The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) has lifted the warning from the Marywood Nursing Program’s accreditation status.

The warning status was placed on the program in Oct. 2013, pending a second site visit, which took place Feb. 2014. Following the site visit in February, ACEN made the decision to remove the warning status. In a letter sent to Dr. Barbara S. Higgins, chair of the nursing department, on Aug. 1, ACEN said that the warning had been removed and that the commission would not return to review the program again until 2022.

Dr. Higgins, chair of the nursing department, explained that the lifting of the warning “validated” Marywood’s program.

“It’s a strong program,” Higgins said.

Higgins explained the process of accreditation following the site visit, which included an exit report that outlined how the site visit went and then the next step was an evaluation review panel.

“The site visitors make a recommendation to the evaluation review panel, [which] makes its own recommendation to the board of commissioners,” Higgins explained. Marywood’s program received the longest time frame for accreditation ACEN awards.

“[The program] will be good until the spring of 2022,” Higgins said. “Then, that whole process starts over again.”

Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Alan Levine, explained the six standards ACEN uses to evaluate programs on site visits; mission and administration, faculty and staff, students, curriculum, resources, and outcomes.

“They thought we were doing well on all six,” Levine said.

According to Levine, another accrediting body, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which deals with graduate and baccalaureate-level nursing programs, also visited Marywood last semester. A decision from that visit is expected in October.

“We expect to be accredited by them as well,” Levine said.

Levine explained that the nursing program’s numbers have also gone up for the Fall 2014 semester, with 43 confirmed students coming into the program, compared to 25 confirmed in Fall 2013.

“We have a good program.” Levine said.