Grambling State University - Tiger Yearbook (Grambling, LA)

Page 65 text:

Future Looks Bright 300 Enrolled In Nursing School Three hundred Grambling State University students are currently enrolled in School of Nursing programs. Of this number, 250 are studying in pre-nursing courses while 50 are in the professional program. In August of 1984 the school began implementing the professional segment of the curriculum and the first class of nursing students should graduate in May of 1987. History was made Sept. 7, 1985, when the school held its first capping ceremony in the Black and Gold Room. Betty E. Smith, RN Ph.D., capped the junior level students. ‘The Gramblinites received a cap and black stripe and will receive a gold stripe at their senior level and another black stripe upon graduation. A second such ceremony was also conducted during the spring of ’86. With a growing enrollment and plans for a new building, the future of the GSU Nursing School looks extremely bright. As the collegiate nursing programs began to proliferate during the sixties, Grambling College, realizing the needs for specialized professional preparation for nurses, established a pre-nursing program. This pre-nursing program was developed to be consistent with curricular patterns, which existed at Northeast Louisiana University and Northwestern. In the early seventies, the foresightness and consciousness of the leadership at GC, resulted in the establishment of a consortium with Northwestern. The coalition was to enable the pre-nursing students to complete the first two years at GSU and then to transfer to Northwestern for the professional nursing program. However, it was found that very few students were able to make the transition. The major impetus for the establishment of a GSU School of Nursing was the consent decree, which was settled in 1981. By late 1983 Grambling had hired a dean and several faculty members for its newest school. Approval for the new area was given March 23, 1984, by the State Board of Nurse Examiners, April 26th and 27th by the Louisiana State Board of Trustees, and May 24th and 25th by the Board of Regents. The School of Nursing offers clinical, didactic and seminar instruction in its professional program. It’s approved by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. Admission is based upon the availability of clinical sites and faculty. Students listen to President Johnson’s delivery. These students run a test at Lincoln General Hospital. . Caps nurses. rs Dr. Betty Smith ... | Everyone was all smiles at capping ceremony.