Obviously you will need to secure at least one university partner to launch your ATB Program. In fact, it may be best to secure just one partner to begin your program, work to get the program running smoothly, and then consider adding additional university partners who offer excellent BSN opportunities to your ADN students.
Consider the following as you establish an ATB partnership(s):
Which university/universities have our ADN graduates traditionally attended to earn their BSNs? These schools are your logical partners. Contact them to propose a meeting to explore a partnership.
Be sure to point out that many of your ADN students come to their RN to BSN programs and ask, what if we could connect our students to you earlier at a time when they may be more open to learning about the content you have to teach? Move forward with the school/schools eager to partner.
Get assistance from your leadership team in drawing up an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding; see sample ATB MOU) specifically outlining how the partnership will work. Advocate for university services and possible tuition and/or fee discounts for your students. Secure all necessary signatures from both institutions.
Assemble faculty from both institutions to map out the curriculum plan. Include pre-requisite courses needed for both the ADN and BSN programs, the dual enrollment nursing course sequence, timing of NCLEX exam, and time/courses remaining to complete the BSN post ADN graduation (see sample ATB dual enrollment curriculum plan).
The ATB Initiative
All of these resources have worked well to date for the CCBC ATB initiative. We hope this site can help to advance other similar ADN-BSN partnerships.CCBC’s University Partners
