The accreditation extends through June 30, 2012.

"Accreditation of the bachelor's degree program in nursing is national verification of program excellence," said Dr. Jane Stephens, Southeast provost.

The CCNE Board of Commissioners acted on the accreditation after determining that the program completely met all major accreditation standards and key elements.

"This is an achievement for which the University should be very proud," said Dr. A. Louise Hart, chair of the Southeast Department of Nursing. "We received absolutely the highest marks we could get, which indicates we are a stellar program."

Hart said an accreditation team came to the campus last October, visiting with students, alumni, administrators, faculty and employers. The team also visited a number of clinical sites in the region. Following the visit, the accreditation team issued a report which was complimentary of the work the department has done to revise its curriculum. The team also commended the department on its Model of Knowledgeable Caring which is at the heart of the new community-based, practice-focused curriculum.

Dr. Gloria Green, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Nursing and who authored the self-study accreditation document, said members of the nursing faculty deserve an enormous amount of credit for the work they did during the accreditation process. Every faculty member developed at least one new course and some faculty members launched as many as three new classes in order to place the nursing education program on the cutting edge of nursing excellence.

Receiving accreditation is "sort of like the Good Housekeeping Seal," Green said. "We have met or exceeded CCNE standards in every aspect. We have met the same standards of any other nursing program in the country. That is really important."

The Department of Nursing previously was accredited by the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission. The department sought accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education after Southeast's master of science degree program in nursing received 10-year accreditation by CCNE a year ago.

"We felt CCNE's was a better process," Hart said, adding that CCNE accredits only bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in nursing.

The Southeast Department of Nursing has been asked to submit a mid-term continuous improvement progress report to CCNE by December 2006 that addresses the program's continued compliance with all accreditation standards and which all 10-year accredited programs are required to complete. Southeast's baccalaureate degree program in nursing will next be evaluated in the fall of 2011. The BSN program also includes an RN to BSN completion program on campus and at Three Rivers Community College. The Master of Science in Nursing program includes tracks for family nurse practitioners, nurse educators and clinical nurse specialists.