Sharing Great News Related to CCNE
November 16, 2021
Dear Friends,
I write to share the excellent outcome of the recent Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accreditation process.
On Friday, the school and the university were notified that our Baccalaureate in Nursing, our Master’s in Nursing, our Doctor of Nursing Practice, and our Post-Graduate Certificate Programs were accredited for a full ten years. As Dr. Elizabeth Ritt, chair of the CCNE Board of Commissioners, wrote in her letters of notification: “At its meeting, the Board 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 Commissioners join me in expressing our very best wishes as you continue to promote excellence in nursing education.”
We shared the news this past weekend with Dr. Edward Healton. He adds his congratulations to all faculty and staff involved and noted that the accreditation is “a special achievement and is a very important affirmation of the high standards of performance of nursing at Georgetown.”
Leading and participating in an accreditation process is a major, substantive undertaking. The recent CCNE process was no exception, and I could never thank enough our colleagues Dr. Edilma Yearwood, Dr. Mary Haras, Dr. Deb Dole, Dr. Kelley Anderson, and Dr. Sarah Vittone for their dedication in developing our self-study document. As you may know, self-study reports and accompanying documents can sometimes look like a multivolume encyclopedia set. The work to produce them well is tremendous, and each of our colleagues is deserving of much gratitude and praise.
Further, I express my appreciation to all of the members of our campus and school communities who took the time to meet virtually with the CCNE site visitors. This kind of dialogic process allows us to be reflective and expressive about the work that we do to advance our academic mission every day. Your willingness to answer questions and share your perspectives about our nursing programs at Georgetown was instrumental. Here, I also wish to thank Leah Moak and Amanda Patterson for their many efforts to ensure that all of the above activity occurred as efficiently and smoothly as possible – particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, I want to thank Dr. Carole Roan Gresenz for her leadership of NHS during the accreditation review process.
Of course, this positive outcome may not be surprising given our deep awareness of the excellence and commitment to formation in our undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. For that, we have our faculty and staff colleagues in St. Mary’s Hall and around the United States to thank. Through their collective dedication, our students thrive while at Georgetown and, more importantly, leave prepared to promote health and well-being and to advance health equity.
Please join me in congratulating our nursing colleagues on the results of the CCNE process, an auspicious moment as we prepare to launch a standalone School of Nursing in the months ahead.
With warmest regards,
John T. Monahan (C’83, L’87)
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Office of the Dean
School of Nursing & Health Studies
Georgetown University
NOTICE OF ACCREDITATION: The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program and post-graduate APRN certificate program at Georgetown University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).