Last updated on October 1, 2020
By Madison West
Volunteer State Community College celebrated its first graduation of nursing students. The graduation was a virtual pinning ceremony. The event was put together as a video highlighting the students and their accomplishments.
Seventeen students from the Gallatin and Livingston campuses graduated and earned an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S) degree in Nursing. This degree will prepare these students to sit for licensure as a Registered Nurse, or RN. Of the 17 students, 11 thus far have taken the NCLEX and all 11 have passed.
“We are pleased after many years to have our own associate degree nursing program at Vol State,” said Vol State President Jerry Faulkner. “It is exciting to celebrate the completion of our first group of students and to learn of their success on the NCLEX. They are the first of what will surely be many more successful students. We know they will be great representatives of the college as they serve as Registered Nurses in our communities.”
The program is a two-year degree program and it begins in the summer. The second group is taking classes.
Vol State has welcomed a new dean of nursing, Cassie Koester. Koester joins Vol State from the nursing faculty at Lake Land College in Matoon, IL.
“This group recently graduated 17 students. This is the inaugural class for the Vol State Associate Degree in Nursing program. They had a great deal of challenges related to the changes due to COVID-19, but they were able to adapt to the necessary changes and complete the program as scheduled. Awards were presented to two students: Audrey Pavloff, who received the Outstanding Student Award, and Patricia McGee, who received the Clinical Excellence Award,” Koester said.
The Nursing Program is offered on the Gallatin and Livingston sites. Students interested may begin applications for the next class in March. General Education, science, and elective courses that are required must be complete or in progress at the time of application. Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.3. These students will be considered Pre-Nursing students at Vol State.
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