APPENDIX G
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO ESTABLISH A NEW DISTANCE
EDUCATION DEGREE PROGRAM OR SITE
(THROUGH WHICH 50% OR MORE OF A DEGREE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED)
INSTRUCTIONS: Fill in the appropriate blanks and expand the electronic version of this form as required
to include other more extensive information. Please submit three copies of the proposal to General
Administration. As of January 1, 2010 submission of proposals will be electronic.
Date: 8/7/2012
Constituent Institution: East Carolina University
CIP Discipline Specialty Title: Nursing Practice
CIP Discipline Specialty Number: 51.3818 Level: D
Exact Title of the Proposed Program: Doctor of Nursing Practice
Degree Abbreviation: DNP_ Proposed Date of Initiation: August 20, 2013
Will this program be completely individual access (e.g., online, videocassette, etc.)? Yes
If "yes," primary mode of delivery: Internet
If cohort-based, length of time to complete the sequence: 4 semesters for Post Master’s DNP and 4 years
and 1 semester for BSN-to-DNP
List any other UNC institutions that offer similar programs in the same location (if requesting a site-based
program) or a similar program online or by individual access (if requesting an individual access program):
There are no other UNC institutions offering a similar online program.
For the following question, please consult "Guidelines for Alternative, Online, or Distance Education
Delivery of approved Degree Programs" from the UNC Policy Manual available on the UNC GA
Academic Planning website.
Which SACS COC substantive change procedure applies?
Two (prior notification to SACS; Appendix F should be submitted to COC of SACS by the institution, if
applicable)
Based on the SACS policy on substantive change, by what date should the campus be notified by UNC-GA
of authorization to establish? July 2013
The following items conform to the information required for SACS Substantive Change Procedure One.
1.
Abstract (limit to one page or less)
Describe the proposed change; its location; initial date of implementation; projected number of
students; description of primary target audience; projected life of the program (single cohort [indicate
number of years] or ongoing); and instructional delivery methods.
The College of Nursing (CON) is requesting authorization to establish an online Doctor of Nursing
Practice (DNP) degree at East Carolina University beginning in the fall of 2013. In year one of the
DNP program, ECU CON proposes to provide the DNP as an online post-master’s program of study
for advanced practice nurses primarily prepared as either Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioners
(AGNP) or Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP). In view of the national trend for preparation of
advanced practice nurses at the doctoral level, ECU CON faculty anticipate a large demand for such a
program from NC nurses who have already earned the master’s degree and nurse practitioner
certification, but wish to continue on and earn a doctoral degree. Entry into the post-master’s DNP
will require a master’s degree in nursing with a focus in an advanced practice role. During the second
1
year of the DNP program, after the program is well-established, ECU CON will begin moving students
currently in the traditional MSN program for AGNP or FNP concentrations immediately into the postmaster’s curriculum after they graduate with the MSN degree. The last AGNP and FNP students will
be admitted to the current MSN program in 2013. The CON has traditionally maintained
approximately 145 FNP and AGNP students in the MSN program.
The CON will accept its first cohort into the post-baccalaureate DNP program in fall 2014. Thus the
advanced practice concentrations will transition quite rapidly from traditional master’s degree
programs to a post-baccalaureate-to-DNP program. Students will complete 21 semester hours of
6000 level courses before beginning all doctoral level courses. The post-master’s DNP option will
remain open after the second year of the program, but will have limited enrollment (approximately 20
students/year) unless additional financial resources become available.
The ultimate entry level degree for the baccalaureate-to-DNP program will be a bachelor of science in
nursing. Although initially the program will be focused on preparing AGNPs and FNPs at the DNP
level, as other clinical specialties mandate the DNP entry level, the traditional master’s program in
those concentration areas will be phased out and the post-baccalaureate-to-DNP program will
enlarge. There will continue to be students in the nursing leadership and nursing education
concentrations who will need the MSN degree for future employment. Thus, due to high demand, the
master’s program in nursing at ECU will continue to be offered for these specialty areas.
2. Background information
Provide a clear statement of the nature and purpose of the change in the context of the institution’s
mission, goals, and strategic plan; evidence of the legal authority for the change (to be provided by
UNC General Administration in authorization letter).
For more than 65 years, the mission of East Carolina University has included support of courses and
degree programs for students located beyond the borders of the campus. Historically, these offcampus programs were offered at specific sites and outreach centers, often involving the placement of
university support staff, teaching faculty, and resources at locations such as military bases and
community colleges.
East Carolina University engaged a variety of resources to establish direction, guiding principles, and
support systems required to appropriately respond to the state’s commitment to improved access to
higher education. Faculty and administrators provided considerable input.
Major strategies emerging from these planning efforts included:
•Commitment to focus on delivery of complete academic programs instead of a random selection of
courses
•Commitment to use regular campus faculty, not adjuncts, to deliver most courses
•Investment in student and faculty support services to facilitate development and deployment of
academic programs
•Investment in an infrastructure and services to support electronically offered courses
•Development of a planning process prior to approving programs to be offered in distance education
format
Distance education is now at the very core of the way ECU operates. The DE initiative has brought an
added richness and diversity to the campus. DE funding has brought a significant number of new
tenure track faculty members to the campus and has invigorated academic discussions in every
academic unit.
Incoming students, traditional and non-traditional, will expect to learn at some level online, if not
completely online. ECU’s ability to be globally ready, to provide access to all citizens, to improve
public education, to serve to transform and sustain the economies of its regions, and to be a major
influence in the improvement of healthcare in eastern North Carolina depends on how well it
embraces, supports, manages, and deploys distance education and online learning both on campus as
well as off campus.
2
ECU Tomorrow: A Vision for Leadership and Service stands as ECU’s long-range strategic plan. This
plan, approved by the Board of Trustees, sets forth ECU’s mission, vision, values, five strategic
directions, and core competencies.
ECU’s first strategic direction as published in “ECU Tomorrow” is Education for a New Century.
Increasing access to higher education is seen as one of the university’s core competencies. Listed there
are the goals:


We will expand our distance education programs, delivering a high-quality East Carolina
education to the thousands of North Carolinians who cannot be campus residents.
We will tailor programs to the needs of working adults through distance education models.
The proposed DNP program supports the strategic plans of both East Carolina University and the
University of North Carolina system. The UNC Tomorrow plan guides UNC to “proactively anticipate
and identify the needs facing our state both now and into the future and, consistent with its mission,
develop and implement responses to those needs” (2007). One of the greatest needs of NC is to
improve the health and wellness of citizens and this is a major strategic initiative found in the UNC
Tomorrow plan. ECU is situated amid the largest military community in the state and serves some of
the poorest counties in the state. ECU Tomorrow emphasizes engagement with these communities to
advance health and economic prosperity. The DNP program faculty, students, and graduates will
work to address these needs. In addition, the DNP program helps ECU advance its reputation as the
Leadership University. These graduates will be expertly prepared to assume leadership roles in
quality initiatives, clinical program management and executive nursing.
3. Assessment of need and program planning/approval
Discuss the rationale for the change, including intended audience and an assessment of need (include
results of surveys or special studies), evidence of inclusion of the change in the institution’s ongoing
planning and evaluation processes; and documentation that faculty and other groups were involved in
the review and approval of the new site or program.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), “In response to changes in
health care delivery and emerging health care needs, additional knowledge or content areas have been
identified by practicing nurses. Further, the knowledge required to provide leadership in the
discipline of nursing is so complex and rapidly changing that doctoral level education is needed”
(AACN, 2004).
Based on this knowledge assessment, changes in the level of education of advanced practice nurses
were recommended. (AACN, 2004). AACN recommended increasing the level of preparation
necessary for advanced nursing practice roles from the master’s (MSN) to the doctoral level (DNP)
with a target date of 2015 for widespread implementation. As of 2015, the DNP would replace the
MSN as the educational entry level expected for advanced practice nurses, including




certified nurse midwives (CNMs),
certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs),
clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), and
nurse practitioners [certified] (NPs).
