College of Nursing Graduate Program Bylaws Washington State University Administrative Home: Spokane Last Revised by Faculty: Approved September 29, 2009 Faculty Senate Approval Date: May, 2010; Editorial changes to incorporate Senate recommendations made July, 2010; Edits October, 2010; July 2011, September 2011; June 2012 I. Objectives a. Degrees offered: Ph.D., MN, DNP b. Discipline: Nursing: Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles (International Council of Nurses, April 12, 2010). a. Mission of the Program: The Washington State University College of Nursing (CON) is committed to inspiring and transforming health care for generations to come. II. Membership a. Graduate Faculty with the Nursing program are WSU tenured and tenure track faculty, WSU clinical track faculty, WSU non-tenured faculty, and WSU adjunct faculty, subject to the limitations and definitions in this document. All Graduate Faculty must be Initial Program Faculty (listed in Section XI of this document) or subsequently approved as Graduate Faculty by favorable vote of a majority of nursing Graduate Faculty through the process outlined in section b.ii below. i. WSU Campus Participation 1. The PhD program in Nursing is offered through the Spokane campus of Washington State University as approved and authorized by the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) of Washington State, and is supported by the Vancouver campus. The master s degree in Nursing is offered through the Spokane, Vancouver and Tri-Cities campuses as approved and authorized by the HECB of Washington State. The DNP program is offered through the Spokane and Vancouver campuses of Washington state University as approved and authorized by the Higher Education Coordinating Borard (HECB). 2. Approved tenured and tenure track nursing Graduate Faculty at all campus sites may participate equally in the nursing program as supporting site faculty with full program rights and responsibilities. As such they are entitled to act as chair, co-chair, or member of graduate 1
student committees; teach graduate courses; supervise research; and act as a program director or committee member. ii. Graduate Faculty Participation 1. Graduate Faculty participation in nursing is independent and separate from academic department, school, or college affiliations. 2. All active members of the Graduate Faculty in nursing are eligible to vote on program issues. iii. Disciplinary Expertise Graduate Faculty in nursing are expected to have a PhD, DNP or equivalent doctoral-level degree in a health-related field. In addition, Graduate Faculty must have demonstrated disciplinary expertise in nursing or a healthrelated field, interest and experience in mentoring and teaching of graduate students in this field, and relevant professional accomplishments. Occasionally a master s prepared faculty member with extraordinary accomplishments in the discipline will be recommended as a Graduate Faculty member who can serve only on master s level committees. iv. Active Research Appropriate to Nursing Nursing Graduate Faculty must be actively involved in research and graduate level teaching related to nursing as evidenced by recent external grant or contract support, related peer-reviewed publications within the last 5 years, graduate student mentoring within the last 5 years, teaching of relevant graduate level courses, or other relevant professional accomplishments. v. Non-Tenure Track/Non-Tenured Graduate Faculty 1. Internal to WSU. Non-tenure track Graduate Faculty internal to WSU include research and clinical faculty. The process for becoming a Graduate Faculty member in nursing is stated in Section II.a.viii below. Non-tenure track Graduate Faculty are entitled to act as chair or member of graduate student committees; teach graduate courses; and supervise research. When non-tenure track faculty act as chair of a student committee, at least one committee member must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who is an active member of the nursing Graduate Faculty. 2. External to WSU. Professionals who are not WSU faculty may be granted Graduate Faculty participation in nursing if they are first officially approved as adjunct faculty for WSU. Adjunct faculty who are approved as active nursing Graduate Faculty are entitled to act as a member of 2
graduate student committees; teach graduate courses; and supervise research. They may not serve as student committee chair or co-chair; Program Director; or as a nursing Program committee member. vi. Other Individual Committee Members. 1. Individual Committee Member Internal to WSU. Individuals not officially participating as Graduate Faculty within the Nursing Program (for example, a faculty member from another WSU department or program, adjunct faculty, clinical faculty, or research faculty) may serve on graduate committees as long as they are a member of the Graduate Faculty in their own program or discipline and their committee appointment is approved by the Dean or Associate Dean of the Nursing Program. 2. External Individual Committee Members. Professionals who are not WSU faculty may be granted Graduate Faculty participation in nursing if they are first officially approved as adjunct faculty for WSU. Adjunct faculty who are approved as active nursing Graduate Faculty are entitled to act as a member of graduate student committee; teach graduate courses; and supervise research. They may not serve as student committee chair or co-chair; Program Director; or as a nursing Program committee member. Application for Membership vii. Graduate Faculty in nursing are listed in Section XI of this document and have been approved by the nursing faculty, Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs, Associate Dean for Research, Dean of the College of Nursing, and Dean of the Graduate School. The list is updated at least annually as described in viii and ix below. viii. It is expected that all tenure-track faculty newly hired meet all requirements for and immediately become Graduate Faculty. Additional candidates for Graduate Faculty participation in nursing should be nominated by an existing nursing Graduate Faculty member or may self-nominate. The nomination should include a letter of nomination and a curriculum vita for the nominee. The Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs will circulate application materials to all active Graduate Faculty prior to voting. Acceptance as Graduate Faculty requires a positive vote from a majority of active Graduate Faculty. ix. In addition to a commitment to maintain the highest standards of mentoring for graduate students, anticipated contributions or qualifications for all successful Graduate Faculty applicants include one or more of the following: 3
1. History or reasonable expectation of an active, funded research program that can plausibly be relied upon as the source of continuing support of a nursing graduate student. 2. History of or willingness to participate as appropriate in administrative, teaching, and other functions of the nursing graduate program. This may include serving on graduate program administrative committees, serving as a thesis or dissertation committee member or chair, or providing graduate level instruction. 3. History of publication of peer-reviewed manuscripts in nursing or a health-related discipline. b. Continuation of Active Membership i. Graduate Faculty appointments to nursing will be reviewed for continuation of active membership by the Dean of the College of Nursing or designate every 3 years with one-third of the membership reviewed each year. They will be evaluated for contributions to graduate instruction, research, and teaching. Contributions to the nursing program shall be a requirement for continued active membership. Contribution may take the form of: 1. Committee chair, co-chair or member for graduate students in nursing 2. Teaching or co-teaching a graduate course in nursing 3. Supervising research for graduate students in nursing 4. Serving in the administrative and committee structure of nursing ii. Faculty who do not make any of the contributions as stated above to the graduate program in nursing for three consecutive years, will be designated as inactive Graduate Faculty. Inactive Graduate Faculty do not have voting privileges. Initiation of any of the activities described above will result in restoration of active Graduate Faculty designation. c. Discontinuation of Membership i. Upon request of an active or inactive Graduate Faculty member, that individual s membership will be discontinued. If the person s research and graduate activity changes, they may reapply for Graduate Faculty membership at any time. d. Membership Appeal Process i. Faculty appeal of any membership decision in nursing must be made in writing to the Dean within 3 calendar days of the decision. The appeal is voted upon by the Graduate Faculty with a majority vote ruling. Final written appeal may be made to the Dean of the Graduate School within 30 calendar days of the nursing Graduate Faculty vote. III. Administration Administration of the graduate programs in nursing is vested in the Dean of the College of Nursing and the Dean s designated personnel, such as the 4
Associate Deans for Graduate Academic Programs and Associate Dean for Research. IV. Responsibilities a. The Associate Deans are assigned to their positions by the Dean of the College of Nursing. b. The duties of the Associate Deans for Graduate Programs include: i. Provide overall academic leadership for their respective programs. ii. Develop and implement policies for nursing graduate programs iii. Represent the interests of nursing to the campus and University administrators. iv. Direct and oversee recruitment into the graduate programs v. Call and preside at meetings of the nursing Graduate Faculty. vi. Be responsible for coordinating all nursing administrative matters within the Graduate School. vii. Manage the budgets of nursing graduate programs. viii. Submit course or curriculum change or approval forms. ix. Submit bylaws change or approval forms. x. Be responsible for the accuracy of all publications related to nursing graduate programs including web pages and catalogue copy. xi. Coordinate nursing graduate course teaching assignments within overall nursing programs. xii. Supervise the activities of the Assistant Deans, Directors and Academic Coordinators as they relate to the graduate programs. V. Graduate Faculty Committees a. Graduate Recruitment and Admissions Committee i. Functions 1. Provide oversight for graduate recruitment activities, including the development of recruitment materials and approaches. 