Community Based Job Training Grant

Quarterly Progress Report

1-1-07 to 3-31-07

Section 1: General Grant Information

  1. Grant Identification:
    1. Community Based Job Training Grant #CB15210-06-60
      Jeanette S. Matrone RN, PhD, CNAA, BC
      Program Manager
      Community College of Rhode Island
      1762 Louisquisset Pike
      Lincoln, RI 02865
  2. Expansion Goal
    1. Two Health Science Coordinators are working on expansion activities, which are related to increasing the applicants to programs where there is current capacity, such as PTA, respiratory therapy and clinical laboratory. Some activities performed this quarter include CNA presentations (2 applications), and tours to high schools (19 applications). The coordinators also met with adult education for awareness, where 280 flyers were distributed, and they are continuing to work with NetWork RI where fact sheets and brochures about the grant are being distributed.
    2. The DLT and CCRI continue to make significant progress working together. The college is now a vendor for Respiratory Therapy, Clinical Laboratory Technician and Physical Therapy Assistant. This status opens the door for unemployed workers to attend a degree granting institution.
    3. This quarter we were involved in another CCRI expansion program. The President of CCRI and the Commissioner of Higher Education in the state responded to the need for an accelerated program in nursing. There will be 90 additional students accepted from the wait list into a Summer Nursing Admission Program (SNAP) commencing on May 14. The employees of the Advisory Council HCOs will receive first priority for admission to SNAP. The CBJTG Program Manager is acting as the liaison for the program and the program is being funded by specific arrangements between CCRI and the HCOs. The Health Care Futures Grant will support SNAP through the Student Success Center and the Health Science Coordinators. The information technologist played an important role in facilitating the process of admission with the enrollment officers and the nursing department chairs.
    4. The wait list has been cleaned, and shortened. Students were dropped from the wait list if they indicated that they were no longer interested or if they failed to respond to CCRI’s attempts to reach them. In the future the wait list will be non-existent. The policy for admission is being changed. Dean McGarry gave a presentation of the changes in policy at the last Advisory Committee Meeting.
  3. Student Retention Goal
    1. CCRI Health Futures Grant has made possible the purchase of a student response system (SRS) and formative assessment pads. This tool will be piloted with a Nursing V class by Susan Sienkiewicz this spring. Professor Sienkiewicz will present her results at the Nursing Professional Development Day in May 2007 when there will be a demonstration session and an opportunity for all Nursing faculty to try out this new technology themselves.
    2. With the SRS, faculty can evaluate the collective understanding of the entire class and track individual student learning at the point of instruction. This technology supports interactive questions for reviewing assigned materials, polling, attendance confirmation, participation points, graded tests, and more. Instructors can automatically create and run reports for many course needs, from individual student participation scores to item discrimination on quizzes.
    3. The Student Response System was purchased from eInstruction under a departmental license that covers all expenses of the system – instructor receiver, student response pads and software licensing. If additional faculty wishes to adopt this technology going forward, there are other models for expanding the system, including the option of having the students purchase their own pads, their own software licenses, or both through the Bookstore. This decision can be made in the future should the need arise.
    4. This quarter two peer tutors were recruited for the summer session. Students who received an A or B were called to recruit them as peer tutors, and there is a plan to contact students at risk of failure, and to encourage them to meet with a Health Science Coordinator which may lead to Supplemental Instructor sessions and/or tutoring. We distributed email to all matriculating general program students for spring semester 2007 with information regarding the Health Care Futures grant and Health Care programs, approximately 2,000 students.
    5. Health Care Futures grant participated and supported Student Nurses of Rhode Island’s (SNARI) annual conference where grant information regarding mentoring opportunities was available.
    6. One Health Science Coordinator is assigned goals related to working with faculty to identify and refer high risk students to the Student Success Centers and to develop and maintain close working relationships with health science departments.
  4. Status Update on Leveraged Resources
    1. CCRI has expended many hours as evidenced by preparatory meetings for the budget and Operations Group. The Deans and Chairs of the Health Care Futures Grant have contributed their time. The Advisory Council represents the community and there are twenty community members in attendance. The Advisory Committee meets on a bimonthly basis. Administrators from the healthcare organizations in the community have spent countless hours on facilitating the SNAP program enrollment as well as other programs in the works. These activities satisfy our goal to strengthen partnerships in the community.
  5. Faculty Recruitment and Development activities.
    1. The HARI Nurse Externship Program (NFE) continues. The revised regulations require 20 contact hours effective 1/07. There is ongoing recruitment of externs, ongoing contact with individuals who indicate interest in NFE in response to promotions and advertisements by RISNA, HARI, Black Nurses’ Association, Hispanic Nurses’ Association, Oncology Nursing Society, Health Partnership Council, schools of nursing, former externs, nurse executives. This quarter the following externs were assigned and followed:
      1. Assignment of externs to faculty mentors (3)
      2. Follow up with externs and mentors
      3. Mentor Program Evaluation Survey, February 2007
      4. Extern Follow-up Survey, March 2007
      5. Marketed Student Nurse/Industry-Based Nurse Dialog (1 contact hour)
      6. Held Student Nurse/Industry-Based Nurse Dialog (professional development program for (industry-based nurses) at CCRI on February 14, 2007. Summary evaluation and CEU certificate
      7. Conducted Nurse Employment Survey in RISNA Newsletter, February 2007
      8. Awarded HARI/HPC-supported Garden City gift certificate to Debby Godfrey Brown.
      9. Plan for a spring meeting with deans and directors
    2. The Program Manager continues to recruit adjunct professors for the community HCOs. This quarter 1 full time instructor was hired, and there were several applications received from qualified professionals who could fill adjunct positions in nursing.
    3. The Health Care Futures grant supported three continuing education programs during the college’s Professional Development Day. The college administration approved these workshops; a description and attendance is in the following table.
    4. Program & Speaker Content Attendance
      Collaborative Model for Nursing Education, Sondra Fleming HCOs in Texas collaborate with community college to change curriculum. Includes preceptorship model and distance learning. 30
      A Preceptor Model for Nursing Education, Sondra Fleming This model uses HCO employees as preceptors in collaboration with faculty. 30
      Into the Heart of Change: Empowering Ourselves at the Crossroads, John Sullivan Into the Heart of Change is a workshop that provides a process and tools to help individuals understand the natural and often predictable patterns to change, and identify one's tools and location in the cycles that make up change. The workshop focuses on the importance of self-care in the face of change. 60
      Developing rubrics for facilitating student learning, Wendy Aronoff This hands-on work session is for Nursing and Allied Health faculty interested in developing scoring rubrics. This additional assessment tool gives students feedback on the quality of their performance on exams and in the clinical setting. 22
  6. Partnerships in the Community
    1. The Program Manager was invited to participate in a project to request grant funding with Rhode Island Health Care Association. Consultants were hired to facilitate grant application for career ladder and lattice for long term care workers. The grant (CHum) will help to sustain funding for career lattices in long term care. The proposal was submitted on time.
    2. One full-time faculty member was hired. Several adjunct faculty members are being recruited through grant efforts.

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