AGENDA ITEM III D PROPOSED ACADEMIC PROGRAM LOUISIANA DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE IN NURSING

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1 AGENDA ITEM III D PROPOSED ACADEMIC PROGRAM LOUISIANA DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE IN NURSING

2 AGENDA ITEM III D PROPOSED ACADEMIC PROGRAM LOUISIANA DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE IN NURSING BACKGROUND INFORMATION On August 4, 2003, a team of external consultants conducted an on-site review of the proposed Associate of Science in Nursing program at Louisiana Delta Community College (LDCC). This team was composed of Dr. Pamela O Neal (Chair), Division Chair of Nursing and Health Sciences, Macon State College, Georgia; and Dr. Cynthia Swafford, Director, Nursing Program, Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Tennessee. Both members of the review team are site evaluators for the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC), which according to Board of Regents policy is the mandatory national accrediting agency for this program. On August 8, 2003, the review team submitted its final report, which was immediately sent to the college for response. LDCC s response was received on August 20, STRENGTHS WHICH THE EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS IDENTIFIED The College has informed the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (LSBN) of its intent to develop this program. The LSBN requires a program to have Board of Regents approval and regional institutional accreditation prior to its seeking the approval of the LSBN. The College therefore plans to submit its applications for SACS/CoC candidacy in September 2003 and seek LSBN approval immediately thereafter. Timing of Program Development/NLNAC Accreditation Review The nursing program is being developed with an awareness of requirements stipulated by the LSBN and the NLNAC. A timeline has been established to accomplish these goals within a very short time. It would appear that if the program were to enroll a class in Fall 2004, LDCC would be ready to conduct a self-study for the NLNAC in AY with a site visit in Fall 2007.

3 Dedicated Administration The consultants were impressed by the attitude and dedication of the college administration as they have developed a viable community college in a very short two-year time frame... As the College continues to develop and administrators recognize and respond to community need, they are now attempting to respond in a very expeditious manner to the community s need for registered nurses. Evidence of Program Need Although the nursing shortage is a recognized nationwide phenomenon, the need for nurses in northeastern Louisiana was documented to be particularly acute. The data in the proposal were verified to be accurate with the hospital representatives personally accounting for over 200 vacancies at the time of the meeting with consultants. Nursing administrators indicated that vacancies were due not only to decreased numbers of new graduates but also to a high turnover rate. Two nursing programs, at Louisiana Tech University (ASN) and at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (BSN), are within reasonable driving distance to LDCC... [but] as a community-based program, nursing [at LDCC] would appeal to the non-traditional potential student population who are not threatened by, or interested in, attending a four-year institution. These sentiments were very evident in the group of LDCC students interviewed by the consultants. The needs survey conducted by the Dean s Office verified that a potential population interested in nursing exists at the college today. Program Director [The Director of the proposed program] was verified to be academically and experientially qualified for the leadership position based on NLNAC and LSBN standards. She holds a minimum of a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Nursing, four years of experience in associate degree nursing education, and a total of nine years as a registered nurse working in clinical practice in Louisiana. Coursework in her master's program included curriculum design and development. She assumed the current leadership position at LDCC on July 1, Learning Resources Are Exemplary/Facilities Plans Are Appropriate The state-of-the-art learning resources purchased to date are exemplary and indicate a commitment by administration to excellence.

4 The college is scheduled to move from its current site to 18,000 sq. ft. of newly renovated space on the ULM campus. The consultants toured all current and future locations of the college and proposed nursing program. This included the new college facility, science lab and library on the ULM campus, and potential sites offered by cooperating clinical agencies. A tour of the new LDCC facility on the ULM campus showed the renovations to be well under way. The building included sufficient space to house the current administration, faculty and staff offices, six classrooms, a learning resource center and various support areas. With respect to the nursing program, office space for the director and faculty were included in the plan. Nursing lectures/classes will be scheduled in the LDCC/ULM location or in dedicated space provided by various Monroe hospitals. St. Francis Hospital has volunteered space that will be used as classroom and/or a skills practice lab. Renovation of a large storage area will provide ample space for several large skills practice areas. An elevated platform and space for tables and chairs will provide an ideal location for lecture/skill demonstrations. Although a lab in this hospital would not be on the LDCC/ULM campus, creative schedules could minimize the travel between the two locations. HCA-North Monroe is also ready to renovate a room that could be used for classroom space or pre/post clinical conferences. All of these hospital areas are to be renovated to meet the need of the nursing program at the expense of the health care institution as part of their support for the nursing program. Although located in a variety of locations, the facilities as proposed would meet the needs of the program until such a time a LDCC campus can be built. WEAKNESSES AND PROBLEMATIC AREAS WHICH THE EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS IDENTIFIED, WITH RESPONSES FROM LDCC Students Admission Policies and Procedures Are Needed The Nursing Program must develop appropriate student admission policies and procedures. A point system for selective admissions [has been developed]. Points are given for accomplishments that have proven to be indicators of success in nursing programs. These include quality of high school work, prerequisite work, and non-nursing college courses which meet the requirements for completion of the program. Points are calculated based on the information submitted in the applicant s file.

