TALKING POINTS SUPPORTING BACHELORS IN SCIENCE IN NURSING FROM CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES

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1 TALKING POINTS SUPPORTING BACHELORS IN SCIENCE IN NURSING FROM CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES These talking points have utilized the points made by the White Paper prepared by Constance Carroll, Chancellor San Diego CCD, Ron Galatolo, Chancellor San Mateo County CCD, and Roland Chapelaine, President LA Trade-Tech College San Diego Community College District conducted the research utilized in developing these points 1. The number of transfers from community colleges to four-year public institutions has remained stable with some downturns over the years even as the number of community college students seeking transfer has increased. a. 15,000 CCC students transfer to the University of California each year. b. 50,000 CCC students transfer to the California State University. c. 40,000 CCC students are forced to transfer to private in-state or public or private out-ofstate colleges and university. 2. California has been falling behind other states in the percentage of citizens in receipt of a BA degree. a. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC): In 1960 California ranked 8 th in its share of 25- to 34-year olds holding at least a bachelor s degree. In 2006, California ranked 23 rd. b. A 2009 report by the PPIC projected that the state is on track to fall one million college graduates short of employer demand by 2025 if current policies remain in place. 3. Because of the California Master Plan for Education, the three-level system of higher education, which limits the community colleges to awarding associate degrees only. a. Currently there are 21 states in which a community college has been approved to offer four-degrees. b. In California, community colleges have endeavored to create greater access for Associate Degree Nursing graduates to Bachelor s Degrees. The following are examples of the efforts: i. They have added university centers to their campuses. Buildings are used for four year colleges, public and private, to offer courses leading to degrees awarded by the individual institutions. ii. The community colleges have partnered with California State University nursing programs and private nursing programs to develop articulation programs to shorten the journey to the Bachelor s in Science of Nursing (BSN). 4. Funding for the programs varies from state to state but is essentially based on income from tuition and the indexing of costs to the universities. For example, for Florida and Washington, the funding for the Baccalaureate from the Community College (BACC) is 85% of the funding level for the state university with a possible future goal of funding at 70% of the state university level. Estimated ongoing costs as assessed by SDCCD are $293,160. There would be an opportunity for cost recovery through a shared revenue stream. Money is available for start-up costs from grants such as Robert Woods Johnson.

2 5. There are increasing number of areas of the state where either or both the California State University and/or University of California campuses are impacted. The result of this impact is that students wishing to transfer but are place bound are unable to attend a public four-year institution. These students drop out of school completely or must attend a private college at a far greater cost.. 6. By receiving the baccalaureate from the local community college the students are more likely to avoid taking excess units in addition to avoiding the complexities of the transfer process. This degree would be comparable to a BSN from a UC/CSU program. But because the transfer process is eliminated there would be no further pre-requisite creep 7. The changing nature of the health care industry is also changing the entry level requirements for nurses from the Associate Degree in Nursing (AND) to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Even with articulation agreements many student face very difficult problems which can occur in the transfer process. 8. According to the Institute of Medicine the health care industry needs 80% of the nursing force to be BSN prepared. In addition, as more hospitals aspire to be Magnet Hospitals, they focus on hiring BSN prepared graduates. This is resulting in an increased market demand for BSN graduates and a resulting decrease in market demand for ADN graduates. 9. Four-year programs are unable to admit sufficient numbers of students because of lack of faculty and clinical sites. Other limitations include enrollment caps that limit the number of transfer students they can accept or the programs are so impacted that students wishing to transfer are denied admission or placed on a wait list. This makes it even more difficult for place-bound students. 10. Because admission requirements vary from school to school within a system, students may not meet requirements to transfer to another school. 11. While the AA for transfer (AA-T) is intended to resolve these problems for transfer to CSU campuses, it is not yet in place at all colleges for all majors. All of these potential barriers would be eliminated if community colleges could offer some limited technical BA degrees at their campuses, with instruction by their own faculty members. 12. Many of our colleges are in rural areas and the course and clinical work needed for the baccalaureate degree in areas such as nursing is not suitable for distance education: therefore, these students need access to additional on-site classes which can only be provided at the community college. 13. The mission of the community colleges is to serve their local communities. Due to severe regional impaction at the campuses of the California State University, the local community colleges in these areas would be preferable providers of baccalaureate degrees. This would enable their students to remain in their areas and contribute to their own economies rather than be forced to drop out of college, attend a college at a distance with significant expense, or leave the area entirely. 14. There may be a concern of mission creep. According to the USA Today Pamela Menke, vice provost for education at Miami Dade College said she no longer hears colleagues at four year institutions or other critics accuse her institution of mission creep This is because of the cooperation among the various campuses.

