Kathy Dracup
UCSF School of Nursing Dean Kathy Dracup, RN, FNP, DNSc, spelled out her priorities for 2008-2009: to revise the master of science in nursing curriculum, continue succession planning, increase space to grow programs and boost the diversity of faculty, staff and students.
Ushering in the 101st year of the School of Nursing, Dracup said last Friday that the school must continue to look to outside sources for funding as the University braces for the financial fallout of a $16 billion state budget deficit.
While the state only contributes about 7 percent of the budget for all of UCSF, the nursing school receives less than 40 percent of its budget from the state, Dracup said in her annual state of the school address on Feb. 22.
This means that the school will have to look toward securing more training and research grants and getting greater philanthropic support from alumni, friends and foundations.
The good news is that the School of Nursing stands far above its peer institutions across the nation in the amount of research grants it receives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 2007, the school received $13,836,676 from the NIH, with the University of Washington coming in at a distant second place, Dracup pointed out.
Since UCSF is known as a powerhouse of nursing training and research, Dracup said "at the end of the day, this is what sets UCSF apart."
Nursing alumni are stepping up their support to UCSF, contributing 15 percent more to the school's annual fund in fiscal year 2007 than in the previous fiscal year, Dracup reported. And alumni giving to the annual fund increased by 20 percent in fiscal year 2007 from fiscal year 2005, she added. Interestingly, while the school's 7,504 alumni practice all over the country, most remain close to their California roots.
With the financial help from supporters, the school also has established several more endowed chairs, including one in health disparities.
New Era in Nursing
Revising the master of science in nursing curriculum is a big, but necessary job, since the school has not examined the coursework in decades. A committee led by Lynda Mackin will tackle the task of looking at how to tailor the curricula for a new era in nursing. Revised courses will likely add more informatics and interdisciplinary forms of education, Dracup said.
Dracup, who participated in the UC advisory council that recommended future growth in the health professions in a January 2007 report, said that the UCSF nursing school is doing its part to train the next generation of nurses and nurse-scientists as well as medical sociologists.
From 2001-2002 to 2007-2008, the UCSF School of Nursing has increased enrollment in all its programs, which include:
- • Master's Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN) from 59 to 86 students
- • PhD program from 131 to 162 students
- • Master's students from 350 to 396, for a total nursing school enrollment of 644 students.
"Every year, 400 graduate nurses receive their PhDs in the US. The UCSF School of Nursing graduated 46 last year or about 10 percent of all new doctorally prepared nurses in the nation," Dracup noted.
Dracup, who said she is constantly amazed by the intellect and talent of the doctoral nursing students, said the school has been increasingly successful in gaining PhD scholarship support.
"We are eager to have all our students funded, so that they have an opportunity to go to graduate school and not have to work during their studies," Dracup said.
This is important, since the fees across the UC system and universities elsewhere around the country continue to rise. The high cost of higher education, which burdens many students with huge amounts of debt, has recently led some elite universities, such as Stanford, to eliminate the tuition fees altogether for undergraduates whose parents earn less than $100,000.
Commitment to Diversity
"Making a strong commitment to increase the diversity of students, faculty and staff" is a major priority of the school, Dracup said, adding that "diversity is the key to excellence in health care."
The percentage of nursing students from underrepresented groups has remained steady even with rising enrollment, consisting of about 33 percent this year, Dracup noted. The number of males has also risen, which Dracup explained as a move away from a gender-dominated profession that still faces stereotyping even today.
Among the strategies for success in achieving greater diversity of MEPN students are the collective efforts led by Judy Martin-Holland, PhD, RN, assistant dean for academic services and diversity. Martin-Holland, who won the Martin Luther King Jr. Award this year, has used internal and external influence to increase the number of underrepresented minority applicants to all nursing programs, and better help the school reflect the face of California in its admissions pools.
The school has increased the percentage of underrepresented students in MEPN from 15 percent two years ago to 45 percent in the class that entered in fall 2007.
Nursing school faculty who come from underrepresented backgrounds have also increased from 15.9 percent, or 126 faculty members, in 2005 to 21.9 percent, or 155 faculty members, in 2007. The goal, Dracup said, is to double the number of underrepresented faculty by 2010.
That is easier said than done, since the school faces recruitment challenges such as the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. But Dracup remains committed.
"If we are truly a diverse community, we have to reflect that - not just in ethnicity, but in every way," she said.
A school committee, called Diversity in Action and known has DIVA, has championed diversity training among faculty. The school is offering a six-part course that empowers faculty to handle sometimes sensitive cultural issues in the classroom, clinical settings, research projects and all areas where nursing students are trained. The innovative training has drawn faculty interest from other UCSF schools.
Accommodating Growth
Another priority for Dracup is getting more space to accommodate the enrollment growth, which is a major concern for the school and indeed for all of UCSF. Although UCSF doubled its space with the opening of the Mission Bay campus, the nursing school did not gain any classroom or laboratory space there.
The lack of room to grow is a perennial problem on the Parnassus campus and at other UCSF sites, a fact that was acknowledged in the UCSF Strategic Plan. Among the expected outcomes in rationalizing allocation of space at UCSF for this fiscal year is to develop a common set of principles, expectations and standard metrics to evaluate the allocation of space in consultation with schools.
Dracup said that the school is delighted with the outcome of that strategic plan and now will begin to develop its own strategic plan in alignment with the campuswide plan.
Meanwhile, the school continues planning to prepare for faculty retirement as more than one-third of the professors on the academic track are over the age of 60, Dracup said. Already, many longtime nursing school faculty members have announced their retirement, including many national nursing leaders such as Charlene Harrington, Patricia Benner, Marylin Dodd and Anita Stewart.
Dracup is looking at ways to keep retired faculty engaged in work, perhaps by establishing a new academic title, "professor of the graduate school," a position appointed by the department that allows professors emeriti to continue to play a role in the school.
More faculty are needed to teach the increasing numbers of nursing students. Student enrollment growth is required to alleviate the statewide nursing shortage in which the Golden State ranks 50th in the number of nurses relative to the general population, Dracup said.
For its part, UC now has two new nursing schools at UC Irvine and UC Davis, in addition to UCSF and UCLA.
Dracup concluded her address by emphasizing the school's core values of diversity, mutual support, solidarity, respect and dialogue - all elements of a healthy work environment. While faculty and staff have a tendency to work very hard at UCSF, she urged people to strike a balance between their personal and professional lives. "Families always come first," Dracup said.
And with what has become her hallmark closing, she said, "The goal is to have fun!"
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