July 25, 2005

Ribbon cutting, open house set for Cowley's Winfield Center

A ribbon cutting and open house signifying the start of a new partnership between Cowley College and Pratt Community College is scheduled for Aug. 8 at Cowley's Winfield Center, 1406 E. Eighth St., Baden Square.

The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. and highlight the schools' partnership in Winfield. The public is invited to attend. Pratt is offering a licensed practical nurse/registered nurse outreach program at the center. The first class will begin this fall. Applications for fall 2006 are being accepted. Priority deadline is Dec. 21, 2005.

Cowley College's new Department of Allied Health Education also will be unveiled. For years, Cowley's Mobile Intensive Care Technician program has been taught on the second floor of the Winfield Center. It will continue to be taught there. Pratt's nursing program will occupy the main level.

"We're excited to have Pratt join us at the Winfield Center," said Slade Griffiths, chair of the allied health education department and an instructor in Cowley's MICT program. "The community support for this program has been phenomenal. We feel this PCC program will significantly and positively affect healthcare in the region."

Cowley's Allied Health Department was formed to better meet the needs of its allied health students. This process will transform the Winfield campus into an allied health education center. The college also will continue to provide allied health classes at the Arkansas City campus and outreach centers. This move has been made in an effort to streamline operations and better provide for Cowley healthcare students.

Besides Griffiths, the Winfield Center staff is comprised of Cindy Branscum, who will continue to teach the daytime MICT class and other emergency medical services related classes; Chris Cannon, a full-time EMS instructor who will concentrate on the evening MICT class; Connie Schaefer, nursing coordinator; and Joyce Holloway, coordinator of allied health support services. Holloway had been the secretary for the Business and Service Technology Department on the Arkansas City campus for many years.

Pratt's nursing program is bi-level in that it provides students with many options. A student could take the first year of class (fall and spring, two semesters) and then take the seven-week long summer class (NUR102a) that prepares the student to take the NCLEX-PN (these students must also complete English composition I and general psychology).

A student could then leave the program and work as an LPN or continue in the program to finish the second (RN) year (and work as an LPN if the additional summer class and general education classes were completed). The second year prepares the first-year students for RN practice.

Pratt's nursing program has a limited number of spots. Students who choose to take general education courses prior to admission into the nursing program, or students whose admission may be delayed a year due to lack of available spots, should consider the proposed pre-nursing curriculum. Prerequisites include general chemistry, and intermediate or college algebra.

Several general education classes are required for the nursing curriculum at PCC. Courses not taken prior to enrollment in the nursing program will be taken in a required sequence concurrent with the nursing classes.

General education classes, which can be taken from Cowley, are composition I, developmental psychology, anatomy and physiology, nutrition, orientation, pharmacology, microbiology, general psychology, public speaking, and computer applications. Cowley's anatomy and physiology class has a prerequisite of principles of biology or biology review. The chemistry class has a math prerequisite.