Reinhardt University’s highly successful Dr. John A. Cauble School of Nursing and Health Sciences is currently located in Jasper, Georgia. At the start of the 2025 Fall semester, the Cauble School will operate fully on Reinhardt’s main campus in Waleska, Georgia.
Following the successful launch of the program in 2017, naming in 2018, accreditation in 2019, refiguring space allocations on campus in 2022, and securing funds for equipment in 2023, the University is now moving the program. This move allows for additional program growth, greater student engagement on campus, enhanced academic connections and support for students and faculty, and campus community development. The Cauble School will be located in the lower level of the George M. Lawson Academic Center. Funding for the move and the renovation were made possible through a generous contribution by Dr. John A. Cauble and Sally Forest.
Reinhardt remains committed to serving Pickens County and educating students for the health sciences workforce. President Mark Roberts conveyed, “Reinhardt’s entire campus community is grateful to Pickens County Schools and the Pickens County Development Authority for supporting the Cauble School of Nursing while we worked to establish a place on the University’s main campus. It is bittersweet for us to make this decision, but the opportunity to create a place on campus through the support of Dr. Cauble and Ms. Forest coupled with data trends in the program suggest this is the right time.”
In 2017, Reinhardt University established the School of Nursing and Health Sciences with a significant contribution from Northside Hospital Cherokee. With Reinhardt’s highest enrollment that year, finding space on campus proved impossible. To expeditiously and cost-effectively launch the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, the program found a home in the Appalachian Campus of Chattahoochee Technical College (CTC) in Jasper, Georgia, where students and faculty accessed state-of-the-art equipment through a lease arrangement with CTC. In 2018, Reinhardt received a significant gift from Dr. John A. Cauble and his daughter, Sally Forest, to support operations, scholarships, growth, and development. In honor of their generous contribution, Reinhardt officially named the School the Dr. John A. Cauble School of Nursing and Health Sciences.
In 2018, the Georgia Board of Nursing (GBN) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) approved Reinhardt’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. In 2019, Reinhardt University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing was accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Several years later, Georgia Community College (including CTC) shifted its position on relationships with private institutions like Reinhardt. This change prompted the University to find a new home for the Cauble School. Reinhardt forged an agreement with the Pickens County School District (PCSD) to utilize two unoccupied buildings in Jasper, where the program thrived. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, Reinhardt, like most colleges and universities, suffered a decline in traditional student enrollment. While challenging, the University took the opportunity to assess goals, strategies for enrollment recovery, and space allocations. Specifically, renovating and reallocating space will allow the Cauble School to be located on campus.
This year, the third consecutive cohort of the Dr. John A. Cauble School of Nursing and Health Sciences achieved a 100 percent pass rate on their National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exam. The NCLEX is a requirement to become a licensed registered nurse (RN). Every member of Cohort 11 passed the exam on their first try, as did the two preceding cohorts. The group graduated in December 2024.
This remarkable achievement represents the sixth time the program produced a perfect pass rate since its inaugural graduation in 2020. The University’s average first-time pass rate now stands at 94 percent, and 92.79 over the past four years. Comparatively, the national four-year pass rate is 85.53 percent, and 87.75 percent in Georgia.
By successfully passing the NCLEX, these newly licensed alumni completed a milestone toward making a meaningful impact in the world of healthcare. Their achievement underscores the University’s commitment to excellence in nursing education and to providing a strong foundation for its graduates as they embark on their healthcare careers.