3 These talking points have been deliberately kept brief. Our representatives have very little time to read all of the documents that come across their desk. Use the White Paper to flesh out answers to questions they may have. I would not think to change the White Paper. We can add to the talking points. I am including the arguments against the BSN from CCCC with their rebuttals which pretty much are taken from the talking points.

4 Arguments against BSN from CCC This would be a significant amendment to the differentiation of functions provided in the Master Plan for Higher Education, generally seen as the hallmark of the Master Plan. No action should be considered until there is broad endorsement of a renewed Master Plan; otherwise, intermediate action may be deemed as a turf war against UC and CSU to capitalize on cuts to those systems. The Mission of the California Community Colleges is to meet the needs of the community. The community needs to have easier access to the BSN. By offering the BSN out of CCC, the Community College would be fulfilling the mission of the CCC to meet the needs of the community. The California State Universities were allowed to offer the doctorate in nursing which has set a precedent for expanding the mission of the post-secondary state education system. There is no need for community colleges to award these degrees themselves many community colleges have resolved the problem of the need for a local baccalaureate degree by inviting four-year institutions to collaborate with them to offer courses and grant four-year degrees on community college campuses. (When the League staff surveyed colleges about this in 2005, 22 California community colleges had four-year institutions providing classes on their campuses, with some community colleges having as many as five different public and private institutions offering classes and degrees on the local community college campus. And the number of colleges that have done so in the intervening years has increased significantly since then.) While it is true that there are several collaborations between Community College Nursing Program and CSU and private school programs, the CSUs are unable to take in enough students to meet the need. As previously stated this results in students having to move, pay large amounts of money for tuition or not being able to continue their education. Another issue is that the funding for these collaboratives is ending. As the funding ends, the collaboratives end. Opponents argue that allowing community colleges to educate nurses for BSN degrees could reduce the number of registered nurses overall. They note that community colleges prepare RNs quickly and efficiently through high quality associate degree-granting programs. In two years' time, well-trained nurses are ready for work in local hospitals and nursing homes. If community colleges also offered baccalaureate degrees, it is likely that more students would elect the four-year degree, rather than the two-year degree, thus delaying their entry into the workplace. The degree as planned would be earned after the students had completed the licensure exam and were licensed registered nurses.

5 Community colleges already have several very diverse missions. To add another one, especially at this time of limited funds, could result in weakening and undermining the existing primary missions of the colleges. As previously stated, the Mission of the California Community Colleges is to meet the needs of the community. The community needs to have easier access to the BSN. By offering the BSN out of CCC, the Community College would be fulfilling the mission of the CCC to meet the needs of the community. The California State Universities were allowed to offer the doctorate in nursing which has set a precedent for expanding the mission of the post-secondary state education system. This proposal could easily result in focusing colleges more on bachelor s degrees than the existing primary missions of the community colleges and thus lead to weakening workforce and basic skills courses and programs for our neediest students. Currently, hospitals are not hiring as many ADN prepared graduates. The Institute of Medicine is recommending that 80% of all nurses be BSN prepared. If the community colleges don t offer the BSN then the nursing workforce will be weakened and the neediest students won t have the opportunity to advance their careers. This proposal could potentially create unnecessary duplication unless this initiative was designed very carefully. With the numbers of students trying to enter the nursing workforce there are more than enough students for all the programs. A greater percentage of faculty at four-year institutions have doctorates and are paid more than community college faculty. Thus, this proposal could result in inadvertently increasing the cost of education at a community college. If there was a study of the number of doctorates at the Community Colleges it would be shown that there are the equivalent number of doctorates at the Community Colleges and that the pay is comparable. This change would be costly because two-year institutions would need to hire additional faculty and add facilities, yet it is unlikely that any additional aggregate Proposition 98 funding would be provided. Colleges would also have to seek accreditation -- which would take several years -- for the addition of upper-division courses.

6 The facilities are in place. The BSN degree does not require additional lab space. It makes more efficient use of clinical facilities. The additional faculty would be covered not only by 98 but also tuition will offset cost. There are several alternatives to the independent community college baccalaureate, and collaboration with four-year institutions in granting the degree is far more common than granting the independent bachelor s degree. In 2004, Community College Week reported that between 100 and 200 community colleges offered a bachelor s degree program in some capacity, but only a small number did so, on their own. Far more common were collaborative programs with four-year institutions such as university centers or shared facilities, joint programs, 2+2 arrangements, or other kinds of partnerships. As previously stated, it is true that there are several collaborations between Community College Nursing Program and CSU and private school programs, the CSUs are unable to take in enough students to meet the need. As previously stated this results in students having to move, pay large amounts of money for tuition or not being able to continue their education. Another issue is that the funding for these collaboratives is ending. As the funding ends, the collaboratives end. As for university centers, very few campuses can afford the construction of these centers. The programs that use the centers charge high tuitions so that the neediest students are not able to continue with their education.