How to Design Compressed Scheduling

1. How to Design Compressed Scheduling Eva Tapia MSN, RN Nursing Program Director

2. Traditional students • 18-25 years old • Single or married without children • Tuition funded by parents or financial aid • Take 12-18 credits per semester • Are techno-natives

3. The non-traditional student • Average 28-35 years old • Married or single parent with children • Must work to support self and family • Prefers part-time schedule • May be frustrated with schedule changes or inconsistent teaching methods • Desires content to be relevant

4. Why traditional schedules work • Monday through Friday schedules preferred by many. • Considered a “normal” schedule • Allows evenings and weekends off • Industry work (clinical) is done during normal business hours

5. Why traditional schedules don’t work • Work schedules conflict with school schedules. • Women with young children are the fastest growing segment of the work force. • Men are more involved in family and home care responsibilities. • Eighty-five percent (85%) of all workers have family care responsibilities. • Our society is aging. Twenty-five percent (25%) of all workers have elder care responsibilities.

6. Flexible schedule options • Offer creative approaches for completing school while promoting balance between school, work and personal commitments. • Involve use of non-traditional work hours (students and faculty, and flexible work arrangements • The total numbers of program hours and expected student achievement remain the same. • Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) and Program Outcomes are based on the student’s achievement of competencies.

7. Flexible work options respond to significant changes at work and home during the past few decades. Examples of these changes are: • Women with young children are the fastest growing segment of the work force.Men are more involved in family and home care responsibilities.Eighty-five percent (85%) of all workers have family care responsibilities.Our society is aging. Twenty-five percent (25%) of all workers have elder care responsibilities.More focus is being placed on work and personal goals and responsibilities. • Educational and research environments have not been immune to these changes. We feel their influence more strongly now at Penn than ever before. Flexible work arrangements respond to these issues by supporting efforts to manage the demands of work, personal commitments and individual needs.

8. Just 20% of first-time students at public community colleges get a degree or certificate within three years.

9. Nursing Program:Barriers to scheduling • Program accreditation requires all full time faculty and 50% of part-time instructors to have master’s degrees in nursing. • Salary for nurse educators is not competitive to industry with similar degree. • Clinical sites are congested and limited. Many units accept only 4-6 students at a time and must be supervised by an instructor. • On site labs have limited space. Budget has not allowed for capital construction.

10. Schedules that work • Block schedules • Extended hours • Flexible rotations • Part-time schedules

11. Block schedules • Courses taught in 8 week blocks • Allows one instructor (senior instructor or subject expert) to teach 2 sections. • Specialty clinical instructor can teach 2 or more groups of students

13. 23 students 2 specialty instructors 120 clinical hours 8 weeks

14. Flexible rotations

15. Part-time and evening schedule