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<\/p>\nGraduates from Northwest Technical College’s associate’s degree program in nursing have a new, flexible and affordable path to a bachelor’s degree, through Bemidji State University’s Operation LEAD.<\/p>\n
Officials at NTC were joined by BSU nursing administrators and academic leadership to officially enter the partnership at a September 16 signing ceremony in the college’s Nursing Simulation Lab.<\/p>\n
Operation LEAD creates a pathway for nursing students to “Learn to lead; Expand their knowledge; Advance their careers; and Discover new jobs” en route to accessible, affordable bachelor’s degrees from BSU. Operation LEAD participants who graduate from NTC are automatically admitted to the BSU nursing program, and all of their NTC credits will transfer.<\/p>\n
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Above: Seated, L to R: Nicholle Bieberdorf, NTC dean of allied health and BSU head nursing administrator, Dr. Ketmani Kouanchao, NTC executive vice president for academic affairs, and Dr. Marah Jacobson, BSU provost & vice president for academic affairs, sign agreements bringing NTC into BSU’s Operation LEAD consortium for nursing education.<\/em><\/p>\n Nicholle Bieberdorf, who serves in a dual role as dean of allied health at NTC and as senior nursing administrator at BSU, said the agreement will create significant new opportunities for NTC nursing students.<\/p>\n “We have an important day today,” she said. “(Operation LEAD) is a smooth pathway for our NTC students to continue on to the RN to BSN program at BSU.”<\/p>\n Dan Voss, director of academic partnerships at BSU, said the program provides NTC students with a “great pathway” for continuing their education — and it’s easy for NTC students to participate.<\/p>\n “You don’t even have to apply,” he said. “You register for Operation LEAD, and we are saving a spot for you in our program.”<\/p>\n Operation LEAD was designed to help working professionals pursue new health care career opportunities, built around a flexible, accommodating schedule. Students can start courses — which last only eight weeks each and are offered 100% online — five times per year, rather than two with a traditional semester model. While full-time students can complete the program in one year, nurses also have the option to enroll part-time if that best fits their schedules.<\/p>\n Voss said BSU’s nursing program was designed around a student who is juggling school as a full-time student around a full-time job as a nurse, while at home having single-parent responsibilities for two children.<\/p>\n “If we can build a program that works for those students, we will have a fabulous program,” Voss said. “And that’s what we built.”<\/p>\n The program started as a partnership between BSU and Minnesota North College. In addition to NTC and Minnesota North, nursing programs at Northland Community & Technical College and Pine Technical & Community College are also participating.<\/p>\n Other benefits for Operation LEAD students include access to one of 20 scholarships — either a $1,000 transfer scholarship, a $2,500 Minnesota Workforce Development Scholarship, or both — that are reserved specifically for Operation LEAD nursing students. Participants also can meet with BSU academic advisors and register for BSU courses on-site at their two-year college. Every Operation LEAD student also receives a personalized graduation plan, and BSU nursing graduates also complete Public Health Nurse Registration and End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium certifications, in addition to a bachelor’s degree.<\/p>\n Job opportunities for Minnesota nurses are projected to increase significantly in the next decade. According to Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development<\/i><\/a>, registered nurses are the fourth-most in-demand profession in Minnesota. DEED projects more than 41,000 open positions in the next 10 years and more than 5 percent growth in the number of available jobs.<\/p>\nAdditional benefits for participants<\/h2>\n
Bachelor’s degrees expand career prospects<\/h2>\n