KINGSPORT — Nurses in northeast Tennessee now have the opportunity to earn an advanced degree in nursing practice from the University of Tennessee without leaving home.
UT’s partnership with the Kingsport Center for Higher Education offers area students a direct connection to UT Chattanooga’s new web-delivered doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program.
The Kingsport Center provides on-site access to computers, equipment and study areas to students enrolled in UT’s more than 40 web-delivered programs, including the DNP program at UTC.
The 34-credit-hour program targets nursing professionals seeking advanced, specialty nursing education. Applications are being accepted now for the spring 2011 semester and working professionals have the option to study part-time.
The new program, approved by UT officials in June 2010 and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in July, increases access for students and will address the region’s demand for more nursing faculty and administrators.
Creation of the program also was driven by new standards of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, which require all advanced practice nurses to have a clinical doctorate beginning in 2015.
Prospective students can learn more about the DNP program, as well as UT’s other online offerings, by visiting www.tennessee.edu/system/ut_online/.
Gloria Gammell oversees UT’s day-to-day involvement with the Center. She assists prospective students with their academic exploration and application processes and is responsible for marketing University degree and certificate programs and serving as a liaison with UT campuses, institutes and administration.
Gammell may be reached at ggammell@tennessee.edu or (423)354-2498.