There is ample indication that the proposed program will attract quality students. The demand for
the College of Nursing master’s program is very strong, as online programs provide educational access
for many who otherwise would be unable to pursue graduate study. The FNP and AGNP
concentrations, for example, have many more highly qualified applicants than can be accepted for
each class cohort. This past year there were 219 qualified applicants for 50 slots. Fifty students were
accepted, but the college was forced to reject the applications of another 179 students, many of whom
were extremely strong and well-qualified. To date, one student studying at ECU withdrew from the
3
Family Nurse Practitioner concentration to enroll in a DNP program. The College receives weekly
inquiries regarding the DNP degree at ECU from nurse practitioners seeking the clinical doctorate.
In April 2012 the College surveyed all its alumni who graduated since 1972 and for whom email
addresses were available. They were asked to indicate their level of interest in the DNP, ranging from
“none” to “significant.” There were 619 respondents, of whom 190 (31%) indicated a “significant”
interest and another 139 (23%) indicated a “moderate” interest.
The College also surveyed its currently-enrolled baccalaureate students and master’s students. There
are currently 544 master’s students of whom 271 responded to the survey. Of these, 105 (39%)
indicated a “significant” interest and 79 (29%) indicated a “moderate” interest in the DNP. Similar
results were obtained from the currently-enrolled baccalaureate students. There are currently 666
students at that level of whom 265 responded to the survey. Of these, 111 (41%) indicated a
“significant” interest and 79 (29%) indicated a “moderate” interest in the DNP.
Since the DNP is a terminal replacement for the MSN degree for advanced practice nurses, the job
market and the predicted applicant pool would be the same as the applicant pool and job market for
MSN-prepared advanced practice nurses. While the DNP constitutes an enhanced level of
preparation, it does not create a new role for advanced nursing practice. Instead the DNP provides
advanced practice nurses with additional knowledge and skills that better prepare them to address
evolving and increasingly complex societal needs for safe, cost-effective, patient-centered, and
accessible care.
Requiring three years for the DNP versus two years for the MSN can be understood to mean that if no
enrollment growth monies are available in higher education in North Carolina (NC) to cover one
additional year of education for advanced practice nursing students, then the number of CNMs,
CRNAs, CNSs, and NPs entering the NC workforce is likely to decrease by as much as 33%-- unless
nurses seek DNP degrees from other states. No predictions have been made regarding what
percentage of NPs entering the NC workforce will go outside of NC to obtain the DNP degree.
The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty (NONPF), that sets standards for both Adult
Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) programs has been
insistent in acknowledging the DNP as the entry level for advanced practice by 2015. In addition, by
2025 nurse anesthetists will be required to have the DNP degree to meet eligibility requirements for
taking their national certification examination. CNSs and CNMs have not yet agreed upon a date by
which the DNP will be their expected educational level for being eligible for certification or entry into
practice.
The applicant response to the AACN mandate requiring a DNP as entry into advanced practice has
been both immediate and overwhelming. In 2002 there were 70 students in DNP programs
nationally; by 2011 (nine years later) this number had grown to 8973 (over 100-fold). In 2011 alone,
1581 advanced practice nurses earned the DNP degree. There are currently 182 DNP programs
enrolling students throughout the country (in 37 states and the District of Columbia). Faculty of the
ECU College of Nursing (CON) propose a DNP degree program that will provide a rigorous
curriculum that prepares advanced practice nurse leaders to meet the evolving needs of individuals
residing in increasingly complex environments.
Each of the University’s distance education programs begins in the academic department. Faculty
members work with staff from the Office of Continuing Studies to begin the planning process. Each
program has a coordinator that is a full time faculty member. They develop a program design that
includes both the instructional requirements and the academic resources available to meet the needs
of a widely dispersed group of students.
They work to ensure that prospective students are made aware of the programs available to them and
student services to support these programs are incorporated into the planning process. The Office of
Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research ensures that university surveys are made available
to distance education students and that their participation is encouraged.
4
The proposals are referred to the Academic Program Development Collaborative Team (APDC Team),
an advisory body to the Academic Council. The Division of Academic Affairs, Office of Institutional
Planning, Assessment and Research, Graduate School, Office of Continuing Studies, Division of
Research and Graduate Studies, Division of Health Sciences, Undergraduate and Graduate
Curriculum Committees as well as the Faculty Senate Chair are represented. A unit proposing a new
degree program begins the on-campus review process by presenting the appropriate planning and
establishing documents to the APDC Team, which will collaborate with the unit to strengthen the
proposal. The APDC Team advises the provost on all new academic program proposals submitted as
well as advises the Dean of the Graduate School on graduate programs under consideration. EPPC is
informed of those recommendations.
The proposal is then reviewed by the Educational Policies and Planning Committee (EPPC), a
standing committee of the Faculty Senate and then referred to the Academic Council. EPPC oversees
the adequacy, balance, and excellence of the University's overall undergraduate and graduate
programs; advises the chancellor on educational policies and organizations, goals, standards and
procedures; reviews requests for permission to plan and establish new degree programs.
The Academic Council includes the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, the vice
chancellor for research and graduate studies, and the vice chancellor for health sciences. The
Academic Council considers the APDC Team’s and EPPC’s recommendations on new academic degree
program proposals and makes recommendations to the chancellor.
Provide projected annual headcount enrollment:
Number of students enrolled in doctoral level courses: Years 1) 20, 2) 80, 3) 180, 4) 190
Individual access: *Years 1) 120 2) 180 3) 230_ 4) 240 5) 240
*These totals represent students in Post master’s DNP, BSN-to-DNP students, as well as MSN
MSN students transitioning into the Post master’s DNP
Projected total SCHs (all sites):
Year 1
Program Category
Category I
Category II
Category III
Category IV
Year 2
Program Category
Category I
Category II
Category III
Category IV
Year 3
Program Category
Category I
Category II
Category III
Category IV
UG
Student Credit Hours
Master’s
Doctoral
396
UG
Student Credit Hours
Master’s
Doctoral
1320
UG
Student Credit Hours
Master’s
Doctoral
2242
5
Year 4
Program Category
Category I
Category II
Category III
Category IV
UG
Student Credit Hours
Master’s
Doctoral
2018
4. Description of the substantive change (as required by SACS)
Provide a description of the proposed change, including description of the proposed program, specific
outcomes and learning objectives and curriculum and schedule of proposed course offering.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is a practice-focused terminal degree earned by
specialists in advanced nursing practice. The DNP focuses on developing experts in translating and
applying research findings into clinical practice rather than in generating new knowledge.
The proposed online post-master’s DNP degree will be a 36-semester-hour program that builds upon
the current College of Nursing master’s level curriculum. The DNP curriculum includes advanced
study in scientific underpinnings for practice, health care finance, policy, and leadership, as well as
patient safety and risk management. The DNP program provides enhanced knowledge to improve
nursing practice and patient outcomes as well as enhanced leadership skills to strengthen practice and
health care delivery. A scholarly practice project serves as a cumulative outcome measure of the
student’s overall competence and achievement of the educational objectives. The student will gain
greater depth of knowledge regarding policy issues, interdisciplinary models of health care delivery,
techniques and models for influencing the health care system, particular problems of rural health
populations, clinical scholarship to improve quality and safety, and translational research.
The proposed educational objectives for the DNP degree are to graduate a student who will:





Assume leadership roles to advance clinical practice and health care delivery.
Influence policy, care delivery, and systems for current and future health care needs.
Translate scientific, theoretical, and ethical principles into health care for individuals,
families, and populations.
Translate scientific, theoretical, and ethical principles into health care for individuals,
families, and populations.
