Email Updates
About IED
RSS Feeds
Advanced Search
search...
home : most recent : education
September 5, 2015
1/18/2012 2:03:00 PM
IU Kokomo launches new nursing degree • Most Recent
Lindsey Ziliak, Pharos-Tribune Staff Writer Twenty-three students from across the region started work last week on Indiana University Kokomo’s new master’s degree in nursing. It’s a program that Chancellor Michael Harris has been hoping to launch since he arrived at the campus a year and a half ago. “I saw the need for it,” he said. “There is a critical shortage of nurses and of nurses who can be leaders, administrators and teachers.” The best part, he said, is that he was right. He said he never anticipated the program would have 23 students in its first class. The school even had to put some students on a waiting list to get in. “There’s quite a few on the list, and it will only grow when the word spreads,” he said. Gail Ebert and three of her co-workers drive from Anderson to take classes.
Share
“We were looking for a program with classroom instruction, not so much looking for something online,” she said in a press release from the school. “We’re driving a good distance to be here.” Students in the first class come from Kokomo, Indianapolis, Anderson, Lafayette, Logansport and Marion, among other communities. They can complete the master’s program in two years and will be prepared for careers in hospital management or teaching. Evelyn Kamoto, of Elkhart, said she found the program online and chose it for its nursing administration track. Kamoto, originally from the African country Malawi, is the program’s first international student, according to a press release from the school. Harris said he has met with and talked to each student. “They’re a great class,” he said. “They bring a lot of experience.” All of them are currently working as nurses, he said. Ebert and her co-workers are employed by Community Hospital in Anderson. Harris said some nurses are drawn to Kokomo’s campus because it’s a close-knit community with faculty that work one-on-one with students. That’s what brought Memory Mollongwa to Kokomo for her master’s degree. “I recognize the faculty, and it wasn’t as intimidating,” she said in a press release from the school. Harris said personal relationships between teachers and students are important. Because of that, the school will never accept more than about 25 students into its new master’s program, he said. “We are on our way to be the best regional campus in the world,” Harris said. “We are on our way to be the best [Master of Science in nursing] program — nothing short of that is sufficient for us.” © 2015 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
Editor, John C. DePrez Jr.; Executive Editor, Carol Rogers; Publishers: IBRC and IAR Software © 1998-2015 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved
converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com