BOWLING GREEN - Four nursing students at Owens Community College filed suit against the college yesterday, saying they were enticed to enroll in Owens' nationally accredited nursing program when in fact that accreditation had been in danger for two years.
In a lawsuit filed in Wood County Common Pleas Court, students Tiffany Habegger of Toledo, Brian Williams of Perrysburg, Robin Kelly of Toledo, and Jason Rice of South Rockwood, Mich., allege Owens breached its contractual relationship with them by failing to maintain accreditation from the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
Owens was notified in a letter dated July 27 that the commission had denied continuing accreditation to its associate degree nursing program. The commission said not all of Owens' faculty had graduate degrees in nursing, and Owens did not demonstrate educational effectiveness in several areas.
In their lawsuit, the students allege Owens knew since 2007 that it was in jeopardy of losing its accreditation but "failed to take the action necessary to avert that occurrence" and did not tell new or current students it had lost its accreditation until after the semester began this fall.
"The students went into the program with the understanding that they would have a degree that was really worth something and it was accredited," said Toledo at-torney Charles Boyk, representing the students. "Now the concern is a couple of my clients want to enter a four-year program and they can't find anybody willing to take their transfer credits. Several have talked to various employers like ProMedica and some of the other hospitals in Toledo and nobody wants their degree anymore."
Owens spokesman Brad Meyer said the college had not seen the lawsuit. "We have not received the notice and due to the legal nature, it would be inappropriate to comment," he said.Mr. Meyer confirmed that Cynthia Hall, chairman of the college's nursing department, was placed on paid administrative leave Oct. 15 pending an inquiry into the matter.
Mr. Boyk said the situation seemed like "a bait-and-switch" by Owens because students were led to believe they would graduate with an associate's degree that would allow them to easily transfer to a four-year, bachelor's degree program and get jobs in the community.
"Owens … does lots of TV commercials where they say it will be like a seamless transfer to a four-year school and they play up the fact that they're a lot less expensive than UT or Bowling Green," he said. "In this case, they are saying they have an accredited program. We actually went on the Web site today and it still says that it's an accredited program."
Despite the loss of accreditation, Owens maintains full approval for its registered nursing program through the Ohio Board of Nursing, which regulates nursing programs in the state. Graduates of the program must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses to practice nursing in Ohio.
The lawsuit, which was assigned to Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey, seeks in excess of $25,000 on each of two claims.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at:
jfeehan@theblade.com
or 419-724-6129.
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