Title of Effective Practice: - California Postsecondary Education ...

Direct Connection to Policy Area 4 of The Illinois Commitment
Dual Admission Agreements for Nursing Majors
St. Xavier University
What issue or need is addressed by the effective practice?
The dual admission agreements address the growing critical shortage of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the
State of Illinois and elsewhere. A surge in nursing applications to AAS and baccalaureate programs across the
state is taxing institutional resources, especially qualified clinical faculty and clinical practice venues. Growing
numbers of baccalaureate-bound nursing students are delayed in a prolonged ‘pre-nursing’ phase of education
due to capacity limitations. Stronger collaboration between community college AAS programs and universities
enhance the State’s articulation plan by provisions of the dual admission agreements. Students select courses at
the community college that are immediately transferable to the general education requirements at Saint Xavier
University, thus reducing delays in baccalaureate program completion. In this way, the agreements address a
growing need in Illinois for more baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the coming two decades.
Description of the effective practice:
The School of Nursing at Saint Xavier University has entered into dual admission agreements with three
community college partners that will grant qualified AAS students conditional admission to the University while
enrolled in community college courses. AAS students from Moraine Valley Community College, Joliet Junior
College, and Richard J. Daley College can complete a bachelor of science in nursing (RN-BSN) at Saint Xavier
University’s Orland Park campus in a timely fashion due to stronger institutional collaboration in student
advising and program planning. The agreements ensure a smooth transfer of credits between institutions and an
improved sequencing of learning experiences. Courses can be taken at the partner community college either
prior to or concurrently with their enrollment in the RN-BSN program at Saint Xavier University. These dual
admission agreements go a step beyond standard articulation agreements by providing a closer alignment
between institutions in course planning and student advising.
How does this practice achieve sustainability?
In an era of acute shortages of qualified faculty and clinical training venues, the dual admission agreements have
a greater efficiency for both students and the institutions they attend. By minimizing the occurrence of
unrelated course enrollments through coordinated program planning, institutional partners can make the most of
limitations in faculty resources. The dual admission model provides specific interventions to assist students to
make productive choices of prerequisites and elective courses, and to experience mentoring and professional
nurse linkages while progressing through the AAS program at a community college en route to a baccalaureate
degree. Collaborative planning between partner institutions enables a more strategic deployment of institutional
resources, both instructional and non-instructional, that will lead to higher graduation rates and faster graduation
rates from point of entry to the community college through baccalaureate degree completion.
What are the results/measurable outcomes?
Saint Xavier University expects to admit and retain 150 AAS students from the three community colleges by the
end of 2009. Graduation and retention rates will be the key measurable outcomes. Interim analyses will focus
on proportions of students seeking and accepting dual admission and numbers of students who receive academic
and career counseling from SXU in partnership with each partner institution. The School of Nursing at Saint
Xavier University is the oldest in the State of Illinois, annually teaching nearly 700 nursing majors. It attracts a
highly diverse student body and awards more baccalaureate degrees in nursing to under-represented minorities
than any other public or private institution in the state.
Contact Information
Name: Kathleen Carlson
Email: carlson@sxu.edu
Phone: (773) 298-3305
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