M E M O R A N D U M

								June 12, 2012


To:	           Members of the Board of Trustees

From:		Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor

Subject:	Degree Authorization for the State University of New York 
Health Science Center at Syracuse
	

	I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution:

Resolved that the Chancellor be, and hereby is, directed to seek the authorization of the Board of Regents for the State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse to confer the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.).

Background

	Approval of this resolution will authorize the State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse to confer the Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree, subject to the approval of the Board of Regents.  Degree authorization is necessary as the award represents the College’s first use of the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.  Authorization by the Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents will allow the approval of programs in the Health Professions leading to the D.N.P.

      The development of D.N.P. programs is consistent with the mission of SUNY Upstate Medical University (SUNY Upstate) and will complement existing doctoral-level education in several fields, including Medicine, Physical Therapy, and basic sciences.  The new programs will meet the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice, which endorses the transition from a specialty nursing practice education at the Master's level to the D.N.P. by 2015. In accordance with AACN’s recognition of the importance of providing the most advanced level of nursing care for individuals, families, groups and communities, SUNY Upstate is proposing four programs: Clinical Nurse Specialist, Family Nurse Practitioner, Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.  

These programs will prepare advance practice nurses to critique clinical scientific findings and design programs of care delivery that are economically feasible and have significant impact on health care outcomes.  Thus, the new D.N.P. programs will support SUNY’s overall commitment to a Healthier NewYork, as described in The Power of SUNY.  

      The D.N.P. focus will be on quality improvement, including the ability to design, implement, and evaluate applied research.  Emphasis will be placed on the appraisal of evidence and methodologies used to study safe, timely, effective, efficient and equitable patient-centered health care. The clinical role of the D.N.P. graduate is expected to expand and become more collaborative, encompassing the health care of various populations and delivery systems. Graduates will also be prepared to enter the ranks of the nursing faculty.
      
      The programs will have two points of entry: Post-B.S. and post-M.S. Licensed nurses with a baccalaureate degree will complete 86 credits in three calendar years of full-time study or four to five years of part-time study.  Post-Master's-prepared Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Nurse Specialists who meet criteria for admission will be required to complete 38 credit hours. These students will enter with 500 clinical hours and need an additional 500 hours to meet the AACN required 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours.  Full- and part-time enrollment in these programs is projected to be approximately 20 students in the first year, growing to 110 students by the fifth year.
      
      SUNY Upstate supports SUNY’s strategic goals for diversity.  The programs will recruit women, men, minority group members and those for whom English is a second language by contacting candidates through networks, such as the College of Nursing alumni, the Black Nurses Association, and the Hispanic Nursing Association, both at the state and local levels, as well as recruitment fairs at the larger hospitals in central New York.
      
      The proposed programs were reviewed by external evaluators, who observed that the programs build upon SUNY Upstate’s established Master’s level advanced practice programs and the faculty is well prepared for the DNP programs.  To ensure excellence, the Campus has committed hiring at least five new faculty.  The D.N.P. will bring additional tuition revenue, so the programs should be at the break-even point by the end of the first year.  
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Board Resolution	June 12, 2012