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History / Overview

Indiana University is located primarily at the residential campus in Bloomington, founded in 1820, and the urban campus in Indianapolis where the School of Nursing was founded in 1914. The University consists of the following eight campuses: Fort Wayne, Kokomo, New Albany, Richmond, South Bend, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and its Northwest site in Gary. Indiana University is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

The Indiana University School of Nursing was founded in Indianapolis in 1914 as the IU Training School for Nurses. It has evolved into one of the largest and most eminent nursing schools in the nation, offering nursing education through eight campuses across the state, including at the Indiana University Northwest (IU Northwest) campus in Gary. IU Northwest is located on the northernmost campus of Indiana University, a state-supported, multi campus institution of higher education which was founded in Bloomington, Indiana in 1820. The IU Northwest School of Nursing reaffirms its commitment to the following values of its parent institution, Indiana University: teaching excellence, educational access, lifelong learning, achievement of common goals, self-evaluation for continuous improvement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and scholarship that advances understanding of the human condition. The School of Nursing at the Northwest Campus exemplifies this commitment by developing partnerships with students, the community, and health care institutions as we prepare students for diverse professional nursing roles in the 21st century.

The Indiana University School of Nursing is an agency member of the National League for Nursing's Council of Associate Degree Programs and the Council of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs, as well as the Midwest Alliance in Nursing and the Committee for Institutional Cooperation. The School is also a constituency member of the National League for Nursing, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and the Midwest Alliance in Nursing. The School is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, the Indiana State Board of Nursing, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

The Northwest Campus offered its first formal class in Lake County in 1922 as part of the Gary Public School System. At the request of the Gary School Board, the University assumed the management of Gary College in 1933, renaming it the Gary Center of Indiana University. In 1959, the Gary Center relocated to the present site on Broadway. Indiana University reorganized its various extension campuses into regional campuses in 1963, and the Gary Center was the first in the IU system to offer the Associate of Arts program in nursing in 1965

Gary Center became Indiana University Northwest in 1967, awarding its first four year degrees at that time. The first ASN class of 18 graduated in 1967, and Dr Doris Blaney became chairman of the newly created IU Northwest School of Nursing. In 1976. The School of Nursing moved to Hawthorn Hall where it is still located today, and the Associate of Arts program was changed to an Associate of Science in Nursing program. Funded by the Methodist Hospitals, the LPN to ASN mobility option was developed and implemented in 1982. In 1985, three years late, 15 students graduated from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. In 1987, the "RN Transition to BSN" mobility option for registered nurses was implemented.

With continued program growth, Dr Blaney served in the top administrative position for 30 years until retirement. During the search for a new dean, Hazel Malone served as interim dean. In January 1999, Dr Linda Rooda, who earned her first degree in Nursing from IU Northwest in 1969, became the Dean of the School of Nursing.

The IU Northwest School of Nursing undergraduate programs serve the needs of the most diverse, urban and industrialized area in the state. Out of this diversity, IU Northwest strives to create a community dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the value of education. The University and the School of Nursing have a continuing commitment to Northwest Indiana through campus involvement in the region's continuing dialogue concerning its economic, social, and cultural future, university and community partnerships, and faculty research and service.