Beginning in the fall of 2009, Eastern will be offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to undergraduates.
A nursing department has been in place at Eastern since 1980, but a BSN degree has never been offered to traditional undergraduates.
Dr. Mary Anne Peters, chair of the nursing department, expects the new nursing opportunity to draw a lot of interest. Peters said that the university will only be able to admit 40 undergraduate nursing majors each year due to facility restrictions.
“I think we’ll probably have at least 20 [nursing] undergrads this year and 40 next year,” Peters said.
In addition, the university expects to have an engineering program through a partnership with Villanova University next fall. The engineering program, which will be a combination of three years spent at Eastern and two at Villanova, is awaiting a signature from Villanova.
Chancellor Hall said he is excited to see the university expand with these two majors. He noted the large number of prospective nursing students in attendance at a recent open house. As for engineering, Hall added that it is somewhat rare to find a Christian college that offers it.
Dr. Walt Huddell of the mathematics department explained that the engineering program would offer both a degree in mathematics from Eastern and a degree in engineering from Villanova.
Students would spend their first three years studying mathematics and physics at Eastern while taking other core curriculum classes. The final two years of the program would be spent at Villanova taking courses in engineering.