November 20, 2006 

Troy University to move forward with nursing doctorate

TROY – The Troy University Board of Trustees on Saturday approved a resolution that clears the way for University officials to develop a doctorate in nursing practice.

In presenting the resolution, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Ed Roach said the program responds to an American Association of Colleges and Nursing requirement that nurse practitioners, clinical nursing specialists, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives hold the terminal degree in order to be nationally certified advanced practice nurses.

“Without national certification, our graduates will not be able to practice,” Roach told trustees.

By 2015, according to Roach, the doctor of nursing practice degree will be required by certification organizations before students sit for national board examinations. He also added that by offering the degree, TROY graduates would be able to become certified to teach in any nursing program within Alabama – helping ease the shortage of nursing faculty members in the state.

Now that authorization from the board of trustees has been obtained, the University will move forward structuring the program that merely adds to its current curriculum, noted statewide for its pass rates on national board exams.

Roach said the next steps would involve approvals from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

University officials put the price tag for implementing the program at about $350,000 – about half as costly as starting such a program from scratch.

Trustees also approved a measure naming the Chi Omega house in memory of Rachel Youngblood Hawkins, the 22-year chapter adviser who died Sept. 10, and approved an honorary doctor of humane letters degree to Tang Chai Yoong, president of the Malaysia-based Institut Putra and the University’s primary partner in that region.

A resolution commending retiring faculty and staff members was approved, as was a resolution commending Western Kentucky University’s entry into the Sun Belt Conference, the athletic conference in which TROY has membership. Trustees also heard a legal update, the federal and state legislative agenda and a student services report.

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