Students sue troubled nursing program

[cougarnurse]

And the story continues: Students sue troubled nursing program | The Columbus Dispatch

Nursing students say their reputations have been damaged and their degrees tainted by a community college that lost accreditation for its nursing program.

Three lawsuits involving nearly 90 students have been filed against Owens Community College.

The school, with campuses in Toledo and Findlay, lost its nursing accreditation this past summer after being warned about problems two years ago.

The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission put the college's program on probation in 2007 because not enough faculty members held master's degrees in nursing.

The nursing students think the college misrepresented itself as having an accredited program when it was in trouble and that school leaders kept students in the dark, said attorney Rex Elliott, who represents several students.

"These are all students who attended Owens College believing it was accredited," Elliott said. "If they had said to the world, 'Here's what we have, we have a nursing program but it's on probation and we may lose accreditation,' no one would have come to their college."

What's worse is that everyone now knows about the trouble, he said. "The reputation of the degree has been significantly watered down," Elliot said.

School spokesman Brad Meyer would not comment last last week on the lawsuit.

The school's nursing department chairwoman has been placed on paid administrative leave, and college president Christa Adams announced Tuesday that she will retire Jan. 1 instead of at the end of 2010, as originally announced. She did not mention accreditation in announcing her decision.

The students said the school's change in status could make it difficult to transfer to a bachelor's degree program.

Owens is reapplying for accreditation and plans to submit the paperwork in the spring, said Renay Scott, vice provost.

Other posts on the subject: http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/f...college-63754/


http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/f147/owens-nursing-program-not-accredited-59731/

[Marie_LPN]

The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission put the college's program on probation in 2007 because not enough faculty members held master's degrees in nursing.

Hmmm, wonder what the quota was?