EXPANDING THE HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE IN CONNECTICUT

EXPANDING THE HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE IN CONNECTICUT - THE CSU CONTRIBUTION

Dennis R. DeLong, Dean, University College, Chapman University

formerly, Deputy Chief Academic Officer, CT State University System

Expanding Existing Programs

Connecticut and the nation as a whole face a current shortage of professionally-trained nurses, especially at the baccalaureate level. CSU, along with other higher education institutions in the State, has been encouraged to address this critical shortage in the health care work force. Currently, CSU is a major provider of persons with BSN degrees through programs at Central, Southern and Western Connecticut State Universities. Current enrollments and annual BSN graduates are summarized in the following table.

Program Category	Central	Southern	Western	Total CSU
2000-01 Nursing Majors - 1^st-4^th years (BSN)	128*	384	250	506
Current Junior/Senior BSN students	95	125	85	305
Annual BSN degrees	45	60	40	145

* - CCSU's BSN is a RN to BSN and enrolls mostly transfer students

At present, as depicted in the table, CSU has more than 500 students enrolled in BSN programs and is graduating nearly 150 new baccalaureate-level nurses annually. These programs currently are at capacity in terms of faculty load and space allocations. There is high demand for the programs and each is admitting students selectively. WCSU, for example, admitted only a third of the persons who applied to its BSN program Fall 2000. The programs report sizable increases in the number of applicants in recent years.

Expansion of capacity in CSU's nursing programs will necessitate significant expenditures. After consultation with the BSN programs at CCSU, SCSU and WCSU, we estimate that an additional allocation/revenue of in excess of $1,000,000 would be necessary to increase enrollment by twenty-five percent. The new funds are required primarily for new faculty and additional space for classrooms and laboratories. To maintain accreditation and assure the quality of nursing skills among graduates, strict adherence to recommended faculty/student ratios (as low as 1/8 in clinical and laboratory courses) must be maintained and well-equipped, state-of-the-art classroom, clinical and laboratory space must be provided. New faculty with appropriate credentials and training will demand highly competitive salaries. Of the in excess of $1,000,000 necessary to expand enrollments in BSN programs by more than 250 students and produce 40-50 additional nursing graduates annually, approximately $300,000 could be drawn from surplus funds to equip laboratories and classrooms as well as promote enrollment growth.

There also are several additional programs at CSU institutions which address the health care workforce, especially the BS in Medical Technology programs at CCSU and WCSU and the BS in Public Health program at SCSU and BS in Health Education at WCSU. These programs are undersubscribed which could be addressed by a on-time infusion of $50,000 to support an intensive marketing effort.

Alternative Programs

CSU is exploring a number of new programs which would address shortages in the health care workforce and provide greater access for enrollees than current programs.

These programs will reflect one or more of the following features to enhance accessibility and effectiveness:

interdisciplinary, professional content
certificate programs which link to associates or baccalaureate programs
baccalaureate programs building on associate degrees from community colleges
competency-based to enable advanced placement and marketability of program completion
flexibility in delivery, including web-based courses
weekend and evening access to courses and supportive services
on-site delivery in partnership with health care providers

Programs which are under exploration include the following (* - indicates clear link to existing programs at CT community colleges):

Certificate and BS in Environmental and Occupational Health*

BS in Health Services Management or Administration

BS in Health Information Management

Certificate and BS in Dietetics

Certificate and BS in Wellness Management

BS in Health Sciences*

BS in Cytotechnology (Applied Cellular Research)

BS in Respiratory Care*

BS in Medical Laboratory Sciences*

BS in Physical and Occupational Therapy*

BS in Imaging Technologies*

MS in Nursing or Health Adminsitration

Complete development of these new programs and the supportive services they would require would constitute a major undertaking by CSU and would generate substantial costs. Surplus funds could be utilized to support the academic and physical planning necessary to convert existing resources and justify new resources to create 6-8 new health-related, professional programs. The costs of this planning effort are estimated at $400,000.

Recruitment and Retention of Underserved Populations

CSU has embarked on or is exploring several initiatives which will address access to programs in K-12 education, health care and other career-oriented, workforce-enhancing

areas. In these initiatives, CSU will be utilizing the following approaches:

collaborations with Professional Development (K-12) schools in targeting minority students for career sensitizing activities, including the use college students as mentors and role models
partnerships with community colleges to encourage greater use of transfer programs

by community college students to improve access to CSU baccalaureate programs

partnerships with health care providers to enhance in-service education opportunities for minority employees
vigorous recruitment efforts in minority communities
expanded academic and career counseling for minority students at CSU

Distance Learning Initiatives In the near future, CSU is expecting to develop web-based, on-line versions of the BSN and MSN degrees at Southern Connecticut State University. This initiative will entail converting the non-clinical courses in the BSN program already licensed and accredited at SCSU, in effect creating a RN to BSN program for persons trained at the associate's level in a community college program or in a hospital-based RN program. The online MSN will be created by converting existing courses in SCSU's MSN program to a web-based format.

To convert the appropriate courses to an online format would entail considerable one-time costs as well as long-term costs that would need to be built into CSU's base funding. Expenditures which could be appropriately funded from surplus funds are as follows:

Articulation Programs to Facilitate Degree Enhancement Activities

Many experts have asserted that improved articulation and transfer between community colleges and four-year programs in the State would address a portion of the shortages in the health care workforce. A smooth, seamless transfer process is likely to encourage both movement between the two-year and four-year sectors as well as entry into two-year programs initially. The lack of good transfer processes is caused by three inter-related dilemmas. There is a communications problem, i.e. the necessary information regarding the possible relationships among two-year and four-year programs is not getting to the right persons. There also is an information problem, i.e., not all course equivalencies across the schools offering similar courses have not been established. Important as well is a career advice or counseling problem. The viability and significance

of career tracks in health care and the role of academic programs in engendering the skills and understandings required in these careers is not occurring with the necessary regularity and consistency.

To increase the flow of community college students into CSU programs will require better articulation and transfer processes, information and counseling in relation to a number of relevant baccalaureate-level degrees. An effective approach to improving the flow of students between the community colleges and the programs at CSU most closely to the healthcare workforce would require actions to address these problems. Essentially this would necessitate an augmentation of staff to focus on this issue, the creation of better information and an improved career counseling effort. We propose that this effort be funded out of surplus monies in fiscal 2001-02 and 2002-03 and then phased-out or broadened to other workforce areas and either supported by other funds or absorbed by base appropriations. Specifically, the actions proposed are as follows:

Staff Augmentation - creation of a Director, Articulation and Transfer, and a FT support position in the CSU System Office to work closely with the CTC System Office staff and the community colleges. Primary expectations of this office are:

reestablish joint CSU/CTC transfer and articulation advisory group
arrange joint CSU/CTC faculty conclaves in vital, health-care related subject areas to promote program to program articulation
manage creation and use of course equivalence data-base (see below)
develop articulation agreements among health-care related programs
coordinate vigorous recruitment activities (see below)
coordinate enhanced career counseling function (see below)

Course-Equivalency Data Base - a data base of all courses offered by community colleges and CSU institutions in health care subjects and related fields and equivalencies among them will be developed
Recruitment Activities - active recruitment activities will be established by CSU program spokespersons at community colleges and by community college spokespersons in CT high schools and marketing undertaken to promote health care careers via enrollment in appropriate higher education programs
Career Counseling - career counseling staffs at CSU and CTC institutions will be augmented and encouraged to improve the provision of information to enrollees or potential enrollees in health-care related programs