University to expand nursing program nationwide
Officials in the Bouvé College School of Nursing plan to expand the school’s bachelor’s and master’s programs nationwide next year through online offerings as part of a partnership with Orbis Education. The partnership intends to target what an Orbis press release called a “nursing shortage.”
The demand for nurses with bachelor’s and graduate-level degrees will increase to 80 percent according to a 2010 Institute of Medicine report.
The Indiana-based Orbis partners with leading nursing schools and health care providers to “address local nursing shortages and deliver better quality of care,” according to the company’s website.
The university and Orbis will focus particularly on nurse practitioner programs, which are in high demand according to a statement from Orbis. Northeastern plans to expand all of its nursing programs, including graduate-level programs.
“Expanding the capacity of Northeastern’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs will continue our corporate goal of alleviating the real nursing shortage that our nation faces,” Orbis Chief Executive Daniel Briggs said in the statement.
– Colin Young, News Staff
NU community lashes out at Forbes ranking
Northeastern students, faculty and alumni took to the Internet to dispute Forbes Magazine’s list of “America’s Top Colleges,” which ranked Northeastern 534th in the nation. Many said the collection method determined by Washington D.C.-based think tank The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, put the university at a disadvantage.
The center counted each school’s four-year graduation rate as 17.5 percent of its overall score, but did not account for Northeastern’s five year co-op program. The data used, from 2009, lists the university’s four-year graduation rate as 0.0 percent.
“The Forbes ranking is deeply flawed because it turns Northeastern’s greatest strength, [the] co-op, into a weakness,’’ Northeastern spokesman Michael Armini told the Boston Globe in an Aug. 5 article.
Other criteria included students’ reviews on RateMyProfessor.com, the number of alumni listed in the magazine’s ‘Who’s Who in America’ feature and student debt.
– Colin Young, News Staff
NUPD promotes new Lieutenant
The Northeastern Division of Public Safety (NUPD) announced last week the promotion of Detective Sergeant Jim Casinelli to the position of detective lieutenant and commander of the Special Services Unit.
Det. Lt. Casinelli joined NUPD in 1987 and was promoted to detective sergeant in 2004.
“Over the course of his career at Northeastern, Jim has established a reputation as a relentless and detail-oriented investigator and supervisor,” NUPD Associate Director Jim Ferrier said in a statement.
Casinelli assumed the position of detective lieutenant Monday.
– Colin Young, News Staff
