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GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Grambling State University officials will meet with the Louisiana State Board of Nursing next month to learn the fate of the university's undergraduate nursing program.
For the past three years Grambling's undergraduate nursing program has been on the board's "conditional approval" list because it has not maintained an 80 percent passing rate by students taking the NCLEX exam, which is required to get a nursing license.
LSBN Executive Director Dr. Karen Lyon tells The News-Star (http://tnsne.ws/1tpJrzj) while the school has been on conditional approval the past three years, the board decided last year Grambling would not be allowed to admit students into the undergraduate program.
The board will meet Feb. 19 in Baton Rouge where Lyon expects the board will take some action. The most serious sanction would be the elimination of the university's undergraduate nursing program.
If GSU's undergraduate program is eliminated, the university would have to go through the lengthy process of starting a program anew.
The board could opt to keep GSU on conditional approval with the requirement the university doesn't admit any new students.
The program currently has 201 undergraduate nursing students and 10 graduate students.
GSU Provost Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Janet Guyden said losing the undergraduate nursing program would be devastating, tarnishing the reputation of the institution and decreasing student enrollment.
"That program has had a strong reputation for years. I cannot even put into words what that loss would mean. We've worked diligently to ensure that doesn't happen," Guyden said.
GSU has revamped curriculum, assessment and testing to bring the program more in line with the type of material included on the NCLEX exam.
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Information from: The News-Star, http://www.thenewsstar.com
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