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Houghton — Finlandia University’s nursing program will continue in a new home.
The Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a bachelor’s degree in nursing at its meeting on Friday.
“We are excited to bring this nursing program back to our university, especially at this unique time in the state and the nation for health care professionals like our nurses.” President Rick Quebec said at Wednesday’s meeting. “Combining a science-focused degree with the needs of industry, that’s what Michigan Tech does best, and we’re excited to support our local healthcare community by providing a graduating class of registered nurses.”
The nursing curriculum mirrors that of Finland, with some minor adjustments for non-tech nursing courses and the general education program. Finnish faculty is coming. The university has announced that it will close at the end of the academic year in March.
At a Tech Senate meeting that month, Curriculum Policy Committee Chair Paul Bergström said enrollment was roughly two dozen Finnish nursing students, along with new and returning Tech students seeking the program.
Although final numbers for the fall are not yet known, the program should be popular, said Provost Andrew Storr.
“The program is going to start relatively small, but I think it will build quickly, especially in the next recruiting cycle when it becomes widely known that Tech has a nursing program.” he said.
The Tech Senate quickly approved the program after Finland’s announcement, introducing a resolution in March and submitting a final recommendation to the board this month.
We did immediately after hearing the news that they were closing from Finland and wanted to make sure we moved on as soon as possible. Senate President Mike Mullins said.
In March, Gogebik Community College and Northern Michigan University announced a partnership to allow nurses with a two-year associate’s degree while attending GCC’s campuses in Ironwood or Houghton to earn a four-year degree through NMU.
Based on the curriculum and its affinity with medical laboratory science and pre-med programs, nursing is placed under the Department of Biological Sciences. The program is based in the Dow Building, which includes office space for incoming faculty and two dedicated laboratory spaces.
Much of the space in the ongoing H-STEM building on campus is specifically designed for other purposes. But programs moving into that building next year will free up more space in existing buildings, Storr said.
“When we get to that point next year, we’ll be able to see what the long-term positions are.” he said. “Our first focus is that we want to have this program implemented in the fall to have continuity, so our focus is on that. After we find that position, the opportunity to carry out development or other related programs will be explored.
In a statement, UP Health System – Portage CEO Ryan Heinonen supported the program’s transition to tech.
“We are committed to continuing to welcome students to our hospital with clinical shadowing opportunities so that they can succeed when they graduate.” he said. “I would like to thank the University of Finland for their cooperation over the years and we look forward to this new opportunity with Michigan Technological University.”
With the board’s approval, the proposal now goes to state academic affairs officers, the Board of Nursing, the Commission on Higher Education and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
One of the companies is meeting next week, Storr said.
Storer said the university has been working closely with those groups to achieve accreditation.
“We expect two site visits over the summer.” he said. “We’ve been working very closely together. They know what we’re doing, and they’re helping us.”
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