Silver City, NM – The baccalaureate degree in nursing program at Western New Mexico University was recently granted accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for 10 years.

At its meeting on October 4-6, 2012, the Board of Commissioners determined that the program met all four accreditation standards. The Board additionally determined that there are no compliance concerns with respect to the key elements.

The RN to BSN program began at WNMU in the fall of 2005. It was developed so that the licensed nurse could earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. The program became exclusively online in 2007 and was granted initial accreditation at that time. Since then, the program has grown to current enrollment of 80 students from all across the country.

The accreditation process began in March with the visit of an evaluation team from CCNE comprised of three nurses, two nurse educators and one practicing nurse. While visiting the campus in Silver City, the on-site evaluation team had an opportunity to interview school and university officials, program faculty, students, alumni, and community representatives.

CCNE accreditation is a nongovernmental peer review process that operates in accordance with nationally recognized standards. Accreditation holds nursing programs accountable to the community of interest-the nursing profession, consumers, employers, higher education, students and their families, and to one another for meeting those standards.

The nursing program faculty wishes to thank the community, university faculty, community agencies, nurses, students, and families for support during the accreditation process.