June 28, 2001

Ramapo College and UMDNJ Team Up to Offer Master of Science in Nursing Program

(Mahwah) – Ramapo College of New Jersey and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey have received approval to jointly offer courses leading to a Master of Science in Nursing with a nursing education track. The 35-credit degree will focus on the preparation of nurses to work as nursing faculty in higher education or as nurse educators in health agencies.

"It has been acknowledged that there is a shortage of nurses in the state," said Kathleen Burke, Ph.D., director of the master’s program at Ramapo and assistant dean of the UMDNJ School of Nursing. "But there also is an impending shortage of nursing faculty. Nursing faculty are aging and in order to meet the need, this program will prepare nurses at the master’s level to work within nursing education."

In addition, a post-master’s certificate program will be offered, designed for those nurses holding a master’s degree in nursing who are interested in pursuing nursing education.

Criteria for admission to the degree program include graduation from an approved nursing degree program or completion of the UMDNJ-SN Transition Program for applicants with non-nursing baccalaureate degrees, an undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (4.0 scale) for all nursing courses and full-time experience as a practicing registered professional nurse. The deadline for January admission is October 15; April 15 is the deadline for September admission.

For more information about the program including the complete course listing and admission requirements, call Kathleen Burke, (201) 684-7749.