SALISBURY — Catawba College welcomes its inaugural cohort of students into its new bachelor of science in nursing pre-licensure program with the start of the 2017-18 academic year. The N.C. Board of Nursing unanimously approved the new program for as many as 50 students at its May 12 meeting.

The nine students in the first cohort have all completed a nursing application and a health assessment form, according to Racquel Ingram, chairwoman of the nursing department. The upper-division students, all transfers to Catawba, include Vonetta McGhee Carrington, Tatyanna Carter, Sarah Eloise Ducote, Victoria Lopez, Cherell Louise Martin, Cindra Martin, Sophia Smith, Stacy Sword-Halsey, and Paul Tyler Thomas.

College President Brien Lewis was on hand to welcome nursing students and called their arrival “a culminating moment” that followed five years of “work, dreams and aspirations” on the part of faculty and administrators, and members of the Rowan County community.

“People in the community and friends of the college believe in this program,” he said.

Provost Michael Bitzer assured the students that they can expect “an education rich in personal attention” that blends liberal studies with professional studies.

Ingram noted that 17 lower-division students enrolled at Catawba have expressed an interest in the pre-licensure program. Those students attended an advising session with the nursing faculty on Aug. 13 to learn more.

In addition to Ingram, other faculty and staff members in the nursing department include Vivian Stamps, a nursing instructor, and Theressa Parks, administrative assistant.

The mission of the program reads:

“The Catawba College department of nursing seeks to prepare competent, diverse nurse professionals to meet the holistic health care needs of a culturally diverse society; using an interdisciplinary approach to blend the knowledge and competencies of liberal studies, and evidence-based practice healthcare models to embrace nursing education, nursing practice, critical thinking, scholarship, and service.”

The pre-licensure program follows Catawba College’s initial foray into nursing with the registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing program launched in spring 2017 in the School of Evening and Graduate Studies. That original program offers registered nurses who want to pursue a four-year baccalaureate degree the opportunity to do so using a flexible block format.

For more information, call nursing department Chairwoman Ingram at 704-645-4508 or visit www.catawba.edu/nursing.