The ink was hardly dry when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2118 on June 12, 2017 before Lone Star College administrators rolled up their sleeves and began working on a dream opportunity for area students. The bill allows the Higher Education Coordinating Board to authorize community colleges to offer baccalaureate degree programs in the fields of applied science, applied technology and nursing.
Last fall, the Lone Star College System offered its first baccalaureate program in nursing and in August, will pin their first-ever nursing graduates. This fall, the college offers three bachelor’s programs including nursing, Bachelor of Applied Technology in cybersecurity, and a Bachelor of Applied Science in energy, manufacturing, and trade management.
The journey
It has long been a hope for residents that their community colleges offer a path to a bachelor’s degree program but the resistance from state universities was stiff.
“I think there was concern because each of the institutions of higher education has a defined mission and contributions and roles in their communities,” said Valerie Jones, Ed.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs who is in charge of the baccalaureate program at LSC.
Part of the willingness to talk and consider the option was an early understanding that community colleges were only considering applied bachelor’s degrees.
Among the leaders around the state working to that end were Greg Williams, president at Odessa College, and Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC chancellor.
“They were actively involved in the conversation with legislators to explain the importance and the accessibility difference that having community colleges offer (applied) bachelor’s degrees would make,” Jones recalled.
It took nearly 16 years before the legislation would make its way to the governor’s desk.
“There was a test with four community colleges, including Brazosport and Midland, to test the program and see how it goes. Then it was about another decade before the legislation would be considered again,” she said.
Finally, in 2017, the approval came expanding to the remaining community colleges. Expanding from four to 50 community colleges was a significant accessibility change for students across the state of Texas and employers who would reap the benefits of the critical legislation that would help fill shortages in the work force.
With that legislation, each community college was allowed to offer three baccalaureate programs.
“Lone Star jumped on that process and began, what is a very lengthy process to get state approval to create the programs in collaboration with our communities,” Jones said.
That included looking at the workforce need in the Houston area and surrounding communities, not just for tomorrow, but for the next decades.
“We looked at programs where we’ve been producing associate degree holders, but now the employers and the companies, the hospitals in the case of the BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), are saying to us they need a bachelor’s degree,” she said. “They needed them to move to management, supervision, and promotion. From smaller to larger companies, opportunities often come with that baccalaureate requirement,” Jones described it.
On June 16 of this year, Abbott signed House Bill 3348 into law which allows the expansion of the baccalaureate degree programs up to five for all 50 community colleges across Texas.
The process
Once the college system had a clear community vision on what to offer, they now had to seek permission to offer the degree.
“We had to demonstrate a quality curriculum, and an intensive process to demonstrate we have the academic integrity and rigor, preparation and support and learning support to do this well,” she said.
Their requirements are the same as any university would have to meet to offer a bachelor’s degree.
“There’s a packet of information, a massive collection of information that goes ahead of time. A review committee looks at that first and they are comprised of university and community college colleagues across the southeast. They give their feedback and their concerns,” she said.
Then a second team reviews it for accreditation through the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
There is also an onsite visit before the approval, and LSC received theirs with high praise.
The programs
Once approval came, Lone Star knew their first offering would be nursing.
“There’s a huge demand to get into the ADN (Associate Degree in Nursing) programs, but we’ve also been hearing the BSN is even more in need and has even bigger gaps to fill,” Jones reported.
The need was exacerbated during the COVID crisis, with hospitals telling Jones and her colleagues across the state they needed nurses on every floor in every area of the hospital.
Adding to the necessity was a recent report by the Institute of Medicine that recommended a goal to have 80 percent of all nurses with a bachelor’s degree by 2020 in order to best prepare nurses to care for sicker patients and to use sophisticated new technologies.
“Our partners are very upfront in saying they want to grow their existing nurses into the BSN and they need more simply in quantity as well,” she said.
“Your larger hospitals, especially those that are seeking specific recognition will have that requirement of the BSN,” she said.
They have provided timelines for their ADNs to earn their BSN. Jones said while there will still be employment for ADNs, they should consider a four-year path for maximum benefit and pay.