2. Recommend to the Faculty Organization criteria, policies and procedures for admission of graduate students to the College of Nursing. 3. Select students to recommend to the WSU Graduate School for admission to the graduate programs based on the recommendation of nursing advisory committees (described in section c below). 4. Recommend to the Faculty Organization academic policies and procedures related to student recruitment and admission. 5. Ensure the collection, dissemination, and use of formative and summative data for evaluation of student recruitment and admission. 6. The Chair serves as a member of the Outcomes Monitoring Committee, provides relevant data to that Committee, and ensures responses to its recommendations as required. ii. Membership The members of the committee shall be: 5
1. Graduate Faculty a. Four (4) doctorally prepared faculty representing the educational tracks of the programs, and representative of at least two (2) college campus locations. b. At least one of the faculty must be tenured. 2. Two (2) graduate students. 3. Site directors for Vancouver and Tri-Cities shall be ex-officio members without voting privileges (unless an elected member of the committee). 4. The Associate Dean for Graduate ProgramsAn administrator shall serve as an ex-officio member of the committee, without voting privileges, and shall coordinate staff support for the committee. 5. The Administrative Professional who provides support for the committee; not a voting member. iii. Term of Service 1. Faculty a. Elected by the Graduate Faculty for two-year term. b. Two (2) faculty shall be elected in even years, two (2) elected in odd years. 2. Students Students are invited to serve by the Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs and shall serve a one year term. b. Graduate Curriculum and Progression Committee i. Functions 1. Develop the curricular design to reflect the philosophy and achieve the objective of the graduate programs by coordinating content of courses, selecting and determining sequence of courses, including pre-and co-requisites, assessing the adequacy of course offerings, proposing revision in existing courses and suggesting new courses, collaborating with community and campus resources, and proposing methods for curricular implementation. 2. Collaborate with other college and university committees/bodies for formative and summative curricular evaluation. 3. Plan and provide programs regarding curriculum for Graduate Faculty. 4. Recommend to the Faculty Organization of the College matters pertaining to curricula for appropriate action. 5. Recommend to the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and the Graduate School actions related to the progression or reinstatement of individual students. During summer breaks and other occasions when convening the committee is not possible, the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, in consultation with the faculty of record and/or the 6
student s advisor, and in consideration of the student s request and record, will make recommendations to the Graduate School and report to the committee at the next regularly scheduled meeting. 6. Recommend to the Faculty Organization academic policies and procedures related to student progression in the graduate program. 7. The Chair serves as a member of and liaison to the Outcomes Monitoring Committee, provides relevant data to that Committee, and ensures responses to its recommendations as required. ii. Membership The members of the committee shall be: 1. Graduate Faculty a. Four (4) doctorally prepared faculty representing the educational tracks of the programs, and representative of at least two (2) college campus locations. b. At least one of the faculty must be tenured. c. One (1) faculty member must be from a campus other than Spokane. 2. Two (2) graduate students. 3. The site director for Vancouver shall be an ex-officio member without voting privileges (unless an elected member of the committee). 4. The Associate Dean for Graduate ProgramsAn administrator shall serve as an ex-officio member of the committee, without voting privileges and shall coordinate staff support for the committee. 5. The Administrative Professional who provides support for the committee; not a voting member. iii. Term of Service 1. Faculty a. Elected by the Graduate Faculty for two-year term. b. Two (2) faculty shall be elected in even years, two (2) elected in odd years. 2. Students Students are invited to serve by the Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs and shall serve a one year term. c. Advisory Committees i. Advisory Committees provide advice and commit to dialogue with the Dean and Associate Deans for Graduate Programs. Advisory Committee members are appointed by the Dean to a two-year term. The Advisory Committees may include PhD Advisory, DNP Advisory, Family Nurse Practitioner Advisory, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Advisory, and Community Health Population BasedAdvanced Population Health Advisory. Input 7
