Meeting both student and workforce demands, Wichita State University has approved expansion of the baccalaureate nursing class in the College of Health Professions to 120 students per year beginning spring 2006. The university has also developed an early admission option for baccalaureate nursing students.
Juanita Tate, chair of WSU's School of Nursing and associate dean of health professions, said that because the demand for nurse training has increased while faculty numbers have not grown significantly, many applicants have been denied admission to the WSU nursing program over the past several years. Its most recent incoming class (fall 2005) left 88 qualified applicants on a waiting list after 50 new students were admitted.
"The shortage in nursing is so severe, and the need to be responsive to societal needs is so great here (in health professions)," said Tate. The university will fund four new full-time faculty, additional part-time faculty and staff, and an additional counselor, as well as increased operating expenses for the program.
The funding will come from tuition and a reallocation of resources within the WSU Office of Academic Affairs and Research. Academic Affairs will provide continuing new funding for the program beginning this fiscal year, according to its vice president, John Hutchinson. Expanding the program makes sense, he said.
"It's one that has way more applicants than classroom positions, and there is an express need in the community," said Hutchinson .
In fact, said dean of health professions Peter Cohen, national projections place nursing on the critical list. By year 2020, he said, there could be a shortage of a million nurses in the United States if nothing is done to intervene.
"I really appreciate the university's commitment to allowing us to do something about it," said Cohen, adding that the CEOs of local health institutions are thrilled about the expansion of baccalaureate nursing.
The school of nursing's class size had been capped at 80 students per year (40 in fall semester and 40 in spring) for more than a decade. External corporate sponsorship from Wesley/HCA Cares provided for 10 additional students for the spring 2004, fall 2004 and spring 2005 classes, and Via Christi Regional Medical Center provided funding for 10 additional students for fall 2005. The new funding will provide for an additional 40 graduates per year with the first students graduating December 2007.
The early admission option means that at least 30 students per class will be guaranteed, at time of admission to WSU, a place in the nursing class contingent upon completion of least 48 credit hours of their prerequisite course work at WSU with a 3.0 GPA and meeting all other requirements for admission.
Other applicants not in the early admission option will continue to be welcomed and accepted as space permits, as will admission of qualified transfer students, said Tate. But early admission to the program gives the school a chance to include those students in advising and pre-professional student groups from the beginning of their college careers, she said.
"We want to reward, retain and encourage applications within the university," said Tate. "We intend to nurture those students so they will feel a part of the college."
The early admission option is unusual for WSU, said Hutchinson . But baccalaureate nursing is a two-year program for juniors and seniors. If they come to WSU as freshmen, he said, they'll have their own adviser for health professions (part of the new funding) and they'll get a solid pre-nursing experience.
"This funding will not only provide long-term program stability, but more important, help us graduate significantly more baccalaureate nurses for south central Kansas and the region," said Tate.