Graduation time for two innovative programs

This Friday, October 17, Nipissing University will graduate 103 students from two innovative, flexible programs, who may have never set foot on the university’s main campus in North Bay, Ontario.The university is holding a graduation ceremony at Liuna Station in Hamilton, for students graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce from the College Partnership Program, and for students graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Scholar Practitioner Program.
This is the first year the two programs are hosting a joint graduation.
“We’re pleased to be holding a unique graduation for two unique programs,” said Dr. Rick Vanderlee, Dean of the Faculty of Applied and Professional Studies at Nipissing. “Both the College Partnership Program and Scholar Practitioner Program are very different program offerings from the traditional idea of university. These programs are designed for learners who already had post-secondary experience and have a busy life that they can’t ignore, so flexibility and innovation are really the hallmarks. We are proud that we can graduate students from a program with all the academic rigour expected and needed, but in a slightly different way that in turn will change the way they will work post-graduation.”
The graduation will also include speeches from two Distinguished Students, one from each program, selected based on grades as well as their leadership and professionalism. Dr. Mary Ferguson-Paré, who received an honorary degree from Nipissing this past summer and is one of Canada’s most widely respected nurse leaders with 43 years of dedicated service to the nursing profession, will also speak.
The College Partnership Program offers college graduates the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 12 months. Students in the program take courses through a flexible blend of online and in-class instruction. Students log in online to get course work, interact with professors and complete deadline-oriented course work when it is convenient for them. They also get to meet regularly at their college for in-class instruction with local business leaders who act as course facilitators, providing their expertise and experience to help students understand and absorb the theory learned in the online component. College partners include Algonquin College, Fanshawe College, Sheridan College, St. Clair College, Centennial College, and Lambton College. Students from partner sites Lambton College and Algonquin College will have a separate graduation ceremony at a location closer to their home cities.
The Scholar Practitioner Program is an innovative second degree nursing program for university graduates to achieve a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The program was designed by Nipissing’s School of Nursing, the University Health Network, the Hospital for Sick Children, Baycrest, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Mount Sinai and Toronto Public Health, to reshape how and where students learn to nurse while providing a rich and diverse learning experience that maximizes resources like time, space, money and energy. It is highly learner centred and responsive to changes in contemporary health care. It also provides greater opportunity for students to work and learn in a variety of health care settings, receiving hands-on, practical experience and directing their own learning, with nursing academics.?