March 31, 2008

Gadsden State Cherokee now accepting applications

BY SCOTT WRIGHT

CENTRE – As construction of the new Gadsden State Community College in Centre continues, officials in the Health Services department at the school's main office in Gadsden are preparing to accept up to 40 new students into the nursing program when classes at the Centre campus begin in August.

Construction schedules call for the academic complex to be completed by the end of July. Gadsden State officials are busy ordering teaching equipment and other supplies, completing teaching schedules and preparing to move into the facility as soon as construction is complete.

Students have until May 1 to register at the Gadsden campus or online if they wish to attend the licensed practicing nurse (LPN) program in Centre. To meet requirements for registration, students must have a 2.5 grade point average in their highest level of completed class work, passing grades in a handful of academic courses, copies of college or high school transcripts, and a minimum score on Gadsden State's Compass placement test.

“The Compass test grades skills in writing, reading and math,” explained Health Sciences Assistant Dean Connie W. Meloun. “Students can take the Compass at any of our campuses; it's a computerized test that takes 2-3 hours to complete.”

Meloun said she's planning to schedule at least three nursing instructors to work at the Centre campus this fall semester. At least instructor will focus on health assessment skills and another will teach pharmacology.

“They're all going to work together,” Meloun said. “The students won't have one instructor; they'll have different ones who all work together to teach the skills they'll need to learn.”

Meloun also said she has requested a $50,000 video system that will allow courses being taught in Gadsden to be observed by students in Centre, and vice versa.

“We already have that capability at several of our other campuses and we're hoping to have it installed in Centre, as well,” she said.

Meloun said anyone interested in attending the LPN program at the Centre campus of Gadsden State should begin the registration process by visiting the website at www.gadsdenstate.edu. 

“Click on Academics, then the Health Sciences link,” Meloun said. “Then click on the Nursing Education link to get to the application and a list of all the information needed to apply to the LPN program.”

Meloun said it's not too late for someone who thinks the LPN program might be the right career move to begin the process of getting registered for fall classes.

“Right now, students have until May 1 to get all of their information together and get enrolled in the LPN program, and that should be plenty of time to do what they need to do,” Meloun said. “Anyone who has any questions is welcome to call either me or Pam Mayo, our nursing advisor. He number is 549-8257. It's her job to help nursing students get together everything they need and help guide them in the direction they need to go.”

“It's going to be a wonderful complex with some of the most advanced equipment and training tools we can afford to buy,” Meloun said of the Centre campus. “It will be the nicest nursing lab in the area.”

Meloun said the three-semester LPN program is intense and time-consuming. But she said the Health Sciences division works with students to offer as many classes as possible every semester in order to accommodate different lifestyles, commitments and schedules.

“A lot of our students have work and families and a lot of other responsibilities and we do offer what we call an 'alternative track',” she said. “We'll work out a plan to help the student complete the program in the shortest amount of time possible based on their unique situation.”

“We have some classes that are time-consuming,” she said. “For example, Nursing 102, which is nursing fundamentals, is a six-hour course, but they spend three of that in class every week, six hours a week in a lab and three in clinicals. So, that's a total of 12 contact hours each week.”

Meloun said she'll consider Gadsden State's first year in its new home in Centre to be a success if all 40 first-year LPN students complete their training on schedule.

“It's a difficult program, and it should be because when students are through they'll be making decisions that affect peoples' lives,” she said. “We have very good nursing instructors who work very hard, and we have high standards that must be met. It's hard work, but people in the hospital want to know that their nurses know what they're doing. We feel like our students get that professionalism here.”