Success course working

for nurses

The bad news was the mandatory course
scheduled for 8am on Monday mornings.

The good news is that General Nursing
students taking the new Student Success
100 course this fall have been, well, quite
successful. A record number of 19 stu-
dents in the class scored 90 percent or
better on their first nursing theory exam.
In the clinical setting, a Registered Nurse
reported that she had never met a group
so “keen and eager to learn”.

The student success movement is driven
by a need to maximize return on resour-
ces invested by both students and
colleges. In two-year Canadian nursing
programs, for example, there is presently
a dropout rate of about 40 percent. At the
same time, college grads face demands
for higher qualifications from employers
and higher entrance GPAs from univer-
sities.

Douglas College Counsellor Sandy Strate,
one of three instructors in the course,
says it’s too early to make final judge-
ments based on just one group, but the
results are heartening. According to a mid-
term memo from the teaching team, the
class also formed more study groups and
bonded earlier as a clinical group.

“What was difficult to write into a course
outline is that it was hoped this course
will encourage student success by provid-
ing students with an opportunity to

establish teams and allow them to build
strengths and support for themselves,”
noted Strate, who taught the course along
with Nursing’s Denise Hawthorne and
Sheri Ladbrook-Gibbons of the Reading
and Study Skills program.

Content in the 1.5 credit course focused
on personal management, study skills and
cooperative learning. Students completed
assignments in time management, library
use, critical thinking, assertiveness and
personal style inventory. While the
benefits eventually began to show, Strate
says that some students initially ques-
tioned the need for the course, especially
given its early time slot.

“We had some difficulty at first because
the course was perceived as an add-on.
Students could not see the validity of the
course but the later feedback from stu-
dents that I’ve had is that the course was
worth it.”

Student Success sections are also avail-
able through Developmental Studies, and
more seem destined to be offered in all
post-secondary institutions.

“We will be offering a student success
course next year for Social Science stu-
dents in their second year,” says
Ladbrook-Gibbons. “The goal is to bump
up their GPA to meet the tougher stand-
ards at universities.” A

Events Calendar

 

@ Noon at New West

Jan 14
Andrew Clayton, trombone
Henry Waack, piano

Jan 21
Heather Hay, violincello
Ellen Silverman, piano

Jan 28
Andrew Dawes, violin
Marylou Dawes, piano

Feb 4

The Galiano Trio, flute, clarinet,
bassoon

David Boddington, leader

@ Art Show

Noli Me Tangere

Jan 11 to Feb 12

Amelia Douglas Gallery

Opening reception: Jan 11 at 7pm.

i Literature Alive Readings
Maja Bannerman

Mond’, Feb 1
12 con Room 2201

Patricia Stone
Tuesday, Feb 2
2pm Room 2223 a

Did You Know?

Figures back up Douglas College's reputa-
tion as a commuter college. A student
survey shows that 40 percent of students
live outside the College region and 58
percent come to the campus in their own
cars. (Source: Fall 1990 Survey by Office of
Institutional Research and Development) &

Douglas College faculty ratify new two-year deal

Douglas College faculty have ratified a
new two-year contract.

The new agreement will run until the end
of March, 1994, with wage increases of
two percent in the first year and one per-
cent in the second.

The agreement was accepted in a vote by
Faculty Association membership on
December 16 and was approved in a

meeting of the Douglas College Board the
following day.

The major issue addressed in the agree-
ment is regularization, with provisions
made for a process by which contract
faculty can achieve regular faculty status.

“Having a policy in place for regulariza-
tion is a major step forward,” said DCFA
President Cathie Cookson. “The package

helps us cope with the issue of long-term
employees on contract.”

“It's an intelligent agreement,” says Direc-

tor of Labour Relations Peter Sanderson.
“There were some long negotiating
sessions but both parties put their minds
to it and came up with some good
compromises.” A