Campus News
from the heights
Siena Heights to Offer Online Master
of Science in Nursing Degree
From the Centennial Archives: 1910—St. Joseph Avenue (Siena Heights Drive).
Dr. Meyers said. “That means Siena
Heights is as invested in you as you are
invested in us.” Both students have earned GPAs of over
3.9, excelling in their mathematics and
education courses.
“Students will benefit from Siena’s
nationally recognized online instruction
and high levels of faculty engagement,”
Dr. Betz said. Warner Attends Earth
Ethics Conference
The primary prerequisite for the program
is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing
degree from a CCNE- or NLN-accredited
organization.
“We expect the first class to fill quickly,
so we would invite those interested in
the program to inquire immediately,” Dr.
Meyers said.
Siena Heights University announced in
May 2019 it will offer an online Master of
Science in Nursing Degree beginning in
January 2020. The MSN degree will have
a Health Systems Leadership focus. she said. “Our program is designed to
advance nurses careers as leaders among
the nursing profession, whether they are
in the community setting or a traditional
hospital organization.”
“There was a lot of thought that was put
into the curriculum design and also what
program would meet the needs of our
community,” said SHU Nursing Director
Dr. Stacey Meyers. “The Siena Heights
MSN degree will transform leadership
skills through the development of
expertise in strategic planning and health
care operations giving nurses the tools
to become an effective change agent,
improve quality of care and advance their
nursing careers.” MSN classes are sequenced so that
students will take one course online every
eight weeks and two courses throughout
the semester. Students take only one
course at a time, with the 12-course
program designed to be completed within
two years.
“Our classes are designed to meet the
needs of a student who is working as a
nurse, but also wants to advance their
career and education,” Dr. Meyers said.
Dr. Meyers said the program’s broad
leadership emphasis will make SHU’s
MSN degree unique. Siena Heights’ nursing program is
accredited by the American Association
of Colleges of Nursing-Commission on
Collegiate Nursing Excellence (AACN-
CCNE) for both its pre-license and RN to
BSN programs for a 10-year term, which
is the maximum a program can receive.
Within one year of the admission of its
first cohort, SHU will seek accreditation
with CCNE, which is the standard of
practice. Siena Heights’ nursing program
also has a decade-long history of quality.
The program has been recognized for its
excellence by the CCNE.
“We wanted to provide an MSN program
that focused on the development of the
nurse leader from a holistic perspective,” “Siena Heights nursing programs exceed
expectations and benchmarks for grad-
uation, retention and attrition rates,”
“The addition of a MSN degree focused
on Health Systems Leadership only
strengthens the communities we serve,”
said SHU Dean for Graduate and Pro-
fessional Programs Dr. Cheri Betz. “Since
the inception of the Graduate College,
Siena has been committed to making
the world a better place through quality
higher education with a focus on service
to others.”
For more information about the MSN
Health Systems Leadership degree, visit
start.sienaheights.edu/msn.
SHU Nursing Program
Achieves 96 Percent
First-Time Pass Rate on
NNCLEX-RN Exam
The Siena Heights Nursing Program
announced that its 2018 graduates
achieved a 96 percent first-time pass
rate on the National Council Licensure
Examination for Registered Nurses
(NCLEX-RN) exam. This is the second
consecutive year the program has
achieved the highest pass rate in pro-
gram history. In fact, the program has
averaged a 92 percent first-time pass
rate on the exam for the past four years.
This far exceeds the standards set by
the Michigan Board of Nursing and the
AACN-CCNE accrediting body.
Cardeccia, Brower Receive
Schaefer Scholarship
SHU senior mathematics education
majors Kayla Cardeccia and Rachel
Brower both received the 2018 Miriam
Schaefer Scholarship. The scholarship
is awarded annually by the Michigan
Council of Teachers of Mathematics
to Michigan college students of junior
or senior standing who are majoring
in mathematics and planning to teach
at the elementary or high school level.
In August 2018, SHU Associate Professor
of Theater and Speech Communication
Joni Warner attended the Center for Earth
Ethics Conference. Themed "On Water
and Faith: Ministry in the Time of Climate
Change," the conference at the Union
Theological Seminary in New York trained
about 50 faith leaders from around the
country to better address the ecological
crisis in their own communities. Former
Vice President Al Gore was the featured
speaker at the conference.
Mathis, Himelhoch and
Ball Presented at 2018
Dominican Colloquium
MBA Director Dr. Eboni Mathis, Professor
of Management Dr. Carol Himelhoch and
Professor of Management Dr. Steve Ball
presented at the 2018 DHEC: “Balancing
Spirituality in Private and in Business.”
Himelhoch and Raymond
Publish Book
Professor of Management Dr. Carol
Himelhoch and Associate Professor of
Professional Communication Dr. Mary
Raymond had their book published
by MindBodyMed in August 2018.
The book is entitled "Transformational
leadership: The influence of exercise
habits on leadership styles and leader
effectiveness." It extends the research
from Himelhoch's first book, which was
published in 2014. In this study, Drs.
Himelhoch and Raymond addressed the
question, "In what ways do personality
characteristics, demographic charac-
teristics, and leisure exercise habits
influence leadership styles and leader
effectiveness?" Participants included
189 leaders across a broad range of
industries, with their perceptions cor-
roborated through surveying a sample
of their employees.
Reflections Summer ’19 | 5