Changes are coming to the Kent State University at Tuscarawas nursing program this spring. Starting in January of 2023, the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program will begin offering admissions to the program two times a year, for both the fall and spring semesters.
This transition will benefit those students who might have had to delay starting in the fall. Previously, students applying to the program in the summer needed to wait a year to enter the ADN program. Now, students will be able to start nursing classes in January. Offering all nursing courses each semester will also provide students with more flexibility in their schedules.
“The nursing faculty and I are really excited about this change for many reasons,” said Dr. Mariann Harding, interim director of the ADN program. “Over the next year, we will be able to start offering all our core nursing classes every semester. We are really excited about the flexibility that this will allow our students. Many of our students have life obligations – some are working, some have family obligations. These obligations do not go away when the student starts school. For some, the only way they can afford to go back to school is to keep working.”
Harding explained that by offering all courses each semester, students can more easily transition to a part-time schedule or take a semester off if needed without having to wait a year to return to school because a needed course is not being offered.
The twice a year admissions change will also help alleviate the nursing shortages that continue in area communities and across the country due to the pandemic.
“This shortage has impacted our area, with unfilled nursing positions in most of our local facilities,” said Harding. “We think that moving to twice yearly admissions will help to ensure a steady supply of new nurses. This should benefit our community and help us to assist with meeting our local healthcare needs.”
For more information about the ADN program at Kent State Tuscarawas, contact Harding at mhardi10@kent.edu or Charity Waugh, ADN academic program specialist, at cwaugh@kent.edu.
Applications for the January class are open and available at https://kent.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0iUDEr1zREyCmto.