Richland Community College and Millikin University entered into a new agreement that will allow Richland nursing graduates to seamlessly transfer to Millikin University and complete their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Richland Community College and Millikin University’s new RN-BSN Dual Admission Program is designed to ensure the transfer of credits between the Associate in Applied Science in Nursing at Richland to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing completion program at Millikin.
The RN-BSN program is designed to accommodate the schedules of busy registered nurses who want to advance their education and increase their career options. Students can complete the necessary coursework in a primarily online environment with supervised clinical experiences in the community.
“We are committed to expanding educational opportunities for seamless transition in nursing education,” said Shelly Baldwin, nursing program director at Richland Community College. “The recently signed agreement with Millikin provides our ADN students the opportunity to be admitted to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing completion program while pursuing their ADN requirements at Richland. Dually admitted students receive a tuition discount at Millikin and access to additional university resources.”
“Millikin University and Richland Community College have shared a long history of collaboration,” said Dr. Elizabeth Gephart, acting director for the Millikin School of Nursing. “The nursing programs at each of the institutions recognized the need to simplify and support nursing students who are graduating from Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs, and licensed by the State of Illinois as a Registered Professional Nurse (RN), to be able to seamlessly move into an upper division university to pursue their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The ideal pathway is a dedicated RN to BSN program.”
Millikin Provost Dr. Jeff Aper noted, “Millikin University and Richland Community College continue to work as partners in creating educational opportunities for people of our immediate region and beyond. Nursing is one of those areas where the excellent work done by faculty at both Richland and Millikin opens the doors for increasing numbers of very well-prepared nurses to enter the profession. As demand for such professionals continues to grow, this kind of partnership helps assure that we maximize our capacity to meet the needs of the larger health profession now and on into the future. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our colleagues at Richland to serve the people of Decatur, Macon County, Illinois and beyond.”