Model Curriculum and Nursing

Whereas, Senate Bill (SB) 1440 (Padilla, 2010) defines the Associate in Arts for Transfer and Associate in Science for Transfer Degree as having no more than 60 semester units (or 90 quarter units) eligible for transfer to the California State University (CSU) and California community colleges have missions other than just transfer;

Whereas, The Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) delineates the curriculum that must be covered in the nursing component of an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and has established that 36 units is the minimum number of units in which this content can be covered and has established no maximum, allowing community colleges to determine how best to prepare their nursing students for both further study and the workplace demands that call for an increasingly higher level of competency for the new graduate;

Whereas, In the spirit of SB 1440 nursing faculty convened to develop a model curricula for nursing that establishes the BRN’s 36-unit minimum as a maximum and proposes a degree that is well-over the 70 unit limit that can transfer to CSU; and

Whereas, Many California community college nursing programs have a higher number of nursing program units than the proposed model curriculum allows and would have to reduce courses related to the nursing major to allow room for an additional 10 units of general education classes for the CSU baccalaureate degree;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with its intersegmental partners to increase the number of units that can transfer to a California State University for students completing an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program and pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with nursing faculty to modify the maximum number of nursing units in a model curriculum that ensures that students are both prepared for transfer and well prepared for workforce.

MSC