Alverno College Completes Change of Control Process for Incorporation of Columbia College of Nursing

The Higher Learning Commission has approved the incorporation of the Columbia College of Nursing into Alverno College, and the transaction closed June 30, 2020, President Andrea Lee, IHM, said Wednesday.

The Alverno College Board of Trustees, which has been engaged in the process for the incorporation, approved the motion for the transaction on June 2, 2020. All Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Department of Education and state requirements were met, and the closing documents for the Change of Control were signed. The Columbia College of Nursing (CCON) was founded in 1901 and has been part of Ascension Wisconsin since 2017.

“We have spent the past year engaged in positive, productive work with our Ascension and Columbia College of Nursing colleagues and know that combining two strong nursing programs contributes to ensuring a diverse workforce to support Wisconsin’s rapidly evolving health care needs,” Lee said. “The incorporation of CCON into Alverno occurs operationally in the true spirit of our founders, the School Sisters of St. Francis; that is, a coming together of partners engaged in a common mission.”

In May 2019, Alverno and Ascension Wisconsin announced that they had entered into a strategic alliance, which included signing a letter of intent for the Change of Control of CCON, grounded in their shared Catholic and Franciscan values.

This fall, Alverno expects about 100 CCON students to join its School for Adult Learning and New Initiatives, with a curricular tie to the JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions. The majority of CCON faculty and staff have also accepted positions at Alverno. CCON students will complete the curriculum under which they were admitted to CCON and continue with their cohort after their transition to Alverno. All students will learn in Alverno’s highly regarded Center for Clinical Education, which houses the college’s state-of-the-art clinical simulation center, and enjoy access to the same curricular, co-curricular and student activities available to Alverno students. When CCON students graduate, their degree will be conferred by Alverno, but their diplomas will indicate that their prior study was done at CCON.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Columbia College of Nursing community to Alverno, where we are known for our intentionally designed intimate class sizes and dedicated faculty and staff,” Lee said. “We are committed to a seamless transition for all as we move forward, better together.”

As part of its plan to expand its health care footprint in Wisconsin, Alverno will grow its existing academic degree, certificate and credential programs in health care and develop new programs, including degrees and continuing education opportunities for employees at Ascension Wisconsin’s 24 hospital campuses and more than 100 clinics statewide. Currently, new nurses in the Ascension Wisconsin system are doing their orientation work at Alverno’s Center for Clinical Education.

Alverno nursing students had a 98% pass rate on the 2019 NCLEX exam, which tests the competency of nursing school graduates in the United States.