FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Fort Valley State University received approval to start a nursing program Friday.
The Georgia Board of Nursing gave them the green light to start a four-year pre-license BSN.
The program is now accepting applications for its first class, which will start in August.
The department will be housed in a newly-renovated facility that will include simulation rooms, nursing skills labs, conference and computer rooms, a student lounge, and office space.
Inaugural Program Director of Nursing Lawanda Greene, DNP, and a team of four other faculty and staff members will serve as instructors and support staff for the program.
The program aims to address the critical need for nurses in rural Georgia, and with a need for approximately 200,000 more nurses in Georgia, largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greene hopes FVSU’s School of Nursing can help with the shortage.
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the program request to offer the four-year BSN degree at FVSU in August 2021. FVSU is the second HBCU in Georgia to offer a nursing program. The nursing program is still pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.