Departmental Self Review - UCLA Academic Senate

The amount of need-based scholarship money has ranged from $4,000-$6000 in FY 07-08 to between$1,000-$3,000 in this current academic year, FY 08-09. This is due in part to the fact that a large majorityof the financial aid is in the form of endowment money, which is a direct reflection of the state of thenation’s economy. The increase in the number of students in each program, especially the two new prelicensureprograms, has significantly impacted the amount of financial aid that is now available tostudents in the SON. Approximately 75% of the graduate students accept some part of their financial aidpackage in loans that are either Stafford or Grad Plus loans. The overall percentage of students whoreceive gift aid in the form of merit scholarship or need base is 57% overall.The allocation of financial aid is done through a process that occurs each spring with the Dean,Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Director of Student Affairs, Director of Development, Finance Officerand the Financial Aid Officers for both graduate and undergraduate programs. This academic year 08-09,student support in each program is listed below.Doctoral $631,745Advanced Practice $485,980MECN $537,199Undergraduate $352,450The goal of the new Dean in the SON is to increase the financial aid support in all programs and to createa culture of philanthropy within and outside the SON.VI. Comparison to Previous ReviewsAt the last review in 1997, the Academic Senate noted the SON was recovering from devastatingbudget cuts and had recruited a nationally respected scholar, Dean Marie Cowan, who had negotiated ninenew faculty FTEs. Since that time, the SON has undergone a period of phenomenal growth in programsand faculty size, which impacts all aspects of the current Academic Senate Review. When the previousreview was conducted, the generic BS program had been suspended and a new BS-MSN Bridge wasinaugurated. The Masters degree and PhD programs were maintained. As stated earlier, in response to asevere state and national nursing shortage, in 2006, the SON began the MECN program (n = 50/year),aimed for second career majors, and a Generic BS program (n = 50/year). Both of these programs camewith 22 new FTEs and the resulting demand for new clinical training sites. Similar to the previous review,as of August, 2008, we have a new Dean, Dr. Courtney Lyder, and opportunities to examine theinfrastructure of the School to address the large number of staff and faculty FTEs and the ways in whichthe School will continue to respond to national trends in nursing education and nursing science.The SON continues to demonstrate the following strengths: 1. Clinically competent and researchproductivefaculty, many of whom are internationally recognized; 2. High quality applicants particularlyto new programs (acceptance rate is 5% for BS program; 15% for MECN program); and 3.Responsiveness to societal needs and disciplinary trends as evidenced by strategic program expansion.Since the last review, the SON has made significant progress in the following four areas: 1. Evolutionof strong faculty governance structure through which faculty has maintained control of the curriculum,despite explosive program growth; 2. Strong partnerships with community-based health care agencies;thus dramatically expanding training sites for students and expanding the research enterprise into thecommunity; 3. Communication with and responsiveness to student needs; and 4. Increase in the numberof doctoral students seeking and receiving extramural funding to support their dissertations. Continuingchallenges/opportunities are as follows:21