IUSON BL graduates the first-ever cohort from our accelerated 2nd degree program

At the end of 2019, IUSON BL returned to IU’s historic President’s Hall to make a little history of our own.  There, on December 14th, we graduated the very first cohort from our accelerated 2nd degree track.

With our accelerated 2nd degree track, students with a bachelor’s degree in a health sciences or related field can earn their BSN from IUSON BL in just four semesters of intense study.  Fifteen students from our accelerated track graduated that day, along with 3 students from our RN to BSN Online Degree Completion Option.

• Speakers on that historic day included IUSON Dean Robin Newhouse, Associate Dean Mary Lynn Davis-Ajami, and Dr. Amy Hagedorn Wonder, who gave the graduation address. 
• Abby Lovely – sporting a graduation cap that said “life is full of tiny miracles” – was selected by her classmates to be the day’s class spokesperson:  her speech focused on the many challenges and rewards she experienced as an accelerated 2nd degree student, experiences that were shared by her classmates. 
• Haubstadt, IN’s Deidre Wursta – a graduate of our RN to BN Online Degree Completion Option – received special recognition as the recipient of the Elizabeth Grossman award for academic excellence.  Named after a prior IUSON dean, the Elizabeth Grossman Award is for the nursing student with the highest GPA in nursing courses across all nine IUSON campuses!

In the weeks prior to the December Recognition Ceremony, we profiled our accelerated 2nd degree students on our social media sites.  These profiles showed our students to be ambitious, diverse, driven, and wholly committed to addressing the health care disparities experienced by underserved communities at home and abroad.

We wish them all the very best and can hardly wait to see the difference they are going to make!