D.N.P. Program Wins Accreditation
RU's Doctor of Nursing Practice program has been granted full initial accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
In a milestone event for Radford University's graduate programs, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) program has been granted full initial accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) in Washington, D.C.
Kim Carter, director of the university's School of Nursing, said, "The faculty and staff have worked very hard to achieve the recognition of accreditation for both our undergraduate and graduate programs. We are proud of our outstanding students and the contributions that graduates from the RU School of Nursing make to health care, especially in rural communities."
Radford's D.N.P. program, which opened in 2010, is the first of its kind in Virginia to be offered in a distance-learning format and to both post-baccalaureate and post-master's degree students. It awarded its first doctoral degrees in 2011.
The D.N.P. program, which was accredited through June 2017, has already drawn accolades. It was ranked 23rd of 79 programs in the nation for student services and technology, and recognized by U.S. News & World Report in the magazine's inaugural Top Online Education Program Rankings: 2012 Edition.
The five-year accreditation was based on four standards.
- Program quality: mission and governance
- Program quality: institutional commitment and resources
- Program quality: curriculum and teaching-learning practices
- Program effectiveness: aggregate student and faculty outcomes
Radford's School of Nursing is part of the university's Waldron College of Health and Human Services. Besides the D.N.P., the school offers a Bachelor of Science degree, also accredited by CCNE and available on the main campus in Radford as well as the Roanoke Higher Education Center.