Curry Magazine Winter 2004

ACADEMIC

Affairs

Curry Faculty Approve Proposal for Master of Business Administration Program

The Curry College Faculty recently voted to approve a new Master of Business Administration Program at Curry. Curry's Management Department as well as other Curry community members worked long and hard on the proposal over a two year period. The proposal has been sent to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, which must review and approve the program before it can be launched. If all goes well, once Board of Higher Education approval is received, Curry hopes to start the program in Fall 2004 at the Milton Campus, followed by a Plymouth start in the Spring 2005.

According to Judith Stoessel, Dean of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies, "the MBA program holds much promise for both the students who will participate and the companies for which they work. We anticipate that there may be a number of Curry alumni who will be interested in this program." Created to serve the needs of busy, working professionals, the program design is a cohort model that can be completed in 24 months taking one course at a time for eight week periods.

Ernest Silver, Professor and Chair of the Management Department noted that "students will work together in six pairs of courses designed to hone their problem solving and decision making skills while enhancing their leadership and strategic planning abilities." The program will use a "hybrid" approach that blends traditional face-to-face classroom learning with online team projects and case study analysis. Unique to the program is a series of reflection seminars designed to synthesize learning and help students assess their personal skill development.

Pending approval by the state, watch for more program details later this spring.

First ACCEL Nursing Class Begins

In January 2004, Curry College welcomed its first class of 31 students in the new Accelerated Bachelor's Degree Nursing Program, a joint initiative of the Division of Nursing and the Division of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies. The "ACCEL" program was designed for highly motivated and qualified students who have a bachelor's degree in another field and wish to earn a second bachelor's degree - this time in nursing. Graduates of the program will be eligible to take the national licensing exam (NCLEX-RN) and to practice in all healthcare settings.

The accelerated nursing curriculum can be completed in 16 months. It recognizes the students' prior learning and includes all required nursing courses to enable the graduates to practice as a professional nurse. Admission to the ACCEL program is competitive and limited in order to provide the small class size and individualized attention for which Curry is known. In addition to the standard admission requirements, applicants for the ACCEL program must have a bachelor's degree and have completed a number of pre-requisite science courses - including Anatomy & Physiology I and II, Chemistry, and Microbiology all with the associated labs. In addition, Human Growth and Development and Statistics are pre-requisite courses. Students are required to have a grade of B- or better in all the pre-requisite science courses.

The Curry program has an intensive schedule that seems to work well for adult students. Four classes, totaling 11 credits, are held on Mondays and Tuesdays during the first semester. An intensive nine week clinical experience is scheduled during the summer session. The last two semesters have one day of clinical and one day of classes.

The program was introduced to prospective students in January 2003. The College received 133 completed applications for the initial cohort beginning in January 2004 and enrolled 31 students. The selection process was rigorous.

The first class of students have a variety of backgrounds - from drama and film making to computer science and business - all with the common goal of changing careers and entering an extremely favorable job market due to the shortage of registered nurses.

Linda Caldwell, Professor and Chair of the Nursing Department, reported "we're now seeing a higher percentage of male students who wish to become nurses. There are five males in the first ACCEL class at Curry. We have one full-time and three part-time male faculty members in the nursing department who will serve as great role models for all the students, but particularly the male students."

"The need for qualified nurses is tremendous and not expected to decrease in the near future. The Nursing Division at Curry College is very pleased to help alleviate the nursing shortage by adding these accomplished and intelligent students to the nursing workforce," said Professor Caldwell.

Given the job demand in the nursing field, the overwhelming interest in the ACCEL program should come as no surprise. Curry has already received over 500 inquiries for the next cohort scheduled to begin in January 2005.