HSU to Launch Nursing Program on Campus

Dear HSU Community:

We have exciting news regarding changes to our relationship with Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing (PHSSN) and Hardin-Simmons’ new, upcoming, on-campus nursing program.

HSU is in the process of establishing an independently operated and accredited nursing program, which will take up to 2½ years to complete while we also seek a founding program director who will play a key role in the program’s development. HSU’s new nursing program will be housed in the Holland Health Sciences Building, providing excellent facilities for the expansion of our College of Health Professions.

In the meantime, HSU will continue working within the PHSSN consortium until HSU’s eventual departure by 2025. HSU students entering PHSSN beginning in the fall of next year are expected to complete their education and training through HSU’s new nursing program. Currently enrolled HSU students enrolled in PHSSN who are on track to graduate by Spring 2025 will have the opportunity to graduate from PHSSN.

You may wonder, “What is the benefit of HSU opening its own nursing program?” There are many reasons this is the right timing, and right circumstances, to start this program. Here are a few:

Nursing continues to be the top program of interest indicated by our prospective students. By starting our own nursing program on campus, we can attract and accommodate more of these prospective students to grow enrollment and improve student completion rates.

Nursing shortages continue to be critical. The potential for enrollment of aspiring nursing students at HSU makes this is the right time to bring this program onto campus and contribute directly to our community by addressing and solving a need.

Hardin-Simmons already has a solid foundation of healthcare and science programs, plus facilities and community partnerships. Operating an independent nursing program is a natural step in our university’s evolution as a healthcare education leader in the Big Country region.

You may also want to read a joint media statement approved by both HSU and McMurry about the dismissal of the lawsuit. We are glad both universities agreed to dismiss their claims. HSU paid nothing in settlement to McMurry, nor damages of any kind, and admitted no wrongdoing whatsoever. We are gratified that McMurry was willing to confirm that HSU fulfilled all of its duties to both McMurry and to the Patty Hanks consortium, which HSU has been administering for many decades. HSU’s administrations, past and present, have always fulfilled our duties, legal and otherwise, to both entities.

We are truly pleased with the ultimate outcome which gives us what we wanted all along, to either purchase McMurry’s interests in PHSSN and move it to our campus or, as has now been accomplished, sell our interest to McMurry in a fair deal and begin our own on-campus nursing program. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this process. The future of nursing education at HSU is bright, and we are excited for this next phase in our school’s history!

As always, if you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

-Eric

Click HERE to view the joint media statement with McMurry. Also available is Hardin-Simmons’ Original Answer and Counterclaim for Declarative Relief.