New York State (NYS) Advisory Board to Post-secondary Vocational Practical Nursing Education Programs

A student from the GV BOCES Practical Nursing Program was named to serve on the New York State (NYS) Advisory Board to Post-secondary Vocational Practical Nursing Education Programs.

Lauren Zaino has the distinction of being the only student to serve on this board, which is made up of nursing educators and public employers. 

Zaino attended her first board meeting, held virtually, in December. Her role on the board is to speak of the student experience, providing insight into the issues discussed and their possible impact.  

A Genesee County resident, Zaino will graduate in March with her Practical Nursing Certificate from the Genesee Valley BOCES Practical Nursing Adult Education Program.

It is a New York State Accredited program; the certificate allows her to take the NYS board exam in order to practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse.

Her future goals include becoming a Nurse Practitioner.

“This is truly an honor for Lauren to be selected,” said Heidi Mix, Regional Medical Programs coordinator for the GV BOCES. “This is a great opportunity for our Adult Education Program and most importantly, helps our students to get involved early on in professional committees.” 

The purpose of the Advisory Board is to assist the Director and the staff of the Office of the Professions, Division of Professional Education Program Review, in the accreditation process for licensing qualifying practical nurse programs offered in post-secondary vocational schools and Educational Opportunity Centers. Mix is the acting chair of the 2021 Advisory Board. 

The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by these institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Accrediting agencies, with programmatic, institutional, regional or national scope, develop evaluation standards and criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether those standards and criteria are met.