September 25-26, 2003

 

ITEM120-2018-R0903:  Authorization to Establish an Upper Division Nursing Campus in Bozeman; Montana State University-Bozeman

 

THAT: The Board of Regents of Higher Education Authorizes Montana State University-Bozeman to Establish an Upper Division Nursing Campus in Bozeman

 

EXPLANATION: The College of Nursing at Montana State University- Bozeman requests authorization to establish an upper division nursing campus in Bozeman, Montana. The mission of the College of Nursing is to serve the people and communities of Montana by sharing expertise and collaborating with others to improve the lives and prosperity of Montanans.

As the seventh largest generic baccalaureate nursing program in the United States, the College of Nursing is a multicampus system, educating nurses in five locations including Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls, Missoula and Kalispell. Currently, both lower and upper division nursing courses are offered on all campuses except Bozeman. Until this time, Bozeman was not considered to be a large enough community to provide the necessary numbers and variety of clinical experiences for baccalaureate nursing education. However, in the past ten years, the City of Bozeman and Gallatin County have grown significantly in terms of the population and the health care system. This growth resulted in a College of Nursing assessment and conclusion that clinical educational opportunities now exist which will support upper division coursework in this community.

The goal of this proposal is to increase access and enrollment to the Colleges baccalaureate nursing program by offering all junior and senior nursing courses at the MSU -Bozeman campus. A cohort of sixteen students will be admitted beginning Fall Semester 2004, and each year thereafter provided there is continued student interest and the resources in the College of Nursing to sustain the program. Ultimately, the implementation of this proposal will increase the numbers of graduates from the College of Nursing by 16 per year. This will increase the state-wide pool of professional nurses for Montana at a time when a nursing shortage is critical.