Last year, Lone Star had 200 slots for their nursing program with 2,000-plus applications. The need is great.
This fall, the college system will add two more bachelor’s degree programs.
The second is a Bachelor of Applied Technology in cybersecurity.
“It’s so specified and in high, high demand,” she said. “Think back this year alone with all the news that hit about cybersecurity. The bad guys seem to move faster than the good guys can get in front of it.”
The classes are taught in a high security location at the Westway Park location in Cy-Fair.
“There’s all kinds of special security and locking down to make sure that everybody’s learning in a secure environment as they’re learning about cybersecurity. That facility now houses both associates and bachelor’s degrees,” she said.
The third degree is a Bachelor of Applied Science in energy, manufacturing, and trades management and will be offered at both North Harris and University Park campuses.
“That is the broadest of our three. Many of our AAS (Associate of Applied Science) graduates are well employed and doing great in careers but in order for them to advance into management, or move from single companies to large corporations, they require that bachelor’s degree and so the BAS allows them not to lose the 60 credits of their existing associates and have a have a field specific management leadership degree to be able to help them in those pursuits,” she said.
With the expansion to five degrees, LSC has already decided on the fourth program with a Bachelor of Science in Emergency Management, or BSEM, degree. Since it’s a multi-year process to get the necessary approvals, those classes won’t begin until the 2022-2023 school year.
The college will do research and market analysis before making its decision on the fifth and final bachelor’s degree.
“We want to see what our community comes back and says,” Jones added.
The new staff
With the addition of new classes also comes the hiring of more staff.
“We have had to hire both full time and adjunct faculty for these programs,” Jones said.
They are required to have at least one person on the full-time faculty who has the highest credential of doctorate, while the others can hold a master’s degree, the same requirement as those for universities.
“Our credentialing requirements are exactly the same as universities are held to,” she said.
New faculty also means support staff.
“We have a new advisor who will be coming in next year specifically for the bachelor’s program and recruitment admissions conversations,” Jones said.
Jones said there is also an executive team who oversees the programs.
“One of the things that is unique in LSC is that these three bachelors are system programs. Students from all our campuses are able to take them and because they’re under Academic Affairs, I’m in conversations with all seven campus teams all the time about them, so they’re not specific to one campus location,” she said.
All three programs have online cohorts, but also have host campuses.
The cost
Most of the costs will come in salaries which is nothing new. The nursing program and the energy, manufacturing and trades management programs did not have significant equipment needs.
“The BSN had a number of databases and those types of things that the students need to be able to access, so there were more virtual resources that was required for the BSN courses,” Jones said.
The most significant expansion needs came in cybersecurity.
“Cybersecurity needed additional software which required additional hardware, additional servers, and then all of that had to be secured,” she added.
System-wide, it also meant a revision to course catalogs with requirements, student handbooks, to curriculum and policies and procedures.
“That was the heavy lifting, a massive undertaking. That front-end investment gets it going and makes it possible, and then it’s able to continue to make itself viable moving forward,” she said.
The current enrollment
With 200 slots available in the BSN program, those have already been filled for this coming semester.
“The program for nursing is on an expansion every year, increasing the incoming size,” Jones said. “We want to grow as fast as we are able to meet this demand, because we don’t want to have to tell students no if at all possible.”
The other two programs are at 75 percent capacity already and will likely close before August registration is completed.
Lastly, Jones said the good news for bachelor’s candidates is they will actually pay LSC tuition which will translate into a huge savings for students.
“It depends on the university, but it could run into the tens of thousands of dollars in saving,” she said, “and that’s just for the last two years, not the whole four.”
She said that increases the opportunity for students to be able to pursue their college degree dream.
dtaylor@hcnonline.com
"degree" - Google News
July 29, 2021 at 03:49AM
https://ift.tt/3zMI2X3
Lone Star College primed to offer three bachelor's degree programs this fall - Houston Chronicle
"degree" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2zPqEHn
https://ift.tt/2WkjZfX
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Lone Star College primed to offer three bachelor's degree programs this fall - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment