Academic Advising Process Overview
The role of academic advisor is an important one in the College of Nursing. Through the advisement process a sound academic program of study is maintained for students throughout their matriculation. Advisees should learn more about the profession they are preparing to enter from their advisors and the possible professional roles they might assume. Advising may take the form of answering a question, having a conference, or solving a problem. It is a reciprocal process that develops as both parties are invested in a mutually rewarding relationship.
Advising in a professional university is both a developmental and socialization process. Though students are ultimately responsible for their own education and development, the faculty member/advisor should be thought of as a valued resource person with a wealth of knowledge due to their education and experience. The advisee is expected to seek guidance from the advisor and let the advisor know when help is needed. The advisor should, however, be proactive in developing relationships with their advisees and keeping current on their academic progress. The advisor is also someone who can explore career/professional goals with the advisee. Through active, involved advisement faculty have the opportunity to influence a student’s progress, motivation, values, and goals.
Each student is assigned a faculty advisor upon confirmation of admission to the College. The roles and responsibilities of the advisor and advisee are described below.
Advisors: Advisors should serve as role models, mentors, and resource persons, acting in the best interest of students. The advisor can serve as a link between the student and the formal organization of the College and University.
Advisors should be familiar with the College curriculum, University, and College policies and procedures, and pertinent information about their advisees.
Specific Responsibilities of the Advisor
- Clearly inform advisees of how to be contacted and when. Create an environment of accessibility.
- Develop the foundations for a relationship early on.
- Review/confirm the program of study with new advisees within the first four weeks of the term.
- Monitor the advisees’ academic progress and discuss how they are managing their studies at least once each term.
- Revise student’s program of study as needed and route revised plan to the CON Program Coordinator.
- Help plan clinical practica for graduate students as required.
- Guide doctoral students in choosing research and clinical examination committee members.
- Oversee projects of DNP advisees.
- Chair clinical defense committee for PhD advisees.
Advisees: Advisees are students who have advisors assigned to them after confirming their admission to the College. Advisees must demonstrate initiative in working with their advisors to commence and maintain a productive advisor/advisee relationship.
Advisees should attempt to familiarize themselves with their curricula, University and College policies and procedures, and other pertinent information as it arises during the academic year.
Specific Responsibilities of the Advisee
- Inform your advisor of your schedule and how you may be contacted within the first four weeks of the term.
- Follow your plan of study as outlined by your advisor.
- Seek your advisor’s assistance when encountering academic or related problems.
- Contact your advisor for an appointment at least three days before the desired appointment.
- Leave e-mail or voice-mail messages for your advisor when unable to contact him/her.
- Consult your advisor about transfer of credit, scheduling difficulties, leave of absence, or change of status (e.g., enrollment, major or program).
- Use the CON Student Advising Handbook, University Catalog, and other current printed material as reference sources.
The Program Directors will serve as back-up for the program advisors. An advisee should contact the appropriate Program Director (i.e., Generalist, Specialist, or PhD) when their advisor has been unavailable for an extended period of time or if an emergent situation arises. If the Program Director is unavailable, please contact the Assistant Dean for Generalist Education (for GEM and CNL) or the Assistant Dean for Specialist Education (for DNP) of the College of Nursing. For the PhD program students should contact the Assistant Dean for Nursing Science Studies.
PhD Advisement Process
Graduates of the PhD program will develop the skills of a clinical researcher. These skills will be based on the integration of knowledge from biological, behavioral, and clinical sciences. Their clinical research skills will contribute to the scientific basis of care provided to individuals across the life span and in any setting where care is provided. Graduates will also have leadership skills necessary to serve as senior academicians and influence health care systems and policy.
PhD Program of Study Guidelines
For both part-time and full-time students:
- Core and cognate courses should be completed prior to taking NSG 691, the Advanced Clinical Research Practicum (ACRP).
- NSG 691 is done on an independent study basis. A completed independent study form must accompany the registration form.
- A minimum of eight (8) hours of NSG 691 must be completed before the student may present the oral defense. Additional hours may be required. If students have completed the eight (8) hours of NSG 691 but have not yet presented the oral defense, they must register in every subsequent term for at least one credit hour of NSG 691.
