PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College's two-year nursing program is being accredited through 2023, bringing relief to the beleaguered program. 

 

College officials were notified this week that the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing has restored continuing accreditation to the Associate Degree of Nursing program for the next four years. In its notification to the college, ACEN acknowledged that deliberations on the change in status centered on the materials that were submitted to the board following the visit by the peer accreditation team.

 

In mid-April, BCC announced that it would voluntarily and temporarily suspend admission to the first year of its nursing program for fall 2019. The ACEN announcement does not change this decision. 

 

"BCC has developed and is implementing a systematic evaluation plan," said Jennifer Berne, BCC's vice president for academic affairs. "To do this work effectively, our team of faculty and staff will use the 2019-2020 academic year to continue making systematic improvements to our internal curricular processes and make the adjustments recommended by our accrediting and licensing bodies; Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing and ACEN."

 

Both the ACE and the board last July cited the college on a number of issues, which college officials have characterized as "housekeeping," and dropped the state accreditation to "approval with warning."

 

ACEN had reviewed the program during its March board meeting and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing also did a site visit last fall. The organizations had both filed a number of recommendations regarding curriculum and outcomes and the decision to temporarily suspend the program was made to fully implement those changes.

 

The change in status last year was triggered by a low percentage of graduates passing the National Council Licensure Examination exam for nurses to become certified. In 2017, just 74 percent of the program's graduates passed the exam on their first try. The college reported that number had been bolstered to 84 percent in 2018.

 

College officials had expected the program would continue accreditation. 

 

ACEN accreditation certifies that a nursing program adheres to the highest national standards of education. Programs must demonstrate that they meets ACEN's standards of quality through an extensive review. Accreditation provides students with useful information for their career and educational decision-making while also assists employers seeking graduates who are highly competent practitioners.

 

"Achieving ACEN reaccreditation is a major accomplishment and one that affirms the high-quality of BCC's nursing education program," said college President Ellen Kennedy in a statement.