BY LISA ADDISON
laddison@americanpress.com
Sowela Technical Community College and McNeese State University officials signed a memorandum of understanding Friday to make it easier for nursing students to earn bachelor’s degrees.
The agreement will allow students to simultaneously earn credits toward associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing, said Sowela Chancellor Neil Aspinwall.
He said the arrangement cuts “the time to degree completion and puts the student into the health care workforce sooner.”
Cynthia Nevills, 29, a student at Sowela, said she’s excited about the partnership between the two schools. “I will grab it for sure,” Nevills said. “I’m a single mom, and I already have so many worries and struggles, but this will make my journey a little bit easier.”
Another Sowela nursing student, Ben Ivey, 24, said the agreement “is like a bridge and it is set up now where all we have to do is cross that bridge to our next path toward success.”
Sowela’s associate nursing degree program is designed to prepare students for immediate employment and for a bachelor’s program.
“McNeese and Sowela are here to work together and complement each other,” McNeese President Philip Williams said in a news release. “When we do that, the entire region benefits.”