- Dissertation credit may not be taken until the student passes the written and verbal ACRP defense.
- After successful completion of the ACRP defense, students must register for a minimum of three (3) hours of NSG 699 every term thereafter until the dissertation is successfully defended. A minimum of 12 total dissertation hours is required.
- The student becomes a doctoral candidate after the dissertation proposal is approved by the dissertation committee.
- Students may not take a Leave of Absence to prepare for their dissertation proposal defense.
- PhD students must complete degree requirements within eight (8) years.
Guidelines and Forms for PhD Matriculation
Click on the attachments below to view important information about the PhD program of study.
PhD Products by Year
PhD ACRP Guidelines
PhD cognate guidelines
PhD Dissertation guidelines
PhD dissertation proposal guidelines
Dissertation authorship guidelines
PhD degree approval process
Statistical Support
Scope of Services: Statisticians retained by the College of Nursing are available to consult on a limited basis with doctoral students and participate as members of doctoral committees. Examples of helpful services a statistician can provide to doctoral students are: advice in refining research questions and selecting measurement tools to maximize their ability to use rigorous analytic techniques, assistance in the determination of sample size and/or subject numbers, planning the analytic techniques that will test the study’s hypotheses, exploring modifications that may be required in the analytic plan once analyses have begun, participation in determining alternative interpretations of the results based on the characteristics and limitations of the analyses.
Examples of activities that are the student’s responsibility are: programming, coding data, setting up a computer data file, entering the data, running the statistical analyses, writing the analytic section of the project/dissertation and interpreting the findings to the doctoral committee. With the permission of the committee chairperson, the student may hire assistants to enter and code data and to perform statistical analyses. College of Nursing statisticians can help students identify possible, potential paid assistants for these activities. Payment is entirely the responsibility of the student.
In all cases, the student is responsible for the quality of such work and is expected to be able to explain and defend all actions pertinent to data management and statistical
analyses. This responsibility includes defense of any interim analysis steps. Examples of such steps are normalization, weighting, and resetting test parameters (e.g. overriding multicollinearity indicators prior to conducting a regression analysis). Use of assistants does not relieve a student of the responsibility to provide the doctoral committee with the programs and analytic output upon which the results are based.
Response Times: The statistician will acknowledge any request for assistance within five regular business days. Note that this does not mean that questions can be answered or appointments held within five days but rather that the statistician will alert the student as to availability for consultation. The best strategy for timely completion of a project or dissertation is to meet at the beginning of the dissertation process with the statistician and your chairperson and determine a timetable of statistics-related activities. This timetable is just another part of the dissertation timetable and must be compatible with its other elements. For example, if you plan data collection to take place in September and October and analysis to begin in November, you may need to have the statistician review your data program in early August so that you can code data as you collect it.
Alert the statistician to any deviations in this timetable as soon as possible. The statistician may or may not be able to accommodate such a change.
Getting the Most Out of a Statistical Consultation
- Write your aims for the consultation (e.g., determine sample size, select between two different statistical approaches or decide if normalization is warranted for your data set). This will provide clarity to you and the statistician as you begin the session and enable you to determine at the end of the session if all of your aims have been met.
- Assemble relevant materials. Bring these materials in written form to the consultation. At a minimum, this should include (1) the question and/or hypotheses you are attempting to address, (2) the tools you are considering using/are using, and (3) information about the tools, including distributions noted in earlier studies, scale formation, and validity and reliability.
- Ask the statistician what else you should bring to the meeting. For example, if you are asking the statistician to check your programming analyses or to show you how to run a particular statistical test, bring your electronic data set or send it to the statistician in advance of the meeting. If you are asking the statistician to comment on your analysis runs or the results, bring them to the meeting.
- Remember that many issues can be addressed via e-mail or phone. The statistician will counsel you as to which consulting format(s) is best for your issue.
PhD Products by Year of Program
PhD Products by Year of Program for Full Time MS to PhD Students
PhD Products by Year of Program for Part Time MS to PhD Students
Student Authorship Guidelines
Authorship identifies those individuals who hold primary responsibility for the content of the manuscript. Students should discuss authorship eligibility and responsibilities with the major advisor and committee members at the inception of their projects. Because research is a dynamic process, it is possible that substantive changes will occur in the contributions of research team members over the course of the project. Consequently, students may need to renegotiate author credit and/or order. It is expected that students will be the first author on all manuscripts that emanate from their doctoral studies. The following criteria should be used to guide discussions regarding authorship eligibility and order:
- Students may be the sole author on manuscripts that result from their doctoral work.
