UMSON and CSM officials sign agreement.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing and the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) recently signed an agreement of dual admission that will bring a seamless transition from the Associate of Science in Nursing to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree to Southern Maryland.

UMSON has partnered with CSM to design a program where nursing students may apply to both schools simultaneously and progress through the program, satisfying the requirements of both schools. In addition to transfer credits for completed coursework, UMSON will award students 30 credits toward their BSN degree at UMSON upon verification of an active registered nurse license. BSN coursework can be completed through Web hybrid courses taught onsite at CSM by UMSON faculty members.

Believed to be a step in the right direction for increasing qualified nursing candidates, the agreement also will help further the mission of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Future of Nursing Campaign for Action to advance comprehensive health care change. Specifically, it will address one of the eight goals set forth in the IOM report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, to increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020.

“Baccalaureate programs in this country can’t meet this target unless we embrace and welcome these opportunities to establish partnerships between associate’s degree-granting institutions and those offering baccalaureate education,” said UMSON Dean Jane M. Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN. “I’m so excited and pleased that this legacy, in terms of the partnership with the College of Southern Maryland, could be part of our School’s 125th anniversary year, celebrating more than a century of excellence in nursing education.”

She took part in the signing ceremonies in La Plata, Md., along with CSM President Brad Gottfried, PhD, center, and UMB Senior Vice President and Dean of the Graduate School Bruce Jarrell, MD, FACS, right (see photo above).

Students in the program will be granted special student status, which allows them to take UMSON courses while still working on their associate’s degree.