Submitted by Whatcom Community College
Whatcom Community College has announced significant program enhancements that will help graduates of its business administration and nursing programs save time and money as they work toward bachelor’s degrees in their respective fields.
“The program enhancements demonstrate Whatcom’s commitment to student success,” says WCC President Kathi Hiyane-Brown. “Thanks to strong partnerships with our peers in higher education, we’re opening new pathways that offer expanded opportunities for our graduates.”
First, a new articulation agreement with Trinity Western University (TWU) will create a seamless transition to the four-year school for Whatcom graduates with an associate in science degree in business administration. Students will be able to complete their bachelor’s degree at Trinity Western’s campuses in Bellingham or Langley, British Columbia. For working adults who want to stay in Bellingham, the ability to take face-to-face bachelor’s level classes locally is a welcome benefit.
Students who successfully complete WCC’s AS degree in business administration will have fulfilled the first two years toward TWU’s bachelor’s degree in leadership. Whatcom business administration graduates transferring to any other Trinity Western undergraduate program will enter with 60 semester hours of credits, which — depending upon the degree of choice — may satisfy the full first two years of the TWU degree. Priority consideration will be given to Whatcom graduates who meet all requirements and who submit the transfer application by the deadline.
The second enhancement is to Whatcom’s acclaimed nursing program. In June, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges approved Whatcom’s direct transfer degree program in nursing. The direct transfer agreement (DTA) is the result of a statewide effort by community colleges and universities to create uniform credit requirements among Washington’s two-year and four-year nursing programs. The direct transfer agreement or major-ready program streamlines the process for students who want to earn their bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) after completing an associate’s degree and successfully passing the licensing exam. Whatcom’s nursing program is among the first in the state to receive this recognition and will offer the degree starting this fall, pending approval by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
The direct transfer degree ensures credits earned at a two-year college align with university requirements, meaning students aren’t delayed in their final steps toward earning a BSN. As a result of the new DTA program, students will complete prerequisites as well as nursing core classes at Whatcom in three years. After graduating and successfully passing the licensing exam, a working RN will need just one year of classes to earn a bachelor’s in nursing. The DTA will be accepted by all signatories to the agreement in Washington state, which includes all public institutions and some private colleges.
While registered nurses can begin work immediately after earning their associate’s degree and license, in recent years, industry expectation is that nurses will have a bachelor’s degree in the field. A 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report recommended that 80 percent of the nursing workforce be baccalaureate prepared because patient outcomes are improved when nurses have advanced degrees. Following the IOM report, Washington was among 10 states provided grant funding to develop this new model that will streamline advancement from associate’s degrees to bachelor’s degree for nursing graduates.
“The change saves time and money for nursing graduates because it simplifies the pathway to a BSN degree,” says Annette Flanders, WCC’s nursing program director. “Two-year nursing programs remain a critical part of nursing education because access to four-year programs is limited. The DTA helps students and patients because it ensures access to quality education and a sufficient workforce of well-trained and ready RNs.” Flanders was a leader in the statewide effort to establish the uniform credit requirements.
For more information regarding either program, please schedule an appointment with a WCC advisor, 360-383-3080, advise@whatcom.ctc.edu.