Implement new technologies and evidence-based practices to optimize health care outcomes,
reduce risks, and promote patient safety.
Develop partnerships with key stakeholders to address the unique health care needs of
various groups.
Credit
Hours
Course
Number
3 sh
Pending
*Design and Statistical
Methods for Advanced Nursing
Practice
3 sh
Pending
*Philosophical, Theoretical, and
Conceptual Foundations of
Advanced Nursing Practice
3 sh
Pending
*Population Health in
Advanced Interdisciplinary
Practice
DNP Courses
6
New*
Provides the student with the basis to research,
retrieve, and manipulate statistical data.
Focuses on quantitative methodologies, research
design, and data analysis, providing essential
knowledge for the evaluation of research to
guide evidence-based advanced nursing
practice.
Analyzes and integrates the theoretical,
philosophical and scientific underpinnings of
nursing, organizational, biophysical, analytical,
natural, and psychosocial sciences.
Prepares the doctoral student to implement
specialty population-based disease prevention
and health promotion activities to achieve
national and international goals of improving
Credit
Hours
Course
Number
3 sh
Pending
*Interdisciplinary Leadership
and Role Development for
Practice Excellence
3 sh
Pending
*Health Care Finance
3 sh
Pending
*Health Care Policy, Politics,
and Ethics
3 sh
Pending
*Application of Best Practices
in Interdisciplinary Settings
3 sh
Pending
*Informatics for Advanced
Nursing Practice
2 sh
Pending
*Scholarly Capstone Project I
3 sh
Pending
*Scholarly Capstone Project II
DNP Courses
7
New*
worldwide health status. Focuses on a spectrum
of issues affecting health including emerging
infectious diseases, emergency preparedness,
disparities in health and healthcare services, and
the impact of behavior and lifestyle choices.
Provides a comprehensive exploration of
leadership principles and leadership techniques.
Provides students with knowledge and skills for
innovative leadership roles in autonomous and
interdisciplinary practice systems and
organizations.
Provides a working knowledge of selective
financial and management control techniques
with practical application within the
interdisciplinary environment. Provides a broad
introduction to important financial concepts,
issues, tools, and vocabulary useful to healthcare
leaders, clinicians, policy makers and
administrators.
Prepares students to identify legislative,
regulatory processes, and outcomes that
influence healthcare policy. Explores the impact
of Healthy People 2020 and the Institute of
Medicine report objectives as they apply to the
health care policy.
Provides knowledge and skills essential to
translate knowledge to clinical practice using
innovation science and quality improvement
research. Examines the applicability of research
and evidence-based practice guidelines in an
interdisciplinary organizational setting.
Explores the development, use, and evaluation
of computer systems for clinical practice,
education, and shared clinical decision-making.
Focuses on standards in terminology, data
storage, and transmission; data capture,
analysis, and application for quality
improvement.
Provides the advanced practice nurse the
opportunity to acquire practical expertise in a
practice setting. This practicum is
individualized based on a contract negotiated
among the Professor, student, and preceptor.
The student will form a Scholarly Practicum
Committee, develop a problem statement,
objectives, project timeline, and evaluation
strategies. This course is part one of a four
semester sequence required of all DNP students.
Focuses on project development including
process and outcome evaluation, budget
development, and measurement tools. The final
full project proposal, including plans for
scholarly presentation, will be completed during
this course. This course is part two of a four
Credit
Hours
Course
Number
3 sh
Pending
*Scholarly Capstone Project III
4 sh
Pending
*Scholarly Capstone Project IV
36 sh
DNP Courses
New*
semester sequence required of all DNP students.
Focuses on implementation of the DNP project.
This course is part three of a four semester
sequence required of all DNP students.
This course culminates the DNP scholarly
practicum. Students will present their current
project status, evaluation methodology,
dissemination plans, and future
recommendations. Dissemination of the project
outcomes will be completed. Methods to address
relevant Healthy People 2020 objectives will be
included in the evaluation of this project. This
course is the final course of a four semester
sequence required of all DNP students.
TOTAL NUMBER OF
REQUIRED HOURS
Describe and provide rationale for any differences in admission, curriculum, or graduation
requirements for students enrolled online or at the new site(s), or any special arrangements for
grading, transcripts, or transfer policies. N/A
Describe administrative oversight to ensure the quality of the program or services to be offered.
Academically qualified persons participate in all decision making concerning curriculum and program
oversight. Permanent faculty members of ECU are responsible for presentation, management, and
assessment of all electronically- offered degree programs. A program coordinator is assigned for each
degree program, whether offered on campus or electronically. Each program coordinator is a fulltime ECU faculty member. An assessment team representative from the academic discipline
coordinates assessment of all on-campus and electronically offered degrees in the discipline.
Assessment of distance learning is fully integrated into the university-wide assessment program.
Faculty and administrators within academic units oversee all distance education programs to ensure
quality and content. Academically, there is no distinction between courses taught on campus and
those taught via distance education. All participants must meet the same course objectives and
demonstrate the same learning outcomes. The curriculum and evaluation of DE courses, however
delivered, are conducted under the same procedures and personnel as on-campus courses. The
academic unit establishes the intended learning outcomes, the means of assessment, and the criteria
for success, and carries out the assessment activities for both the campus and DE programs.
The current director of the FNP and AGNP concentrations in the MSN program, Dr. Bobby Lowery,
will serve as the Director of the DNP program during its start-up phase. He will report to Dr. Jana
Pressler, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, who provides oversight for all graduate programs in
the College of Nursing. Dr. Pressler has directed a DNP program at another university. The associate
dean reports to the Dean of the College of Nursing.
Students will be linked with a preceptor near where they live for practicum experiences. The CON has
over 800 clinical contracts with a variety of health care agencies throughout the state, as well as
preceptors who provide supervision for students. The faculty member, student, and preceptor work
together closely to assure that learning objectives are met. A minimum of 1,000 practice hours must
be acquired in the DNP program. Included in these hours, are the clinical hours obtained while in the
MSN advanced practice specialty. For example the ECU CON requires 728 clinical hours for FNP
students and 616 clinical hours for AGNP students. Therefore, 272 additional hours would be
required for FNP students and 384 hours for AGNP students while enrolled in the post-master’s
8
curriculum. These hours may include applied hours involved during the capstone project, which may
or may not involve direct patient care. The 1000 hour requirement does not result in an extraordinary
increase in clinical hours required, since the curriculum currently requires an extensive number of
hours to meet credentialing and accreditation requirements.
The scholarly capstone project will involve a core faculty member and one additional faculty or
adjunct faculty member. A practice expert may be used from the institution where the project is being
conducted. In addition, collaborative partners within the Health Science Division, as well as other
parts of the university, will be useful to serve as committee members. The capstone committee will
serve a mentoring role to assist the student as they conduct an evidence-based project.
The College is fortunate to be situated within a Division of Health Sciences that includes the Brody
School of Medicine, the College of Allied Health Sciences, the School of Dental Medicine, and the
Health Sciences Library. The faculties of these schools will be a valuable resource for collaboration.
For example, faculty in the CON and the Brody School of Medicine have begun collaboration in the
inter-disciplinary use of the virtual clinic developed at the College of Nursing. College of Nursing
faculty helped the new School of Dental Medicine establish many of its processes and anticipate a
meaningful collaboration with its faculty in dealing with clinical care issues where there is an oral care
component. Faculty in the College of Allied Health Sciences currently provide statistical consultation
for both nursing faculty and doctoral students in the PhD program and we anticipate this collaboration
to be especially meaningful with the DNP students’ scholarly projects.
5.
