December 1, 2005

GeorgiaStateUniversity

Academic Program Review Committee

10 Park Place

Atlanta, GA 30303

Dear Committee Members:

Provided here is an overview of the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing. The 2003-05 activities focused on: adjusting to an increase in applications and admissions to the undergraduate program and implementing twice a year admissions to the undergraduate program, implementing the accelerated B.S. program, implementing strategies to improve the NCLEX pass rate, re-evaluating the foci of the master’s degree program, revising the Ph.D. curriculum, recruiting faculty, preparing the Collegiate Council for Nursing Education report and participating in the site visit, and preparing the Academic Program Review Report.

Tenet Healthcare Foundation funds and ICAPP funds supported the accelerated students during this period. During 2004-05 the School received $216,854 in Tenet funding and $155,572 in ICAPP funding. The second class of 48 accelerated students graduated in December, 2004 and the third class of 31 is scheduled to graduate in December, 2005. The fourth class of 24 accelerated students entered in January, 2005, and the fifth class of 32 in August, 2005.

The School adjusted to changes in staff. The School has achieved stability in its staff under the direction of Patricia Grant, the Business Manager. Linda Bryant, Associate Director of Management and Staff Development Services guided the School in process Management. All job duties and processes were evaluated and changes made in response to this evaluation. Two new staff members were hiredand threepositions were upgraded (Business Manager III, Business Affairs Coordinator, and Administrative Specialist, Administrative).

The School also adjusted to changes in faculty. Dr. Patsy Ruchala, Associate Director for the Graduate Program, resigned and Dr. Cecelia Grindel was appointed to this position. Dr. Krista Meinersmann was then appointed as Associate Director of the Undergraduate Program. Dr. Carolyn Kee, SON faculty member and Associate Dean for Research, retired.Four new tenure track faculty were hired, including Dr. Margaret Moloney who became director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, Dr. Anne Koci, Dr. Patricia Clark, and Dr. Laura Kimble. Five new non-tenure track faculty were also hired. Two temporary faculty were converted to permanent status. A mentor-mentee program was developed to help the new faculty adjust to their roles.

The School continued to have full approval of the Georgia Board of Nursing. In 2004the Collegiate Council for Nursing Education (CCNE) accredited the School’s undergraduate and Master’s programs through 2014.

A major accomplishment has been the increase in the NCLEX first time pass rate over the three year period (2003-81.3%, 2004-82.2%, 2005-91.8%).

A major accomplishment has been the increased use of Web-Vista to enhance courses and the development of several web-based courses. Many of the undergraduate courses do testing through Web-Vista, thus preparing the students to take NCLEX on-line.

The School has also made great strides in developing and implementing our “Learning Outcomes Assessment” for our B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs. We were recently awarded the Departmental Instructional Effectiveness Award which recognizes outstanding work in promoting and documenting student learning.

Due to the national shortage of nursing faculty, it continues to be a challenge recruiting doctorally prepared faculty. It is difficult to compete with salaries in clinical settings.

Classroom space and rules for class scheduling continue to be a problem. Due to conflict with clinical schedules, many courses need to be taught one day per week instead of two or threedays per week. The only day that we can schedule one day a week classes (during the day hours) is Friday; thus, most of our undergraduate courses are taught on Friday. Also, we frequently have difficulty obtaining classrooms large enough to accommodate our students.

We greatly appreciate the work of the APR committee. We believe this self-study accurately reflects the strengths and continuous work being done toward reaching our goals.This self-study has been comprehensive, involving faculty input and cooperation throughout the process. It has provided us an opportunity to review the most recent past years. It has also helped us identify the data that we feel will help us better evaluate ourselves in the future.

Sincerely,

Alice S. Demi, RN, DNS, FAAN

Director and Professor