016. It is expected that 32 students will be admitted in fall 2016 and 48 students in fall 2017. Beginning of fall 2018, 64 students will be admitted with the first cohort completing their BSN degree program in May 2018. Additional information about the program can be found at www.uis.edu/nursing/.
For more information, contact Derek Schnapp, director of public relations at 217/206-6716 or dschn3@uis.edu.
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