Faculty and support staff
Please Provide:
Number of faculty expected to deliver instruction: full-time faculty_3__part-time faculty
_:
Initially there will be 3 FTE devoted for the post-master’s DNP program. Seven faculty will be
teaching the initial courses as listed in the table below. In addition, other faculty will be participating
in working with students in the scholarly capstone courses as they conduct a scholarly project. As the
enrollment expands to include BSN-to-DNP students the FTE will grow to nine FTE in year 5. There
are 47 faculty who teach one or more courses in the current MSN curriculum. The CON currently has
twenty-seven advanced practice nurses on faculty who are engaged in teaching the current MSN
students in the advanced practice specialties and/or are engaged in clinical practice. The following
faculty are advanced practice nurses: Bagley, Lowery, McAuliffe, Adams, Bolin, Brinsko, Dewees,
Edge, Fell, Feyh, Green, Harrington, Haynes, Jesse, Jnah, A. King, P.King, Kosko, Lancaster, Mallette,
Powell, Reardon, Reis, Robinson, Skipper, Spain, and Tillman. Five faculty members have recently
obtained the DNP degree (Drs. Woody, Sigmon, Powell, Harrington, and P. King) and two additional
faculty are currently pursuing the DNP degree (Bagley and Skipper). The DNP-prepared faculty will
be mentored by CON senior faculty to prepare them for teaching in the DNP program. The CON has
47 faculty members with graduate faculty status, with additional faculty to be added requesting
graduate faculty status in fall 2012. All of these faculty will be engaged in working with students as
they progress to the capstone projects and will assist in teaching BSN-to-DNP students throughout
the curriculum.
A complete roster (using the SACS “Roster of Instructional Staff” form) of those faculty employed to
teach in the program, including a description of those faculty members’ academic qualifications and
course load in the proposed program, as well as course work taught in other programs currently
offered;




Dr. Sylvia Brown, professor and dean, College of Nursing brownsy@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6372
Dr. Rebecca Benfield, nurse midwife, associate professor, and clinical researcher in pain
and uterine contractility benfieldr@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6459
Dr. Garris Conner, associate professor and director, neonatal nurse practitioner
concentration connerg@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6397
Dr. Martha Engelke, professor and associate dean for research and scholarship and
Richard R. Eakin Distinguished Professor of Nursing engelkem@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6436
9










Dr. Elizabeth Jesse, nurse midwife, professor and clinical researcher in maternal depression
jessed@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6384
Dr. Carol Ann King, clinical assistant professor kingca@ecu.edu 252-744-6452
Dr. Bobby Lowery, clinical associate professor and director, FNP/AGNP concentration,
lowerybo@ecu.edu 252-744- 6363
Dr. Linda Mayne, associate professor maynel@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6425
Dr. Maura McAuliffe, professor and director of the nurse anesthesia concentration
mcauliffem@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6443
Dr. Jana Pressler, professor and associate dean for graduate programs presslerj@ecu.edu
252- 744- 6473
Dr. Mary Ann Rose, professor and chair, Department of Graduate Nursing Science
rosem@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6437
Dr. Elaine Scott, associate professor and director of the East Carolina Center for Nursing
Leadership scottel@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6383
Dr. Susan Williams, associate professor and director, clinical nurse specialist concentration
williamssus@ecu.edu 252- 744- 6472
Dr. Carol Winters, professor and director of the nursing education concentration
wintersc@ecu.edu 252-744- 6505
Evidence that adequate number of faculty members are assigned to support the program;
Impact of the initiative on faculty workload; and (Refer to attached faculty information sheets for the
initial faculty who will teach the first cohort of post master’s students).
Student
Credit
Hours
(SCH)
3 sh
3 sh
3 sh
3 sh
3 sh
3 sh
3 sh
3 sh
2 sh
Course Titles
FACULTY
Design and Statistical Methods for
Advanced Nursing Practice (F)
Philosophical, Theoretical, and Conceptual
Foundations of Advanced Nursing Practice
(F)
Health Care Finance (F)
Interdisciplinary Leadership and Role
Development for Practice Excellence (Sp)
Melvin Swanson, PhD
Maura McAuliffe, PhD (F)
Elaine Scott, PhD (F)
Bobby Lowery, PhD (F)
Health Care Policy, Politics and Ethics (Sp)
Bobby Lowery, PhD, (F)
Informatics for Advanced Nursing Practice
(Su)
Application of Best Practices in
Interdisciplinary Settings (Su)
Population Health in Advanced
Interdisciplinary Practice (F)
Elaine Scott, PhD, (F)
Scholarly Capstone Project I (F)
10
Carol (Ann) King, DNP, FNP-BC,
ARNP; interdisciplinary (F)
Martha Engelke, PhD, (F)
Faculty vary based on project topic
and clinical specialty. The fourteen
faculty listed above would be the
primary project directors. The CON
has 42 additional faculty with
graduate faculty status that can
assist with capstone projects as well.
3 sh
3 sh
4 sh
Scholarly Capstone Project II (F)
Scholarly Capstone Project III (F)
Scholarly Capstone Project IV (F)
Faculty vary based on project topic
and clinical specialty. The fourteen
faculty listed above would be the
primary project directors. The CON
has 42 additional faculty with
graduate faculty status that can
assist with capstone projects as well.
Faculty vary based on project topic
and clinical specialty. The fourteen
faculty listed above would be the
primary project directors. The CON
has 42 additional faculty with
graduate faculty status that can
assist with capstone projects as well.
Faculty vary based on project topic
and clinical specialty. The fourteen
faculty listed above would be the
primary project directors. The CON
has 42 additional faculty with
graduate faculty status that can
assist with capstone projects as well.
36 sh
F, P: Full-time or Part-time
Number and responsibilities of support staff (e.g., program coordinator).
Dr. Bobby Lowery will provide oversight for the DNP program, as well as Dr. Jana Pressler, Associate
Dean for Graduate Programs in the CON. An administrative assistant will provide support for the
program that is currently working in the FNP and AGNP concentrations.
Describe means by which the institution will provide support services for students enrolled at the
site(s) or online (e.g., admissions, skills assessment, course registration, academic advising,
counseling, etc.).
A course has been designed by the CON for all DE students. This course prepares students to work
with Blackboard and other skills necessary for online learning. The Office of Student Services will
provide support for registration and advisement with additional advisement from faculty members.
The College of Nursing Student Development and Counseling Center will provide counseling services
as needed. The CON has a strong, internal technology team to supports its DE activities. The support
includes instructional technology consulting for DE course development and delivery,
and training on a wide array of available DE technical tools. The team provides support to students
and works with students at all skill levels to assist with Blackboard and other technology applications.
From admission to graduation ECU provides a system of support services that acknowledge the
challenges students away from the campus have in meeting the responsibilities of their families and
careers in order to be successful in their academic endeavors. DE students are an integral part of the
mission of the university beginning with the university’s motto Servire, to serve. Rather than develop
alternative systems for DE students, ECU has developed web based processes that support all
students, both DE and campus. Careful planning and dedicated resources have permitted ECU to
11
move from paper-based processes to a system where all ECU students can interact with the university
in the same manner.
The University has made a commitment to provide an online interface for services that all students
can access anytime https://onestop.ecu.edu/onestop. The ECU OneStop portal allows users
(students, faculty, staff,) to personalize a single interface for access to internal campus resources.
Students log in to OneStop using a Pirate ID and passphrase.
Through the OneStop web portal, students can access advising and registration information, their
course schedule, grades, course catalog, course description, a GPA calculator, university events and
announcements, and a myriad of other services. Tools available in OneStop include student course
registration and tuition payment, faculty access to class rosters and submission of end-of-semester
grades, and a campus-wide discussion board. Students can also access OneStop from a variety of
mobile devices.
The Office of Continuing Studies (OCS) serves as a bridge between the student at a distance and the
academic and administrative units of the university. The office respects and understands the unique
demands of distance learning and is committed to assuring quality, accessible programs and services.
The office conducts its activities in partnership with the academic and administrative units of the
university.
