This will be interesting: http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2010/09/new_bill_allows_lcc_to_offer_bachelor_degrees
Lansing Community College could open a bachelor of science in nursing program only five miles from MSU’s College of Nursing if a bill passed by the Michigan House of Representatives Thursday is passed into law.
In a vote scrambled across party lines, both pieces of the two-bill package passed by a narrow margin — 55-49 and 55-48, respectively.
Each bill amends a different section of law to allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing, as well as cement technology, maritime technology and culinary arts.
Before this bill, community colleges offered associate’s degrees and other certifications, but were not able to grant any baccalaureate or higher degrees.
A decision about whether Lansing Community College, or LCC, will create a bachelor of science in nursing program has not been made, LCC spokeswoman Ellen Jones said.
“We are closely monitoring the bills as they go through the legislative process,” Jones said in a statement.
“We will carefully review and analyze changes to current law to assess any impact on Lansing Community College.”
MSU’s College of Nursing currently enrolls 300 undergraduate students, spokeswoman Jill Vondrasek said. Students hoping to be accepted must complete several prerequisite courses and have an overall GPA of at least 2.75.
Vondrasek did not comment on whether the college was concerned about a potential program at LCC.
Not including nursing, the other three degrees are not currently programs at any Michigan public university, said state Rep. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, the sponsor of one of the bills.
Allowing community colleges to create programs in these areas is a niche audience and will not harm universities like MSU, he said.
Nursing was included in the bill to help relieve overcrowding in university programs and shift more students to a high-need field, said state Rep. John Walsh, R-Livonia, the sponsor of the other bill in the package.
“The waiting lists (for nursing programs) are so long and programs are so overwhelmed at the universities that this was a way on a very, very limited basis to address these demands and the demands of employers,” Walsh said.
The legislation was designed in large part for students in northern Michigan. Sheltrown said students living farther away from universities might not be able to get the schooling they need to complete a bachelor’s degree.
“(Students are) working and they’re trying to better themselves and get into an area with some growth, and they got to the community college and then they have the transfer down to the University of Michigan or Michigan State in order to complete their studies,” Sheltrown said.
“It makes it more difficult for those in northern Michigan.”
However, community colleges are not the same as universities, and should not be treated as though they are, said state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, who voted against the legislation.
“Baccalaureate degrees should be given by universities and if there’s a problem in that universities have not offered a curriculum, such as in three of the four areas that were designated in the bills, then … (universities and community colleges should) get together and offer a degree,” Meadows said. “We set them up differently on purpose, and this erodes that difference.”
Allies in the state Senate should allow the bills to pass before the end of the legislative session Dec. 31, Sheltrown said.
“We have our supporters over in the Senate who are very interested in getting this bill out,” Sheltrown said.
“It makes sense in the times we have in Michigan to be able to do this.”
From The State News.com
Lansing Community College could open a bachelor of science in nursing program only five miles from MSU’s College of Nursing if a bill passed by the Michigan House of Representatives Thursday is passed into law.
In a vote scrambled across party lines, both pieces of the two-bill package passed by a narrow margin — 55-49 and 55-48, respectively.
Each bill amends a different section of law to allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing, as well as cement technology, maritime technology and culinary arts.
Before this bill, community colleges offered associate’s degrees and other certifications, but were not able to grant any baccalaureate or higher degrees.
A decision about whether Lansing Community College, or LCC, will create a bachelor of science in nursing program has not been made, LCC spokeswoman Ellen Jones said.
“We are closely monitoring the bills as they go through the legislative process,” Jones said in a statement.
“We will carefully review and analyze changes to current law to assess any impact on Lansing Community College.”
MSU’s College of Nursing currently enrolls 300 undergraduate students, spokeswoman Jill Vondrasek said. Students hoping to be accepted must complete several prerequisite courses and have an overall GPA of at least 2.75.
Vondrasek did not comment on whether the college was concerned about a potential program at LCC.
Not including nursing, the other three degrees are not currently programs at any Michigan public university, said state Rep. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, the sponsor of one of the bills.
Allowing community colleges to create programs in these areas is a niche audience and will not harm universities like MSU, he said.
Nursing was included in the bill to help relieve overcrowding in university programs and shift more students to a high-need field, said state Rep. John Walsh, R-Livonia, the sponsor of the other bill in the package.
“The waiting lists (for nursing programs) are so long and programs are so overwhelmed at the universities that this was a way on a very, very limited basis to address these demands and the demands of employers,” Walsh said.
The legislation was designed in large part for students in northern Michigan. Sheltrown said students living farther away from universities might not be able to get the schooling they need to complete a bachelor’s degree.
“(Students are) working and they’re trying to better themselves and get into an area with some growth, and they got to the community college and then they have the transfer down to the University of Michigan or Michigan State in order to complete their studies,” Sheltrown said.
“It makes it more difficult for those in northern Michigan.”
However, community colleges are not the same as universities, and should not be treated as though they are, said state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, who voted against the legislation.
“Baccalaureate degrees should be given by universities and if there’s a problem in that universities have not offered a curriculum, such as in three of the four areas that were designated in the bills, then … (universities and community colleges should) get together and offer a degree,” Meadows said. “We set them up differently on purpose, and this erodes that difference.”
Allies in the state Senate should allow the bills to pass before the end of the legislative session Dec. 31, Sheltrown said.
“We have our supporters over in the Senate who are very interested in getting this bill out,” Sheltrown said.
“It makes sense in the times we have in Michigan to be able to do this.”
From The State News.com