National League for Nursing Announces New Centers of Excellence™

Selected Schools to Be Recognized During 2011 NLN Education Summit

New York, NY — July 27, 2011 — Eight schools of nursing, representing programs across the academic spectrum, have been chosen NLN Centers of Excellence, the League has announced. These schools will be formally recognized at a special presentation on Friday, September 23 at 9:00 am at the NLN’s annual Education Summit in Orlando, FL. The four-day gathering every year draws a capacity crowd of nurse faculty, deans, administrators, and professionals from allied health organizations. The COE presentation will directly follow the NLN CEO Summit Address at 8:30 am.”Schools work hard to earn the coveted COE designation,” said NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. “What we seek are measurable results and best practices, and the NLN is pleased to publicly name those schools that have demonstrated their understanding of excellence in the concrete terms that the COE application demands.” Schools may earn COE status in one of three categories: Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development; Promoting the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty; or Enhancing the Science of Nursing Education.

Six of this year’s eight schools are repeat COE designees, with two—Excelsior College in Albany, NY and University of North Carolina at Greensboro—earning their third consecutive COE designation. This has entitled them to now carry the COE designation for an additional year, from 2011 to 2016. (COE schools are now designated for a four-year period; until 2011, the initial designation was for three years.) Excelsior has been chosen in the category of Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development, UNC-Greensboro in Promoting the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty.

The other four repeat Centers of Excellence are currently completing their initial term, all for Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development. Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA); East Carolina University (Greenville, NC); Regis College (Weston, MA); and Trinitas School of Nursing (Elizabeth, NJ) will carry the designation from 2011-2015.

First-time designees Collin College (McKinney, TX), for Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development, and University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT), for Promoting the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty, have been named Centers of Excellence for the 2011-2015 term.

Each year since 2004, the NLN has invited nursing schools to apply for COE status, based on their ability to demonstrate sustained excellence in faculty development, nursing education research, or student learning and professional development. Schools must also have a proven commitment to continuous quality improvement.

Throughout the four or more years that schools carry the COE designation, they are expected to serve as advisers and sounding boards to other nursing programs that seek to gain COE distinction. “The COE banner carries with it a responsibility to the entire academic community,” noted Cathleen Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, president of the NLN. “We expect that COE schools will help educate and inspire others, thus elevating the standards of excellence throughout all levels of higher education in nursing.”

Also, each year, students enrolled in COE schools have an opportunity to share their thoughts on the meaning of excellence in nursing education, what fosters excellence, and what it means to them to be part of a COE-designated nursing program. As in years past, the winner of the Student Excellence Paper Competition will be announced at the COE presentation. She is Tuesday Majors from Indiana University School of Nursing. Her winning submission is entitled “Excellence in Nursing Education.”