OCS is charged with assisting ECU students away from the campus by identifying the nature of their
concerns and marshaling the resources of multiple offices to bring that concern to a successful
conclusion. The needs and challenges of DE students are more complex and their expectations in
regard to service are at a professional level demanded each day in their career settings.
Successful distance education programs require commitment, collaboration and cooperation from all
facets of the university. Our mission guides us to assess each individual situation and not to simply
direct students elsewhere to address their needs, but to ensure a successful resolution. These services
provide a safety net for DE students as they make progress in online programs.
The office provides a dedicated email address and a toll free number staffed by student service
specialists who can reassure students and assist in navigating the online resources available to them.
They can assist with general program information, procedural issues, as well as link them to resources
across the campus. They provide a single point of contact for ECU students who are unable to come
to the campus.
ECU has a comprehensive communication plan of email messages to students with information,
available services and reminders of important dates, registration reminders, and reassurances that we
are available to help.
The Options website www.options.ecu.edu provides a central repository for services and information
for DE students. Orientation and online tutorials are available to assist new and current DE students.
“Options for Adult Learners”, a semi-annual newspaper insert is distributed in newspapers across
North Carolina.
The graduate school has developed a system that allows both prospective campus and DE students the
opportunity to apply, interact and monitor their progress via a web based system. Registration, drops,
withdrawals, graduation applications and transcripts can all be accomplished online in the password
protected environment housed in OneStop.
The mission of the Office of Student Financial Aid is to offer a comprehensive financial aid program
that attempts to meet the total financial needs of all university students, utilizing aid programs from
all sources for which students are believed to be eligible, designing financial aid packages in ways
which assist students in achieving a quality education and support their academic objectives. Students
are encouraged to apply online, and information, forms and access to key personnel are available at
http://www.ecu.edu/financial/.
12
Electronic (eBill) notifications for tuition statements are sent to students and/or authorized user(s) by
email. Paper bills are no longer mailed. Students can set up authorized users to access their account
information, recent statements, and make payments. Students can log into ONESTOP at any time to
view current account information, recent statements, make payments, and authorize other users to
access their account. All registered students are mailed an ECU Higher One Card (Debit MasterCard)
for refund preference selection. Student refunds can include Financial Aid or credits for dropping
class. The Office of Continuing Studies also maintains a Business office that can assist DE students
with financial matters related to the university.
The ECU DE Proctoring Center is an approved site in the UNC Online Proctoring Network. This site
serves distance education students who need to make an appointment to take proctored exams and
faculty members who need to set up proctored exams for distance education courses. It serves faculty
and students throughout the UNC system. Information about the UNC Online Proctoring Network is
available at http://services.northcarolina.edu.
6. Library and learning resources
Describe library and information resources to support the program, including staffing and services in
place to support the initiative.
Describe cooperative agreements with other institutions and include a copy of such agreements in the
appendix.
Relative to electronic resources, describe how students and faculty will access information, training
for faculty and students in the use of online resources, and staffing and services available to students
and faculty.
The Laupus Health Sciences Library (HSL) is a high quality comprehensive health sciences library
serving the Division of Health Sciences at East Carolina University and is housed in the same building
as the College of Nursing. The Library occupies 72,000 square feet and welcomed 144,000 patrons
through its doors in fiscal year 2011-12. The HSL makes a great effort to reach out to patrons in online
courses. Distance Education services include email, chat and phone reference assistance, online
databases and full-text journals access, web-based instructional tutorials, and Document Delivery
services where materials are sent online or in the postal mail to students at a distance.
A full-time HSL librarian prepared at the master’s level is assigned as liaison to the College of
Nursing. This librarian has a command of the nursing literature and serves as a resource for faculty
and students in the College. Although not a nursing faculty member, the liaison is embedded in the
College processes. For example, the liaison attends nursing faculty organization meetings and the
general student orientation sessions at both graduate and undergraduate levels. In addition, the
liaison provides a rather extensive orientation to online education for DE graduate students.
Last academic year, the CON library liaison assisted faculty with the development of an online
orientation program which is now required of every student enrolling in the graduate program. It
teaches needed skills such as how to do online searches of the data bases, how to avoid plagiarism,
how to navigate Blackboard, etc. Students are required to take the tutorial course prior to being
allowed to open Blackboard for the first course.
The liaison also is available for special faculty sessions; upon our request the liaison gave a
presentation for the Graduate Nursing Sciences Department on the recent changes in APA format and
one on copyright law. The liaison often comes to individual nursing faculty offices for one-on-one
consultation and is often asked to assist with setting up online literature alerts or other types of
searches.
Nursing resources are a core part of the HSL collections. The Library subscribes to major databases
such as CINAHL, Proquest Nursing and Allied Health Source, Nursing and Allied Health Collection:
Comprehensive, and Mosby’s Nursing Consult. It carries publisher journal packages and historical
13
backfiles from the likes of LWW, Mary Ann Liebert, Science Direct and Wiley-Blackwell which are
heavy with nursing research. Laupus also licenses the skills-based resource Mosby’s Nursing Skills,
and RefWorks, which allows students to organize and format references and research papers. The
library supplies access to more than 95,900 full text electronic journal titles; has a current circulating
print and e-book collection of 319,200 titles, 3,831 fall within the nursing call number range and
21electronic resources available on or off-campus with nursing-specific information. The present
library holdings for the proposed program will be excellent support for both instructional and
research needs of this program.
Off-campus access is available to all students using library resources remotely by authentication
through a proxy server. The students authenticate themselves by using their ECU Pirate ID and
passphrase. Further information regarding this service is available at
http://media.lib.ecu.edu/reference/howdoi/display.cfm?id=46.0.
Students enrolled in distance education courses may check out books from both Joyner and Laupus
Libraries as well as obtain print or online journal articles. Further information about obtaining
materials at a distance is available through the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Departmental
websites of each library: Joyner Library, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/accesssrv/ill/index.cfm; Laupus
Library, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/laupuslibrary/departments/docdel.cfm.
The library has also established an institutional repository which includes electronic theses and
dissertations of ECU students and the scholarly output of both ECU students and faculty members.
The Outreach Services Department of the Laupus Library, in conjunction with the Office of Eastern
AHEC, provides support and training for information systems and technology to primary care
physicians, mid-level practitioners and health sciences students in community-based teaching and
practice sites within the 23-county Eastern AHEC region. Specific services include facilitating
document delivery services, reference searches, and database training. Remote access to databases is
available to eligible health professionals through the Outreach Services Department, and through the
statewide AHEC Digital Library. In addition to Laupus Health Sciences Library and the AHEC Digital
Library, ECU students who live away from the campus, or are travelling within North Carolina, may
take advantage of the cooperative borrowing agreement established among the University of North
Carolina system of schools. This allows all ECU students to directly borrow and utilize materials from
any of the other 16 UNC system libraries.
7.
Physical resources
Describe physical facilities and equipment to support this initiative. Assess the impact that the
proposed change will have on existing programs and services.
For off-campus facilities: N/A
Name of the agency or organization that is providing the space.
Rental, lease, or other arrangements involved in obtaining use of this space including rates.
Describe any agreements or understandings with the organization providing the space.
An appropriate technology infrastructure is provided by the institution to support distance education.
The university recognizes the vital need for a robust and reliable network, and consistently researches
and implements infrastructure upgrades and improved processes to ensure network integrity and
improve network uptime. Additionally, the Official content management system for the University
runs on state-of-the-art hardware, which guarantees a high level of quality with minimal downtime.
Technology at ECU is supported collaboratively through the efforts of Information Technology and
Computing Services, Joyner and Laupus Libraries, and Distributed Information Technology units
among colleges.
Information Technology and Computing Services (ITCS) supports the planning, coordination and
implementation of computing on the ECU campus as well as the computing products and services
related to the instruction, research and service goals of East Carolina University.
