From left, Dean of the School of Nursing Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D.; Peter I. Buerhaus, Ph.D.; keynote speaker Patricia Grady, Ph.D.; and Melanie Lutenbacher, Ph.D., celebrate the 10th anniversary of the School of Nursing’s Ph.D. in Nursing Science Program. Photo by Dana Johnson
School of Nursing to partner with Sewanee
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing has signed an agreement that will allow students with a bachelor’s degree from the University of the South an early review for admission to Vanderbilt’s Master of Science in Nursing program.
Under the Sewanee-Vanderbilt Partnership, students will spend the first four academic years of study in a liberal arts program at Sewanee, and the remaining two calendar years studying in one of the specialty areas of nursing offered by Vanderbilt’s graduate program.
“A student who completes this program of study will have had the experience of an academic career in both a liberal arts environment and a health sciences environment of a major research university,” said Linda Norman, D.S.N., senior associate dean of Academics at VUSN.
“This unique combination of study on two differently oriented campuses will provide a student with training in nursing, strongly complemented by extensive study in the humanities and social sciences. Thus, the student will be well educated to function as a master’s degree nurse,” Norman said.
The Sewanee-Vanderbilt Partnership also involves joint programs in education, religion and engineering. A newly established relationship between Sewanee and Vanderbilt’s Peabody College will expand the options for teacher licensure for Sewanee students and enable them to continue into graduate-level licensure programs at Peabody upon successful completion of courses approved by both institutions.
The partnership also opens the door for Vanderbilt’s Divinity School and Sewanee’s School of Theology to partner in new ways, building on existing collaborations.
Engineering students will be able to spend the first three years of study at the University of the South in a pre-engineering program, and the remaining two years of study in one of Vanderbilt’s engineering programs, leading to a bachelor of arts or science degree from Sewanee and a bachelor of engineering degree from Vanderbilt.
“With the signing of [the April 16] agreement, with the formalization of the Sewanee-Vanderbilt Partnership, the strong ties between our two schools become even stronger and the benefits become even greater to the students and faculty at both institutions,” Chancellor Gordon Gee said.