Terra State nursing program earns continued accreditation
The Board of Commissioners for the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) granted continuing accreditation to the Terra State Community College nursing program this month.
“Having this accreditation is good, although not required,” said the Program Administrator of the Nursing Program Holly Penhos. “It just shows the community and future students that our nursing program is committed to excellence. There are standards and criteria that we have to meet that says we have gone above and beyond.”
Dean of the Allied Health, Nursing, and Human Services Division Amy Anway said, “We are thrilled about the continued accreditation we received!”
Having this accreditation will help Terra State nursing students transfer to four-year colleges. “When students want to go on to get their bachelor’s or master’s, typically, programs require students to be a graduate of an accredited program,” said Penhos.
The Board of Commissioners also affirmed the next onsite accreditation review for the Fall 2025 Cycle.
“As the program administrator, I was in charge of making sure we did what we could to earn this, but this process is mostly faculty driven,” said Penhos. “Many people got involved, but the faculty really led the show. So, I wanted to send a thanks to all of them.”
Vice President of Academic Affairs Bill Taylor is proud of this accomplishment. “It was a team effort led by Holly Penhos, lead faculty member Sue Kajfasz and nursing faculty Meghan Rich with significant involvement of all of the nursing faculty,” he said. “With Ms. Penhos leadership, attention to detail, and focus on academic rigor, Terra’s nursing program is in a great position to move forward.”
Earlier this year, Terra State also announced the Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) program received a 10-year reaffirmation on its accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).
In addition to being granted continued accreditation, over the past two years, Heidelberg and Terra State partnered with a new one-plus two-plus one BSN program. Also, according to Taylor, “We had a great site visit from the Ohio Board of Nursing. We’ve revised the entire curriculum to prepare future students for taking the Next Generation NCLEX Licensure Exam. Our nursing students will continue receive the best instruction possible. Moving forward, the new curriculum will begin with the new fall semester cohort.”
Penhos and the Terra State nursing faculty will continue to work diligently. “Maintaining an accredited program always requires work,” said Penhos. “It’s an ongoing process to maintain meeting the standards of accreditation. We work hard every academic year to maintain accredited standards.”