14
ECU’s information technology road map is developed and updated by the Information Resources
Coordinating Council (IRCC), which guides the selection of campus-wide IT projects. IT Governance
establishes the decision-making process, defines accountability and identifies responsibility for
technology across the university.
ECU has a total of 4 physical application servers (Sun Sparc Enterprise T5240); each has 2 Processors
(8 Core Ultra Sparc T2+) running at 1.2 Ghz and capable of 128 simultaneous processing threads and
128 GB of RAM. Each of these application servers is divided into 3 Logical Domains (separating our
production, development/pilot, and restore environments). Course content is stored on our NAS
device and we are currently using 1.5TB of the allocated 2.0TB. The Database Servers consist of 2 Sun
Sparc Enterprise M5000 servers. Each has 8 Processors (4 Core Sparc64 VII) running at 2.4 Ghz and
capable of 64 simultaneous processing threads and 128 GB of RAM. Each M5000 is partitioned into 2
domains (one for Production use and one for Development/Pilot use). The databases are configured
using Solaris Clustering to provide failover capability.
In March 2010, ECU had Blackboard Consulting Services perform a Performance Audit and Tuning
Engagement on our Production (Blackboard 8) and Development/Pilot (Blackboard 9) environments.
The outcome of the engagement indicated our production system was well tuned, designed, and
capable of supporting our students.
Because of the importance of this environment to the University, ITCS has taken a High Availability
first, disaster recovery last approach. Each server is built with component redundancy for processors,
memory, power supplies, network cards, fiber cards, etc. Multiple fully redundant systems power the
database and applications tiers. The redundant servers are split between our primary (Cotanche) and
secondary (GE99) data centers and are connected via multi-pathed replicated storage also split
between both data centers. Sun Clustering is used to provide automatic failover for the database tier,
while load balancing provides seamless redundancy for the applications tier. The design ensures that
ECU can maintain BlackBoard services in the face of an entire data center failure. In addition, full
system nightly backups are maintained offsite and recovery procedures are routinely tested should
they be needed.
Through ECU’s nearly Petabyte of storage, adequate storage and backup is available for student work,
academic websites, student and faculty blogs. There are several resources available for the sharing of
video. The primary resource for sharing student work is iTunes and a Winmedia streaming server.
Both of these resources enable students and faculty to upload unlimited amounts of video for use in
courses.
The primary video infrastructure used to record lectures is through Mediasite. Our Mediasite 5.5
setup is based on a high availability load balancing infrastructure; we currently run two application
servers and one video content server that facilitate all of the capture from 35+ recorders to 13
departmental sites for both on demand and live streaming presentations. All sites have Active
Directory authentication or local user authentication to view information and sensitive material.
The main internet connection for the University is provided by the North Carolina Research and
Educational Network (NCREN). The connection to NCREN is a 1 gigabit per second connection to the
NRCEN Remote Point of Presence (RPOP) which is connected to the NCREN backbone by two 1
gigabit-per-second connections taking diverse paths back into the NCREN network.
To ensure success, adequate funding is provided for the technology infrastructure for distance
education, through an education and technology student fee, which funds Blackboard, Centra, Second
Life, retention tools (e.g., Starfish, Yammer), Mediasite, Moodle, Virtual Computing Lab, Help Desk
Support, Software downloads (e.g., SPSS, SAS, Minitab, Mathematica, SAV, Nvivo), and other
services that support distance education. Students receive an ECU Pirate ID that provides an e-mail
account; access to web-based course management systems (Blackboard and Moodle), Web space, and
electronic file storage space; and full access to electronic information and databases. Assistance with
computer configurations, software interfaces, and technology problems is provided through ECU’s
Help Desk and the ACE Student Computing Support Center.
15
The ECU CON has a strong, internal technology team to support its DE activities. The college’s
technology team is composed of experienced IT professionals with a wide range of training and
expertise. They provide immediate support for all the college’s DE activities. This support includes
instructional technology consulting for DE course development/delivery, and training on/assistance
with a wide array of available DE technical tools. The university also provides DE instructors with
many excellent technical resources, such as Blackboard, Centra, Mediasite, etc... The college’s IT
team manages those resources at the unit level, offering training workshops and personal assistance
to instructors. The ECUCON IT team also provides hardware/software troubleshooting, repair and
configuration for instructor workstations and mobile devices.
The ECU CON technology support team is well equipped to support new programs and meet new
support requests. With years of experience adapting to the dynamic DE technical landscape, the
college’s IT team has developed a robust support framework, with firmly established change
protocols. Also, the college’s IT team contains a group of excellent programmers/software developers.
This personnel asset enables the support team to work “outside the box” and develop custom
solutions to meet unusual support challenges, or augment existing resources to meet special
circumstances. The ECU CON technical support team also has an excellent relationship with the
university IT support organization. These considerable technical attributes form a strong support
foundation, well positioned to technically assist with the beginning of any new program, and able to
adapt and meet any challenges necessary to guarantee future success.
The faculty and CON IT team have developed the Virtual Community Clinic Learning Environment
(VCCLE) as an online virtual reality trainer which is designed to develop competency-based critical
thinking skills in nursing students. The VCCLE is a web-based, asynchronous, immersive clinic
environment into which nursing students enter to meet and interact with instructor-controlled virtual
patient and preceptor avatars. In the VCCLE, with virtual preceptor guidance, students interview
patients and move through a classic diagnostic sequence to arrive at a diagnosis, impression, and plan
of care for each patient. The VCCLE has proven to be an excellent, innovative resource for advanced
practice nurse students thus far, in both distance education programs and training for practicing in
other cultures and regions. Since it is asynchronous, distance education students are able to work
their cases when convenient for their schedule. Also, while traditional clinical training is limited to a
specific location with patients and pathologies typical to that local environment, the VCCLE enables
instructors to transcend physical practice boundaries and present students with culturally and
ethnically diverse patients and patient cases expressing conditions endemic to a specific environment.
The virtual clinic is a valuable augmentation of the on-site training that occurs in the practice setting.
8. Financial support
Describe financial resources to support the change, including the budget for the first year of the
proposed program. Include projected revenues (including tuition and fees receipts, state
appropriations based on projected SCHs, grants, etc.) and expenditures, as well as amount of
resources going to institutions or organizations for contractual or support services.
Student credit hours (SCHs) delivered to non-North Carolina residents receiving instruction outside
the boundaries of North Carolina are not eligible for State-provided enrollment funding and these
SCHs should not be reported on the funding matrix. The institution must set the rate charged for
these SCHs at a level sufficient to cover the cost of instruction, which should be at least double the
official in-state tuition rate. Indicate the average number of SCHs per semester that will be delivered
to non-NC residents receiving instruction outside the boundaries of NC and the tuition that will be
charged per-SCH for this instruction:
SCHs per semester delivered to non-NC residents receiving the instruction outside of NC boundaries:
Zero. The CON will not be recruiting out-of-state students into the program.
Per-SCH charge, tuition and fees, for this out-of-state instruction to non-NC residents: Should out-ofstate students attend in the future, the current fee is $777/sh plus $15 technology fee. In addition a
$100 surcharge/sh is being requested for this program. In summary, the total would be $892 per
semester hour.
16
If a site-based degree program is to be offered out-of-state, a more detailed justification is required.
Please provide the rationale for offering the program out-of-state and how the resources will be
secured to support the program, and indicate whether any State-supported resources will be used in
the program. N/A
Although the CON has a group of faculty who have developed this proposal and will be prepared to
teach in the DNP program, two additional faculty members will be required during the initial start-up
(implementation period) to establish the program. The college recognizes the difficult economic
times and will manage with only two additional faculty lines which have been committed by the Vice
Chancellor for Health Sciences. The CON will require three faculty fte in year one with a total cost of
$338,820 for salaries, benefits, taxes, and insurance. In year four the requirements will increase to
nine faculty fte with a total cost of $980,449 for salaries, benefits, taxes, and insurance.