from community and campus committees will also be integrated as appropriate into the nursing advisory groups. VI. Graduate Student Committees a. The initial selection or subsequent changes of a graduate student s committee shall be determined by the student and advisor, with approval of the Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs. b. Each graduate committee shall have a minimum of three members (at least two from Nursing) who are WSU Graduate Faculty. Students who wish an additional member from outside WSU can submit the prospective member s curriculum vita and a statement about the expertise the member will bring to the committee to the Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs who will approve and send the request to the WSU Graduate School. c. The performance of each graduate student is reviewed annually. VII. Student Representatives Student representation is included in the Graduate Committee structure as appropriate. VIII. Graduate Faculty Meetings a. The Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Programs shall call nursing Graduate Faculty meetings as needed with a minimum of once per semester. Meetings will have a minimum of one week s notice and all attempts will be made to provide a written agenda in advance. b. A special meeting of the nursing Graduate Faculty may be called by petition of 4 or more Graduate Faculty members. c. Telephone or other electronic communication methods will be used for all nursing Graduate Faculty meetings so that faculty across all campuses can readily participate. IX. Quorum Unless specified otherwise, a quorum for conducting business and voting/other decision making at graduate faculty meetings is defined as 50% of the active nursing Graduate Faculty. For Advisory program committees to conduct a business meeting a quorum is defined as a minimum of 50% of the committee membership. A simple majority of the number of votes cast are required to pass a motion at the general graduate faculty meetings and the program committee meetings. In the event of a tie vote in general graduate faculty meetings, the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs will decide the outcome of the vote. For tie votes within program committees, the committee chair will decide the outcome of the vote. X. Amendments to Program Bylaws a. The nursing Graduate Program bylaws shall be reviewed every fifth year by the Graduate Faculty and annually by the Dean. b. Amendments to the Bylaws may originate from any eligible nursing Graduate Faculty member. Proposed amendments should be forwarded to the Dean or Associate Deans for Graduate Programs. Proposed amendments are forwarded electronically to the nursing Graduate Faculty at least 2 weeks prior to a faculty meeting when they will be discussed. 8
After discussion, voting will proceed electronically. Amendments to the nursing Graduate Bylaws require a positive vote from the majority of active nursing Graduate Faculty. c. Amendments and revisions must be submitted to the WSU Graduate Studies Committee and Faculty Senate for review and final approval. XI. List of Graduate Faculty (Junely 20121) a. The Graduate Faculty participants who may serve on and/or chair doctoral or masters committees include: Carol Allen** Merry Armstrong Jackie Banasik Celestina Barbosa-Leiker Sue Ellen Bell Sandy Benavides-Vaello Ruth Bindler Patricia Butterfield Karen Caines Cindy Corbett Neva Crogan**** Kenn Daratha Joanne Dotson Dawn Doutrich Linda Eddy Phyllis Eide Cindy Fitzgerald Susan Fleming Mel Haberman Renee Hoeksel Carrie Holliday Donelle Howell**** Shigeko (Seiko) Izumi Sara Kooienga Suzan Kardong-Edgren Janet Katz Jan Lohan** Sterling McPherson**** Tamara Odom-Maryon**** Julie Postma Janet Purath John Roll Lorna Schumann Billie Severtsen Michele Shaw Kawkab Shishani Robert Short*** (may not serve as chair) Denise Smart 9
Huey-Ming Tzeng Catherine Van Son Roxanne Vandermause Linda Ward b. The Graduate Faculty participants who may serve on and/or chair only masters committees include: Tina Bayne Debbie Brinker* Joan Caley* Sandy Carollo* Julie Dewitt-Kamada** Alice Dupler** Ginny Guido Laura Hahn** Meg Jones* Naomi Lungstrom** Anne Mason** Phyllis Morris* Randi O Brien* Melody Rasmor* Dawn Rondeau* Allan Sanders** Janet Spuck* Ryan Townsend* c. *Non-tenure track faculty member reviewed, approved by Graduate School for ongoing membership on committees; **Clinical Track faculty; ***Faculty external to the Program approved for Graduate Faculty in Nursing; ****Research Faculty. d. The Dean of the College of Nursing or designate is responsible for submitting an updated list of active and inactive nursing Graduate Faculty to the Dean of the Graduate School annually. This shall include all newly hired tenure-track faculty who will become Graduate Faculty based on employment and disciplinary expertise. 10