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2008 Project: New Initiative Program:
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BEST PRACTICE FOCUS: CAREER PATHWAYS CONSORTIUM: DESCRIPTION: The New Initiative Program (NIP), located at St. Petersburg College’s Caruth Health Education Center, was designed to provide academic support for health students from their very first science pre-requisite course through licensure. Since 1981, NIP has provided unique tutoring strategies to the eleven health programs. The program serves an average of 700 (unduplicated count) students per year and these students maintain an average pass rate of 82%. NIP began as a special project focused on assisting disadvantaged students to graduate from their chosen health programs. The scope of the program has remained consistent, but the techniques to assist with success have evolved greatly. In the early years, the NIP staff worked with faculty encouraging modification of teaching methods and curriculum. Currently, NIP provides a richly diverse staff that interact directly with students, faculty, and program directors encouraging unique educational opportunities for all St. Petersburg College health students. One of the most exciting educational opportunities afforded to health students is the ability to attend a cadaver workshop. NIP is fortunate to be physically located in a college building that also houses a Funeral Services Program. The Funeral Services Program Director, NIP staff, and natural science faculty worked with state regulators to meet the professional requirement that allow storage and display of a donated science cadaver. Upon acquisition, NIP notifies all Natural Science Program Directors of the scheduled workshops. Small groups of students then participate in the workshops allowing them to view actual organs in correct anatomical position. Another unique educational opportunity is available for St. Petersburg College’s Associate Degree Nursing students. In many instances it has been several years since students have completed the cornerstone Anatomy and Physiology classes that are a pre-requisite. Upon determination that this time lag could be problematic for students, NIP began offering Anatomy and Physiology reviews that correlate to the Nursing curriculum. NIP staff members present workshops including the pathophysiology of disease processes the week before students receive their nursing instruction. NIP also offers program reviews for students during their final semester in their chosen health program. These reviews are taught by program faculty and are utilized as a board preparation class with no cost to the students. These workshops proved so successful that many of the health programs have integrated them as part of the students’ required curriculum rather than an optional workshop. NIP is staffed by 2 fulltime staff members. One of these staff members is the program coordinator who provides guidance and leadership to the program while still working with students individually or in groups. The other fulltime team member is an instructional specialist who plans and teaches many of the workshops and is also available to work with students individually or in groups. These fulltime staff members are supplemented by an ever changing league of part-time instructional assistants who bring many diverse talents to the team. These positions are monitored each semester to key in on specific academic needs. Based on an on-going request from students via a student satisfaction survey, the NIP program became portable during the 2007-08 academic year on a very limited basis. A NIP instructional assistant was available for science tutoring on the St. Petersburg/Gibbs campus for 12 hours per week. The response was very positive allowing over 500 students to benefit from the experience. The NIP staff works hand-in-hand with the college’s Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (OSSD). The program coordinator is a member of the OSSD team attending all regular meetings. This collaboration provides the NIP team with the skills necessary to operate as a testing center for students with accommodated testing. NIP is constantly seeking unique opportunities to augment student success which always remains the goal. CONTACT INFORMATION: |
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