- Authorship credit is awarded to committee members and other individuals who make a substantial contribution to the manuscript. Substantial contributions include:
- Formulation of the research question and hypotheses
- Conceptualizing the study framework and design
- Performing data analysis
- Interpreting the data
- Writing or critically revising sections of the manuscript
- Serving as principal investigator of a funded study that generated the data
- Authorship order is jointly negotiated among the first and co-authors. Authors who make major contributions in the analysis and interpretation of data and/or writing of the manuscript may precede authors who contribute in other areas.
As the primary author, the student is responsible for assuring that:
- Each named author meets authorship criteria
- Each author has reviewed the entire manuscript and approves of its content
- Each author has consented to authorship
Individuals who provide minor and/or general support, but who do not make substantive contributions to the design, conduct, analysis, or write-up of the study, may be recognized in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. Examples of minor/general support include technical support, data collection and entry, proofreading, participant recruitment, and financial/budgetary assistance.
References
http://www.apa.org/research/responsible/publication/index.aspx
http://icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
DNP Advisement Process
Introduction
The DNP degree is designed to prepare an expert in a specific area of nursing practice. Advanced nursing practice is broadly defined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2004) as:
Any form of nursing intervention that influences health care outcomes for individuals or populations, including the direct care of individual patients, management of care for individuals and populations, administration of nursing and health care organizations, and the development and implementation of health policy.
The DNP coursework and project provide a solid foundation in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, systems leadership and other content areas that will lead to improved clinical outcomes in complex systems.
A faculty advisor has been assigned to you based on the expectation that s/he will be a good fit to guide your clinical area of interest and/or a prospective project. In addition to being an important resource person regarding your ongoing DNP project, your advisor will also assist you with matriculation, progression, and other academic issues. Communication expectations between advisee and advisor should be established at the beginning of the program. There is not a requirement for the frequency of communication and varies from advisor to advisor. It is suggested you make ongoing scheduled appointments with your advisor. If not needed, these can always be cancelled.
What Constitutes a DNP Project?
The project must be one that allows the student to have an opportunity to develop and ultimately demonstrate a synthesis of leadership skills within the context of improving health care. Given this requirement, the setting, purpose, and objectives of student projects will vary but every project will include the synthesis of evidence and outcomes based thinking, strategic decision making, effective project management, and proficient communication skills that are hallmarks of a DNP graduate.
DNP Student Project Team
Purpose of the Team: The purpose of a project team is to support the student as they design and implement the DNP project. Project team members will communicate regularly with the student throughout the development of the project. The DNP project entails collaboration among the advisor, second reader, facilitator and student. It is important to remember that all DNP student project teams are not the same. Variations exist within and between tracks. In general, the roles described apply to all DNP projects.
The Student: The student is an important part of the project team. The student works closely with the advisor/first reader and second reader as they identify ideas and develop, implement and evaluate the DNP project. It is important that the student take the initiative to communicate with the advisor/first reader regularly regarding the progress of project planning and implementation.
Academic Advisor/First Reader: For most DNP students, the academic advisor and the first reader are the same faculty member. Occasionally, a student will be assigned an advisor, but will work with a different faculty member for the DNP project. Overall, the academic advisor/first reader promotes the scholarly thinking and intellectual curiosity of the student. This is accomplished through ongoing feedback to the student from course faculty and the academic advisor/first reader. The advisor/first reader gives final approval of the DNP proposal, which must be obtained before the project is implemented. The advisor/first reader gives final approval of the final paper.
Second Reader: A second reader is assigned to every project and in collaboration with the advisor/first reader approves both the proposal and the final paper. The second reader may be a faculty member or may be a professional expert in the student’s content area. Students will send their proposal or final paper to the second reader as directed by the advisor/first reader. The second reader provides general feedback, identifies gaps, and poses questions, but will not edit the paper unless requested by the advisor/first reader. Click on the link to learn more about the Role of the Second Reader.
