Virginia Peninsula Community College will present an open house Sept. 5 at the Historic Triangle campus in Williamsburg to showcase its nursing program.
The 6 – 8:30 p.m. event will include a campus tour (including nursing rooms and labs) and a birthing simulation. Current students, alumni, faculty and administrators will be available to answer questions and help prospective students enroll in the College and the nursing program, if eligible.
Jenni Jones, director of Nursing Education Programs at the College, said she aims to highlight all the different nursing disciplines on one night.
“Just what we have to offer that other schools might not,” she said. “We just need to highlight why we’re better.”
Those highlights include top-notch devoted faculty and high-fidelity simulations – factors that put VPCC students in high demand.
Jones said VPCC nursing students have gone on to the Mayo Clinic, numerous Hampton Roads hospitals and healthcare providers, and colleges, including Duke University.
“All the area health facilities take our students, and they’re wanting them all the time,” Jones said. “They’re calling us, saying ‘Give us your students.’”
The College’s nursing program offered at its two campuses is a two-year commitment. The Hampton cohorts start in August, and the Historic Triangle cohorts in January.
“We’re really excited for our freshmen that just started,” Jones said. “There are five students in that class that have a 4.0, which is amazing they’re starting the program that way. All of them are really strong.”
Jones mentioned the College recently hosted an information session, where the faculty fielded questions from many new interested students.
“We’ve got calls coming in every day from prospective students,” Jones said. “We’re getting a lot of interest."
"If this one is successful, we plan to have an open house every semester. I’d like to see us highlight both campuses,” she added.
For more information about VPCC's nursing program as well as other academic and workforce development offerings, visit www.vpcc.edu.