Upstate Medical (SUNY) Dual Admission Agreement for Nursing

Upstate Medical University, College of NursingDual Admission RN/BSN Program Agreement With Onondaga Community College

SUNY Upstate Medical University (“SUNY Upstate”), located at 766 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, New York 13210, and Onondaga Community College (“OCC”), located at 4585
West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, New York 13215, hereby establish this Dual Admission
RN/BSN Program Agreement to facilitate concurrent admission of students in both OCC’s
Associate of Nursing A.A.S. Registered Nurse (“RN”) Program and the SUNY Upstate
College of Nursing’s, Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (“BSN”) Program.

Objectives:

To align institutional efforts of OCC and SUNY Upstate to foster a consistent pipeline of well-qualified nurses to serve the people of New York State;
To attract and identify qualified nursing students to OCC and SUNY Upstate;
To enable a mutually agreeable, clearly defined, and easily understood pathway from the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing at OCC through the Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing at SUNY Upstate;
To provide student advising appropriate to assist students to timely complete both the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing and the Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing.
To encourage institutional collaboration, academic coordination, and faculty and administrative facilitation to foster success of this Dual Admission RN/BSN Program Admission Procedures
Qualified applicants will be solely reviewed and accepted by the OCC Admissions Committee on behalf of OCC and SUNY Upstate Medical University.
Formalized opportunities to interview for appropriate available nursing positions at Upstate will be incorporated into accepted students’ acceptance letters. Students must be otherwise eligible for employment at SUNY Upstate in such a position to have the opportunity to interview.
To maintain their enrollment in the Dual RN/BSN program, students are required to achieve a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the end of their final semester in the Nursing program at OCC and have completed all prerequisite courses with a C or better.
Students may apply for consideration for the RN/BSN Program both prior to matriculation to OCC or during the first year (24 credits) of the RN program at OCC.
Students will be awarded the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing (RN) degree from OCC upon completion of all degree requirements. Students will be awarded the Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree by SUNY Upstate after successfully completing the program of study as outlined on the SUNY Upstate website
Students must pass the NCLEX exam prior to enrollment at SUNY Upstate.

Course Equivalencies Agreement

Students in the Dual Admission RN/BSN Program must complete the following course requirements at OCC:
- Course Name Credits
  - BIO 171 and BIO 172 (Anatomy & Physiology I & II with lab) 8
  - BIO 205 (General Microbiology with lab) 4
  - ENG 103 (Freshman Composition and Literature) and one of:
  - ENG 104 (Freshman Composition and Literature II) or COM 210 (Public Speaking) 6
  - PSY 103 (Introduction to Psychology) and SOC 103 (Introduction to Sociology) 6
  - Liberal Arts/Sciences 6-9
  - Nursing Courses 30
  - Total Credits: 64
Students may transfer up to twelve (12) additional Liberal Arts and Sciences credits to the SUNY Upstate BSN program. Students may accomplish these additional credits either through transfer of credits taken prior to matriculation at OCC or through cross-registration at both SUNY Upstate and OCC following completion of the OCC degree. The following OCC courses have been pre-approved by SUNY Upstate for this purpose:
- PHI 108 Ethics (meets SUNY Upstate’s requirement: HUMM 320, Ethics and the Health Professional)
- ENG 259 Professional and Technical Writing (meets SUNY Upstate’s requirement: ENGL 325)
- *PSY 206 Human Growth and Development
- *COM 282 Intercultural Communications
- *BIO 253 Genetics
- *These courses are preferred by SUNY Upstate.

The parties expressly agree that program requirements will not be changed by either institution
for students enrolled in the Dual Admission RN/BSN Program without a formal modification to
this Agreement signed by both institutions. Moreover, SUNY Upstate expressly commits and
agrees that all credits attributable to OCC’s 64-credit Associate of Applied Science in Nursing
that adhere to the course equivalencies stated above will transfer to SUNY Upstate’s Bachelor’s
of Science in Nursing program, and that each student who matriculates at SUNY Upstate
pursuant to this Dual Admission Agreement who has attained OCC’s Associate of Applied
Science in Nursing after completing said courses and met the cumulative GPA requirement will
be deemed at the point of transfer to have attained full junior standing at SUNY Upstate. This
commitment goes to the essence of this Dual Admission RN/BSN Agreement.

Administration of Financial Aid

For the purpose of administering financial aid, OCC will be the home institution for the RN
component of the program. SUNY Upstate Medical University will assume responsibility as the
home institution for the BSN component of the program once the student has matriculated at
Upstate. Cross-registration can be granted with financial aid approvals between the two
institutions.

SUNY Upstate agrees that a student accepted by OCC will pay the appropriate tuition to OCC for the student’s full period of enrollment at OCC.
OCC agrees that a student accepted by SUNY Upstate will pay the appropriate tuition to SUNY Upstate for the student’s full period of enrollment at SUNY Upstate.
Should a student enrolled in the Dual Admission RN/BSN Program enroll concurrently in both OCC and SUNY Upstate courses, then the institutions will apportion the charges and revenue from the student’s enrollment consistent with each institution’s delivery of specific courses.

Review/Revision of the Agreement

The Agreement will be effective from the date of signing for the Fall 2020 entering class and will
remain in effect through December 2025 unless earlier terminated by either institution with one
year’s advance written notice to the other. Students then enrolled in the Dual Admission
RN/BSN Program, unless otherwise agreed in writing by both institutions, will be allowed to
complete both degrees in the Program in accordance with the terms in effect prior to termination.
Any proposed changes to courses or program requirements at either institution will be discussed
in advance by the appropriate faculty and administrators at both institutions, and this Agreement
will be amended to reflect any decisions reached. Such program changes will be applied
prospectively to students new to the Dual Admission RN/BSN Program. Students already
enrolled in the Dual Admission RN/BSN Program will be provided with a reasonable opportunity
to complete both degrees under the requirements in place at the time of the student’s admission to
the Program.

Marketing & Communication

OCC and SUNY Upstate Medical University agree to encourage qualified students to participate
in this program through joint marketing efforts and by providing advising, information, and
assistance to prospective students. There will be one acceptance letter provided upon acceptance to OCC that acknowledges the
student’s dual admission to both institutions.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The institutions will exercise the right to share student educational records data governed
by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, with the other
institution for purposes of this agreement pursuant to 34 CFR 99.34 (disclosure to assist a
requesting student to enroll in the other institution) and will disclose this information
sharing arrangement in its Annual Notice pursuant to 34 CFR 99.34(a)(1)(ii).

Coordination

SUNY Upstate and OCC commit to working collaborative to support the success of this
initiative. SUNY Upstate’s liaison to OCC is: Krystal Ripa, Director of Special Admissions
Programs, 315-464-4570. OCC’s liaison to SUNY Upstate is: Leanne Waterman, Chair,
Department of Nursing, 315-498-2519.