5 The Nursing Program Admissions Committee will be composed of the Director of the Division of Nursing, a nursing faculty member, and another non-nursing faculty member of the faculty or staff. The Committee will review all applications for admission to the Nursing Program and select students based solely on objective criteria outlined on the scoring rubric. Approximately 30 students will be selected, with 8 students selected as alternates. Staff Note: The College has also defined criteria for admission to a subset of the proposed program, the LPN (Licensed Practical Nursing) to RN Program. Student Recruitment Program Necessary The College should develop a program to promote/recruit potential student to provide for a continuous population of pre-nursing students. As a part of overall institutional development, Delta has employed a full-time Recruiter and a full-time Public Relations Coordinator. Both of these positions are charged with the task of actively promoting and recruiting potential students. Both of these individuals are working to develop a marketing and recruitment plan for the institution... the nursing program will be a key element of that plan. Student Financial Assistance Program Essential The College should continue to develop partnerships with health care institutions to provide financial assistance to students until federal financial aid programs are available. The healthcare community as a whole has been extremely supportive of Delta and our efforts to develop a nursing program. Delta will continue to develop these relationships by pursuing funding for scholarships, endowed professorships, equipment, and space. Additional Faculty Are Critical The College must hire four academically and experientially qualified faculty who meet the LSBN and

6 NLNAC guidelines. The Division of Nursing will adhere to LSBN regulations and NLNAC guidelines by hiring four new faculty within six months prior to the start of the first clinical course. Delta will have a total of four full-time faculty in January 2004, six months prior to the projected start of the program in Fall [and] faculty will develop the curriculum using the existing framework as stated in LSBN Regulations and NLNAC guidelines. Library Collection Should Be Coordinated with ULM The College should continue to develop the collection of learning resources that will eventually be housed in a LDCC Library and Learning Resource Center... The LDCC librarian should work in cooperation with the ULM library staff to weed and update nursing holdings there. Delta has employed a full-time Director of Library and Learning Resources [whose office is housed] in the ULM Library. The Director will work closely with the Dean of the Library at ULM to make purchases to support the proposed program and to supplement the materials already available at the university library. Additionally, the Director will work to weed out and update the nursing holdings there. It should be noted that Delta is planning to build its own library to house its own resource materials as a part of the building of its new campus. This new facility will likely be in place by Fall 2007 and will include a separate space for library resources. Overall Curricular Refinement Needed Nursing faculty must develop a curriculum that flows from the program philosophy/mission, through an organizing framework, with a logical progression of courses with identified outcomes and learning activities, to achieve desired program objectives/outcomes... Continue to develop drafts of the curriculum material in preparation for LSBN approval. Curriculum material continues to be developed and refined by the Director of Nursing. As per LSBN Regulations, the full curriculum will be developed by the faculty. During this development phase, the

7 faculty will take into account the congruence of the above items. Also, the curriculum will be updated annually by the faculty to reflect current educational instruction. Course Sequencing/Distribution of Credits Must Be Revised Review and revise the sequence of nursing and general education courses and the distribution of nursing credits in advance of submitting the proposal to the Board of Regents. These have been reviewed and revised as discussed with the consultants. Creation of Program Evaluation/Assessment Plan One area for continued development is the creation of a systematic plan for program evaluation and assessment of educational outcomes. A systematic, ongoing, written plan for assessment of the program will be implemented according to Section 3523 of the LSBN Regulations. Budget Should Reflect Licensure/Accreditation Costs Based on the resources described in the proposal, it would appear the resources are available to develop and support a nursing program. However, the College should revise the projected budget to include appropriate licensing and accreditation fees. Delta has reviewed and revised the budget for the proposed program. Specifically, Delta has added roughly $10,000 in the FY budget to account for the expense of the accreditation process. Further, Delta has included an additional $900 to be annualized for regular membership in the NLN and LSBN. In addition, Delta has included $5,000 in FY and $6,000 in FY for paying consultants to work with the Director and faculty in preparation for accreditation.

8 Staff Note: The proposed program s budget is included in the Appendix. STAFF ANALYSIS Need for the proposed program is acute. Student interest is high. The College has responded appropriately and substantively to all ERC recommendations and suggestions for continued development. The creative efforts to date of the College s administration and the new Director of Nursing have been remarkable. Instructional equipment has also been noted as exemplary. Finally, the support of local healthcare facilities has been very generous, and it appears that their support of the program and the College will continue. The timing of this program must be carefully coordinated. LDCC has proposed this program at this time so that it can be included in its request for candidacy to SACS/CoC. Once SACS/CoC candidacy has been achieved, then the Louisiana State Board of Nursing must decide whether to approve LDCC s program and its graduates for licensure eligibility. The LSBN has been kept abreast of the College s activities, and it appears that the College is well on its way to initiating a program consistent with LSBN regulations and guidelines. Lastly, as required by Academic Affairs Policy Program Accreditation, the College must attain accreditation of the proposed program by the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission. In summary, five crucial components are still very much in the process of development: SACS/CoC institutional accreditation, LSBN program approval, NLNAC program accreditation, curricular refinements, and obtaining needed faculty resources. Given this set of circumstances, the staff is willing to recommend conditional approval, but with stipulations. An implementation date for the program will be decided later, depending on how well the College progresses in meeting these stipulations. STAFF RECOMMENDATION The staff recommends that the Academic And Student Affairs Committee grant conditional approval for the proposed Associate of Science in Nursing program (CIP ) at Louisiana Delta Community College, subject to the following stipulations: 1. The College shall update the Commissioner of Higher Education on a periodic basis its progress toward attaining SACS/CoC candidacy; and 2. The College shall update the Commissioner of Higher Education on a periodic basis its progress toward program approval by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. Once SACS/CoC candidacy has been achieved and the LSBN has granted program approval, then the Board of Regents shall consider a date for program implementation.

9 Thereafter, the College shall submit annual reports to the Commissioner of Higher Education regarding its progress toward NLNAC program accreditation.

10 APPENDIX LOUISIANA DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROJECTED BUDGET OF THE PROPOSED ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE IN NURSING