The California State University Northern California Consortium Doctor of Nursing Practice received news that they were granted accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education on Nov. 7. The accreditation is valid through Dec. 31, 2019 and the accreditation will be retroactive to the first cohort of graduates in May 2014.
Graduates from the first cohort of the DNP program take questions from current and prospective students at the reception.
“We want to sincerely thank our Deans, department chairs, faculty, project chairs, and staff for their dedication and support required to start such a successful DNP program” the DNP executive leadership team wrote in an email announcement. “This milestone is only possible with such great teamwork and collaboration.”
The DNP program is a joint effort by San José State University’s Valley Foundation School of Nursing in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts and CSU Fresno. The executive leadership team includes Lori Rodriguez and Ruth Rosenblum, at SJSU, and Sylvia Miller and Chris Ortiz, at CSU Fresno.
“We also want to thank all of our students, especially our inaugural DNP Class of 2014,” they wrote. “We appreciate you taking a leap of faith and enrolling in a brand new program, and being so instrumental in the success of the program.”
The mission of the program is: To be an exceptional advanced nursing degree program that will prepare nurses at a doctoral level to lead health care change, serve as nursing faculty and advance health throughout California’s communities.
The DNP program launched its pilot in 2012, with the first cohort of students graduating in May 2014. It took an act of the state legislature to authorize the CSU to award a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The state assembly bill itself called for a DNP degree to be distinct from the doctor of philosophy degree offered by the UC system and to allow professionals to earn the degree while working full time. The program allows students to do much of their coursework online, with in-person intensive sessions each semester held alternately at SJSU and CSU Fresno. The first cohort included students from as far north as Redding and as far south as Bakersfield.
For more in the program, visit http://blogs.sjsu.edu/casa/2014/10/16/dnp-grads-share-experience-with-prospective-sjsu-students/