WMU Home > About WMU > WMU News

WMU News

Nursing honor society lands official charter status

March 18, 2007

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's nursing honors society gained official chapter status during a ceremony today at the Fetzer Center.

The Bronson School of Nursing Lillian Wald Nursing Honor Society will be chartered as the Upsilon Epsilon Chapter by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Approval for the charter was granted Nov. 16, 2006, just two years after the March 2004 creation of the WMU nursing honors society.

Membership in the honors society is by invitation only and is extended to those undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and professional nurses in the community who have demonstrated superior scholastic, leadership and nursing achievements and standards.

The international nursing honors society has 446 chapters located at 512 institutions of higher education throughout the United States and in more than 90 countries. With more than 125,000 active members, it is the second largest nursing organization in the world.

Officers for the WMU nursing honors group will be Dr. Karen Morin, professor and director of the graduate programs for the College of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, president; Eva Jerome, clinical specialist for WMU's Bronson School of Nursing, president-elect; Rosemarie Nedeau-Cayo, education services instructor at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, vice president; Dr. Judy Hoelscher, WMU assistant professor of nursing, secretary; Patricia Fuehr, clinical specialist for the Bronson School of Nursing, treasurer; and Kim Searing and Sally Vliem, both clinical specialists for the Bronson School of Nursing, counselors.

The WMU Bronson School of Nursing was organized by the College of Health and Human Services in 1995, when the Kalamazoo community lost its only bachelor in nursing program. The school quickly progressed and earned a reputation for its modern and enlightened curriculum and education methods.

As the newest school in the college, the Bronson School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and endorsed by the American Holistic Nursing Credentialing Commission. A new graduate program leading to a Master of Science in Nursing admitted its first class in fall 2006.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/wmu/news