In the early 1950s, the Board of Trustees of the new Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro met with campus representatives to investigate the possibility of developing a program to support nursing training. In February 1957, the Woman’s College established the Department of Nursing Education to administer a two-year associate degree program. This program required students to spend two years at the college, followed by three months at Moses Cone Hospital. A mandatory summer session focused on Psychiatric Nursing was also spent at the John Umstead Hospital in Butner.

The 1960s, however, saw the rise of the community college system in North Carolina, and UNCG shifted its focus away from two-year associate programs (in addition to the associate degree in nursing, the college also offered a two-year commercial/business degree option). In 1967, the Department of Nursing Education and its associate degree program were phased out when a four-year baccalaureate nursing school opened at UNCG. This pin was given to Johana Dee Renfro Roberts, Class of 1965.

Supplemental Materials

Oral histories about nursing at UNCG

Spartan Story about founding dean of nursing at UNCG

Spartan Story about Department of Nursing Education at UNCG

Department of Nursing Education Records