Campus Feature
BEING BOLD. THINKING HIGHER.
By Doug Goodnough
T
rue to her inauguration promise of creating new academic programs,
President Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD, announced Siena Heights will
venture into several new fields in the future. Some of those areas include
nursing, special education, homeland security, emergency preparedness, and the
University is exploring several other programs.
Nursing
Responding to what has been called a nationwide
crisis, President Albert announced that Siena
Heights will begin a nursing program. Siena is
considering a degree completion program from
registered nurse to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, as well as a more traditional four-year
BSN program. The first RN to BSN nursing
students could be enrolled as early as the 2008-09
school year. The Michigan Department of Labor
and Economic Growth predicts a shortfall of
7,000 nurses by 2010, and that number will increase to 18,000 by
2015. According to
a survey by the American Association of
Colleges of Nursing,
the nation is in the
midst of a health care crisis. Currently 30 states,
including Michigan, have nursing shortages.
“We identified nursing as a primary need not only
in the local community, but in the entire state of
Michigan,”President Albert said. “After exploring
the feasibility of adding a degree program in nursing, we believe establishing nursing is consistent
with the mission and philosophy of Siena Heights.
We believe this is the right move at the right time
in our history.”
Sister Sharon Weber, OP ’69, SHU’s Vice President
for Academic Affairs, said the first step is hiring
a nursing director. After conducting a national
search, Dr. Sue Idczak was hired for the position.
10
Reflections Summer ’07
Dr. Idczak was the director of the Master of
Science Nursing Program at Lourdes College in
Sylvania, Ohio, before arriving at Siena Heights
Aug. 1. She earned a doctorate in philosophy from
the University of Toledo and has a long and distinguished career in the nursing field. Dr. Idczak’s
first task will be to develop a curriculum following
guidelines and standards established by accrediting agencies. She will also help develop clinical
sites for the program as well as hire nursing faculty
and pursue funding opportunities.
Weber said partnerships with area hospitals and
other health care organizations will be important
to the success of Siena’s program. The Adrian
Dominican Sisters, who founded and sponsor Siena Heights, also sponsor two hospitals, St. Rose
Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nev., and Dominican Hospital CHW in Santa Cruz, Calif. The
Adrian Dominican Sisters congregation originally
came to Adrian in the 19th century t