Even though the DNP program will be offered online, it will require additional resources in terms of
hours required of the support staff. The CON will utilize the current workforce in terms of IT support
in order to implement and maintain the program requirements. The CON will reallocate the current
staff supporting our ANP/FNP program in order to support the DNP program. This will add an
additional administrative support staff in year one with a total cost of $50,823.60 for salaries,
benefits, taxes, and insurance. In year four there will be a need for the administrative support staff
and a clinical coordinator for a total cost of $104,062.60 for salaries, benefits, taxes, and insurance.
The total cost of salary, benefits, taxes, and insurance for the DNP program for both faculty and staff
is $3,322,383.90. Of these costs, 100% will be paid for by the University through the reallocation of
existing resources with no additional funds being requested. The breakdown of the costs associated
with salaries and benefits for faculty for years one and four is as follows:
Year 1
Year 4
$308,000.00
$858,000.00
Social Security
State Retirement
$23,562.00
$38,357.60
$65,637.00
$106,633.60
Medical Insurance
$19,724.00
$54,241.00
$389,643.60
$1,084,511.60
Salaries
Total
These totals are based on three faculty fte and one administrative support staff for year one and nine
faculty fte, one administrative support staff, and one clinical coordinator in year four based on
enrollment projections.
Recurring operational expenses will total $132,500 for years one through four and will include
$63,000 in faculty development and travel; $8,500 in supplies; $20,000 for contract services such as
outside clinical service fees, evaluation fees in year 2, lab fees, and certification fees; $41,000 for
faculty recruitment, marketing, and advertising. These expenses will also be paid for through
reallocation of existing resources.
One-time expenses for years one through four total $73,500. These expenses will include the cost of
equipment and technology used to start and maintain the program. $6,000 of this will be earmarked
for a virtual server that will be requested in year 2.
The program planners recognize that enrollment increase funds are not likely to be available.
Because of the high priority of this program ECU is willing to commit resources to its
implementation. The current director of the FNP and AGNP concentrations in the MSN program, Dr.
Bobby Lowery, will serve as the Director of the DNP program during its start-up phase. He will
report to Dr. Jana Pressler, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, who provides oversight for all
graduate programs in the CON. The associate dean reports to the Dean of the College of Nursing.
17
This lessens the need for additional faculty. As vacancies occur, we will recruit faculty with DNP
preparation. Two FTEs have been committed to the program by the Vice Chancellor for Health
Sciences. Finally, initial enrollment projections were revised downward and plans to move directly to
the post- baccalaureate-to-DNP program were accelerated in order to accommodate the students
without addition of new resources.
The CON is requesting a tuition surcharge of $100/credit hour for all resident and non-resident MSN
students to be effective in the 2013-14 school year. Students who are currently enrolled in the MSN
program would not be affected this year but would incur the charge beginning in 2013. We do not
anticipate that this will result in a significant decline in enrollment. In order to maintain consistency
with other graduate programs at the university, such as the MBA and MSA programs, the college
would prefer to request the increase on a per credit hour basis. We also request that the DNP credit
hours have a tuition surcharge of $100/credit hour.
The tuition for MSN students at ECU is the least expensive in the state supported schools. As a
comparison, the UNC Board of Governors approved a tuition increase for FY 2012-13 of $3,257 for
UNC-Chapel Hill’s MSN tuition (from $7,877 in 2011-12 to $11, 134 in 2012-13). The current tuition
and fees for MSN students at ECU is $2,786.50. The proposed surcharge would increase tuition by
$2600 for the first year (fall, spring and summer) for year one of the post-master’s DNP program for
a student enrolled full-time.
Between fall 2010 and summer 2011, there were 236 master’s level courses with a total of 8,137
generated credit hours. If the increase were approved, this would generate approximately $813,700 in
additional revenue for the CON. Typically 20% - 40% of this revenue is allocated to student financial
aid, which would leave a net gain to the CON of $488,220 - $650,960.
The additional revenue will be used to support need-based financial aid and recoup some of the costs
of offering graduate clinical programs such as clinical site placements, meeting clinical agency
requirements for safety and legal compliance, maintaining a high fidelity simulated learning
laboratory, and recruiting and retaining faculty to teach in graduate clinical programs. The tuition
surcharge would fund five to six faculty FTE, as well as provide additional funding for DNP students.
Hopefully the tuition differential will be approved prior to the next Tuition and Fee cycle. The
additional revenue would support DNP program growth in critical areas, such as a need for additional
faculty to support the scholarly projects of DNP students. This need will arise as early as the second
year of the program when post-master’s students would be fully engaged in these projects.
The program planners recognize that enrollment increase funds are not likely to be available.
Because of the high priority of this program ECU is willing to commit some resources to its
implementation. Among those resources is funding generated by our clinical faculty who do clinical
practice out in the field and generate revenue that comes back to the CON through an established
practice plan.
As the faculty members are awaiting permission to implement the program they will begin
preparation of grants to Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and other relevant
federal and state agencies requesting additional funding. Such grants may be submitted when the
program has received approval. Such funding can be used to subsidize faculty salaries and to
support faculty and doctoral student travel to professional meetings. Funds would be requested in
addition to enhance minority recruitment for the program, develop additional practice sites in rural
eastern North Carolina, and enhance the cultural competency of the faculty. The CON has been
successful in generating such grants in the past for the advanced practice master’s programs and
anticipates that this program would be attractive to such funding agencies in the future as well. In
addition, the CON traditionally receives approximately $120,000 per year in traineeship funds from
HRSA for master’s and doctoral students; approximately one - third ($40,000) will be made available
to help support students in this program.
The last resort if funding is not received in the manner mentioned above would be to decrease the
enrollment in the program or reallocate resources from other program areas to ensure appropriate
implementation and sustainability.
18
9. Evaluation and assessment
Describe the means used by the institution to monitor and ensure the quality of the degree program
and off-campus site(s).
Summarize procedures for systematic evaluation of instructional results, including the process for
monitoring and evaluating programs at the new site, as well as using the results of evaluation to
improve institutional programs, services, and operations.
With a look toward continuous improvement, the provost appointed the ECU Online Quality Council.
Their charge was to develop university wide training standards and an ongoing peer review process
for faculty teaching distance education courses. This university wide group included subcommittees
that examined standards, the peer review process, and support services. This work resulted in the
revision of the university’s faculty manual.
The Office of Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research coordinates the assessment of student
learning outcomes in academic degree programs. A standard format for reporting goals, criteria for
success, results, and use of results has been implemented and an assessment coordinator for
academic affairs has been working with an assessment team, consisting of representatives from all
academic units.
It is important to note that assessment of programs delivered through distance education is fully
integrated into the university-wide assessment program. Since all distance education programs and
courses originate in the academic unit, the academic unit develops the assessment plan for the
program regardless of the mode of delivery. The ECU Policy on Distance Education states that faculty
and administrators within academic units oversee all distance education programs to ensure quality
and content. Academically, there is to be no distinction between courses taught on campus and those
taught via distance education. All participants must meet the same course objectives and demonstrate
the same learning outcomes. The curriculum and evaluation of DE courses, however delivered, are
conducted under the same procedures and personnel as on-campus courses. As stated in the
university’s policy on distance education, the academic unit establishes the intended learning
outcomes, the means of assessment, and the criteria for success, and carries out the assessment
activities for both the campus and DE programs.
In 2009, ECU purchased TracDat, an SCT software product that is being used to help manage the
institutional planning and assessment process, allowing faculty and administrators to enter program
and departmental strategic plans, including assessment plans, assessment methods, and outcomes,
and to vertically and horizontally align their goals to other departmental, divisional, and college-wide
goals. The templates assure a uniformity of reporting that simplifies collection, review, management,
and utilization of data.