Project Facilitator: A project facilitator is someone who works at the project site and agrees to support the student and help to navigate the site’s system. In some programs, the student will be asked to identify a project facilitator at the agency’s site and give the name and contact information to the advisor. In some programs, the facilitator is assigned based upon the project focus. The following are responsibilities of the project facilitator:
- Help the student navigate the system within the organization/site
- Support the student to identify data to define a problem
- Assist the student in selecting realistic goals and objectives
- Provide oversight and support during the project planning and implementation phases of the project
- Ensure that key stakeholders in the organization/site are aware of the student’s project
- Provide input and feedback to the student and Rush faculty as needed
- Assist the student with ensuring project sustainability in the organization/site when appropriate.
Click on the link to read more about the DNP Project Overview for Facilitators.
A more detailed DNP Project Guide and documents that assist in the development of the DNP project, such as the ones listed below, may be found in the Rush University Portal on the College of Nursing homepage.
Clarification of Work Done in Pairs
DNP Project Facilitator Form
DNP Project Proposal
- Proposal Guidelines
- Paper Grading Rubric
- Oral Presentation Grading Rubric
DNP Project Final
- Final Paper Guidelines
- Paper Grading Rubric
- Oral Presentation Grading Rubric
IRB Information
Evolution of the DNP Project
The DNP project has generally established milestones that students achieve as they progress in their work on the project. Click on the link, Evolution of a DNP Project, to see a step-wise template for the progression through the scholarly DNP project. Should you require statistical consultation as you are planning the evaluation of your DNP project, first use the University Center for Student Success as a primary source for consultation. If a more specific or complex consultation is needed after consulting with the Center, please refer to the process outlined below:
Process to Request a Statistical Consultation
The following process was developed to provide College of Nursing students with instructions on how to submit a data analysis/information request for their DNP project:
The request is completed by use of the College of Nursing Office of Research Affairs department Data Analysis/Information Request Form. The student is responsible to obtain their advisor’s approval prior to form submission. After the advisor approval is obtained open the following hyperlink to access the fillable Data Analysis/Information Request Form: https://redcap.rush.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=XEYXM8ATWK. Please complete all sections of the Data Analysis/Information Request Form and attach all existing datasets or questionnaires. Instructions have been provided on the form to further assist with form completion. Once complete hit the “Submit” button. Upon receipt of your request the College of Nursing Data Coordinator will contact you within two business days to set up an initial consultation.
Note: It is highly recommended that the student submit the form to meet with a data coordinator during the planning phase of their project. The Data Coordinator will be available for student appointments on Monday’s from 9AM - 5PM (Armour Academic Center; student is required to check in at the front desk of 1080 Armour if meeting is on campus). Phone calls are possible with the necessary documents/data made available prior to the meeting.
GEM Advisement Process
All GEM students are assigned to a program advisor. The program advisor is a valuable resource to help students get acclimated to nursing school, navigate to appropriate resources, and assist in program of study changes as required. The advisor works in coordination with the GEM program director and other university services to coordinate the GEM academic experience.
GEM Forms and Documents
GEM uniform and equipment order information
Clinical Performance Appraisal
Portfolio Requirements
Guidelines for Professional Development Opportunities
Clinical Assignment Record
Graduate Nursing Student Academy
CNL Advisement Process
Students admitted to the CNL program are assigned a faculty advisor. Besides engaging in the advising activities outlined under the General Advising Process, the faculty advisor also directs the CNL student in their Capstone Project. It is important that the CNL student communicate with their faculty advisor in the manner outlined by the course syllabi regarding capstone requirements during the latter half of the program.
Post-Graduate Certificate Advisement Process
The program of study for the post-graduate non-degreed certificate student is the most individualized. A thorough transcript review is necessary to give credit to previous course work and generate a program of study which meets program requirements. The faculty advisor and Program Director work closely to ensure consistency of program requirements.
Progression Criteria
- All college policies of academic progression apply to certificate students. Certificate students must be in good standing in order to graduate.
- All programs of study and related courses must be approved by the Program Director.
- All requirements must be completed prior to the student receiving verification of his/her eligibility to take the certification exam.
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