TracDat holds all assessment plans and reports which include student learning and administrative
outcomes, assessment methods, criterion for success, results and action steps. Concise reports can be
generated within the system to assist with planning and program improvement.
The criteria for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of the DNP will be both formative and
summative in nature. Formative evaluation enables faculty to ensure or validate that the specific
goals of instruction are being achieved during the course of the program and to make adjustments to
instruction as needed. Summative evaluation examines desired student learning outcomes to ensure
that the program’s goals and objectives are being met. Additionally, as a program within the CON, the
DNP is subject to rigorous standards of program evaluation which include annual assessment of
structure, function, process, and outcomes. Graduation and retention data are maintained to
demonstrate timely progression. Established standards for number, diversity and quality of students
admitted are carefully monitored to ensure that state and regional needs for these professionals are
met.
19
The formal process of evaluation at the CON includes collection, recording, and reporting of numbers
of applicants and enrollments on an annual basis. Cohorts of students are established upon admission
to track retention and graduation rates. Each program within the College is responsible for
developing an assessment of student learning plan, which includes objectives, measures, outcomes,
and a plan of action. These plans are maintained using the University’s web based system, TracDat,
and monitored by the Office of Program Evaluation within the College. This system ensures access to
accurate, timely data that can inform decision. Certification pass rates for advanced practice
specialties exceed the national average annually.
Professionally, evaluation of the DNP is guided by The Essentials of Doctoral Education for
Advanced Nursing Practice. This document, published by the American Association of Colleges of
Nursing (AACN, 2006) outlines the curricular elements and competencies that must be present in
programs conferring the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. The document delineates eight
DNP Essentials of foundational outcome competencies. The summative component of evaluation of
the DNP program at ECU CON will include assessment of the eight essentials through the
administration of the Educational Benchmarking, Inc. (EBI) DNP Exit Assessment survey. This
survey, designed in conjunction with AACN, has 130 items and assesses several factors of DNP
education including quality of faculty and instruction, administration and academic advising, and
learning outcomes with respect to nursing science, science-based theories, health care diversity, etc.
The AACN/EBI Exit Assessment survey will be administered with the first, and every succeeding,
graduating class.
During the formative stages of evaluation, each course, or course groupings, will assess student
learning through the use of rubrics and other established evaluative tools. The results will be compiled
and shared with faculty and program staff at regular intervals, approximately every six months, such
that the results can be used promptly and effectively to improve program quality. Summative
evaluation will occur annually as part of the College Evaluation Plan. Finally, within a year of program
implementation, ECU CON will seek accreditation of the DNP program by The Commission on
Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the accreditation component of AACN. CCNE accreditation
acknowledges the program’s compliance with the “Essentials,” and its commitment to continuous
quality improvement in program design, delivery, and student outcomes.
In accordance with accreditation requirements, the institution will ensure that the student who
registers in a distance education course or program is the same student who participates in and
completes the program and receives the academic credit.
The CON has a long history of providing excellence in nursing education. ECU College of Nursing was
named a Center of Excellence for 2011-2015 by the National League for Nursing in recognition of its
outstanding achievements in student learning and professional development. Only nineteen schools
in the nation currently hold this designation and ECU CON is a repeat designee, having first won the
designation in 2008.
Since 2004, the National League for Nursing has invited nursing schools and colleges to apply for this
designation based on their ability to demonstrate sustained excellence in faculty development,
nursing education research, or student learning and professional development. Schools must show a
commitment to continuous quality improvement. The award to ECU CON was made in recognition of
the College of Nursing’s creation of student-centered learning environments that demonstrate
excellence in nursing education.
Ranking among the nation’s top 20 distance education master’s or doctoral nursing programs in 2012
(http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/rankings112.cfm, the CON will use innovative technology to
provide an evidence-based curriculum with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous formats
to meet program objectives. The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice
(http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/DNPEssentials.pdf ) and the Practice Doctorate
Nurse Practitioner Entry-Level Competencies
(http://www.nonpf.org/associations/10789/files/DNP%20NP%20competenciesApril2006.pdf)
provide the theoretical and pedagogical foundations for evaluative outcomes and for ensuring that
20
graduates meet licensure, certification and practice requirements. Nationally-certified faculty with
demonstrated scholarship and content expertise will provide oversight and mentorship in the
assimilation and translation research and leadership in the delivery of advanced practice nursing in
diverse and complex health systems. The program has a strong statewide network of preceptors and
clinical sites for student practicum experiences.
ECU utilizes a web-based authentication system to determine that the student registered in a distance
education course is the student who participates in, completes, and receives credit for the course. The
authentication system requires that the student securely log on to ECU's network using unique user
identification (Pirate ID) and with unique and user-determined passphrase.
Upon admission, new students receive both their Pirate ID username and ECU ID number. Once
received, new users log in to the Pirate ID (PID) auto-registration system and follow the step-by-step
screens to activate their Pirate ID account, create a unique passphrase and set up their authentication
questions. Once activated, users will be able to check ECU e-mail and access ECU’s various online
systems such as OneStop and Blackboard.
ECU’s Password Expiration Policy states that students are required to have a strong passphrase that is
resistant to “hacking”, and they must reset their passphrase every 90 days and not reuse the account’s
previous six passphrases. Students are notified via e-mail or system messaging at least three times in
the two weeks prior to expiration. When students use their Pirate ID and passphrase to access
information through OneStop and the university’s learning management system, Blackboard, their
login credentials are encrypted for additional security.
Distance education students must verify their identity with the ID and password to participate in
electronic systems at ECU. The delivery of instruction, group activities, individual student materials
from faculty and assessment activities require every student to login into the university learning
platform (Blackboard) and other systems using their unique secure passphrase.
Faculty may choose to include proctored exams in their courses. To support this effort ECU
participated in the establishment of a state-wide proctoring network. A Distance Education
Proctoring Center is available to students enrolled in DE courses at East Carolina University and all
other universities within the University of North Carolina system. This site serves distance education
students who need to take exams and faculty members who need to set up proctored exams for their
Distance Education courses. This service provides verification of student identity in assessment and
evaluation. Through secure logins and pass codes and the widespread use of proctored examinations,
East Carolina University verifies the identity of the student who registers in a distance education
course or program.
There are a minimum of nine on campus dates required throughout the curriculum for skill
development and evaluations with standardized patients in the BSN-to-DNP program. The postmaster’s DNP curriculum will not require campus visits unless the student in pursuing a different
specialty focus. The on-campus visits are another method to authenticate the identity of enrolled
students.
10. Attachments
Attachments may include items such as (1) vitae of key faculty; (2) selected letters of support; (3)
copies of library and other cooperative agreements, etc.
Name, title, telephone, and e-mail of contact person to respond to questions:
Dr. Sylvia Brown, Dean (College of Nursing), 252-744-6372, brownsy@ecu.edu
This request to establish a new distance education degree program (or program site) has been reviewed
and approved by the appropriate campus committees and authorities.
21
Chief Academic Officer
References cited
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2004). AACN position statement on the practice
doctorate in nursing. www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/DNPpositionstatement.pdf
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for
advanced nursing practice. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/DNPEssentials.pdf
ECU Tomorrow: A Vision for Leadership and Service. http://www.ecu.edu/csadmin/mktg/ecu_tomorrow/our_strategic_directions.cfm
Graduate Programs in Nursing and Business Named Among Best in Nation (2012).
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/rankings112.cfm
Practice Doctorate Nurse Practitioners Entry-Level Competencies (2006).
http://www.nonpf.org/associations/10789/files/DNP%20NP%20competenciesApril2006.pdf
University of North Carolina Tomorrow: Leading, Connecting, Transforming (2007).
www.northcarolina.edu/nctomorrow/about/index.htm
22