Program Descriptions, Components of Curriculum and Program Assessment

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND REGULATIONS

Undergraduate Business

The Associate of Science in Business Administration (ASB) program is designed for those persons in the early stages of a management or professional career.  The program includes a solid foundation in the arts and sciences as well as introductory courses in management and business principles.

This undergraduate program includes a 27-credit core curriculum (including 3 credits of prerequisite accounting) that constitutes the major course of study.  General education and elective credits are also required to fulfill the 60 semester credit requirements for the ASB degree. Courses are offered sequentially.  NOTE:  Students must have completed IDS 104 before enrolling in the core curriculum.   

The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program is designed to enable students to work effectively in today’s complex business environment.  The program includes, but is not limited to, courses in management theory, marketing, finance, economics, and accounting. Designed to provide an effective balance of theory and practical experiences, the program promotes a complementary relationship between job skills and classroom applications.  Skill development in the areas of decision-making, business communications, and quantitative analysis are emphasized.

This undergraduate program includes a 45-credit core curriculum (including 3 credits of prerequisite accounting) that constitutes the major course of study.  General education and elective credits are also required to fulfill the 120 semester credit requirements for the BBA degree. Courses are offered sequentially.  NOTE:  Students must have completed IDS 301 before enrolling in program courses.  Students must complete IDS 310 in order to meet the requirements of the BBA degree.

Criminal Justice

The Bachelor of Science in Sociology/Criminal Justice (CRJ) program allows students to prepare themselves for entry or advancement in any of the many criminal justice occupations.  This program is designed to give the student a broad-based professional preparation for his/her chosen career.  Learning objectives for students are to develop the appropriate skills and knowledge to become creative and critical thinkers, effective communicators, and positive contributors to their work environment.  Students must communicate effectively both in oral and written forms.

This undergraduate program includes a 42-credit core curriculum that constitutes the major course of study.  There are also 30 general education credits and 48 elective credits required to fulfill the 120 semester credits needed to complete this degree. NOTE:  Students must have completed IDS 301 before enrolling in program courses. 

Nursing

Averett University’s RN to BSN is an online, fast paced, accelerated degree completion program designed to expand the RN’s knowledge base in the areas of leadership, nursing research, and community health nursing.  Critical thinking skills will be enhanced by incorporating evidence based practice, thus allowing the RN to provide high quality, safe nursing care to diverse populations across the lifespan. NOTE:  Students must have completed IDS 301 before enrolling in program courses.

Student Outcomes
Upon completion of the RN to BSN degree program, graduates will be able to:

1. Incorporate leadership practices and patient care management skills to provide safe, high quality nursing care across the lifespan to individuals, families, organizations and communities.
2. Utilize research findings and evidence-based practices to collaborate and communicate inter-professionally across healthcare settings.
3. Formulate plans of nursing care to promote, maintain and restore health, inclusive of various cultures and diverse backgrounds.
4. Design a personal plan for lifelong learning and professional development.

Performance Standards for Admission & Progression:
The professional nurse must possess the knowledge and ability to effectively assist in his/her patient’s care.  Practicing nurses and nursing students are held to very high standards of integrity and competencies in order to perform responsibly.  A candidate for professional nursing must have the abilities and skills necessary to use the nursing process:  assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating.  Professional nurses and nursing students must also be able to perform essential skills. 

The following abilities and skills are necessary to meet the requirements of the nursing program:

1. Observation:  The candidate must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance as well as close up.  Observation requires the functional use of the sense of vision, hearing, and touch. The sense of smell can enhance the observational process.
2. Communication:  The candidate must be able to speak, to hear, and to observe patients in order to obtain information such as changes in level of consciousness, activity, and perceived nonverbal communications.  Communication includes not only speech, but reading and writing.  The candidate must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team.
3. Motor Skills:  Candidates should possess sufficient motor function to obtain information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other assessment exercises.  A candidate must have sufficient motor skills to be able to access patients in a variety of care settings as well as manipulate the equipment necessary to providing the patient with professional nursing care.  These actions require coordination of both fine and gross motor muscle movements, equilibrium, and the senses of touch and vision.
4. Intellectual & Cognitive Abilities:  These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis.  Critical thinking and problem solving requires all of these intellectual abilities.  In addition, the candidate should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.
5. Behavioral & Social Qualities:  A candidate must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of his/her intellectual abilities; the ability to make satisfactory judgments; the prompt completion of responsibilities required for the care of patients; and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective interpersonal relationships.  Candidates must be able to tolerate strenuous physical workloads and to function effectively under stress.  They must be flexible and adaptable in changing environments.  Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, and motivation are all personal qualities necessary for professional nursing.

Averett University does not discriminate; however, the School of Nursing believes that all students enrolled must possess these qualities in order to be successful and achieve the level of competence necessary for safe, professional practice.  If an applicant believes that he/she cannot meet one or more of these abilities/skills without accommodations or modifications, determination will be made, on an individual basis, whether or not the necessary accommodations or modifications can be made reasonably.

Graduate Business

 The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program is designed to develop and enhance the management and analytical skills necessary in public and private industry.  The program concentrates on the functional areas of business.  These include, but are not limited to, management, accounting, finance, economics, and strategic planning.  All courses in the Executive Master of Business Administration program are designed to recognize the global impact on business and industry.
The curriculum is structured sequentially, with participants taking one course at a time.  The Executive Master of Business Administration program requires the completion of a 41-credit core curriculum. NOTE:  Students must have completed IDS 301 before enrolling in program courses.

The Master of Business Administration Human Resource Management (MBA-HRM) Concentration is a graduate level program for those seeking professional competence in the field of human resource management.  The Concentration is a series of five three-credit courses, two taken in regular classes in the MBA core curriculum - BSA 504 and BSA 532 and three, BSA 562, BSA 563, and BSA 564 taken online.  NOTE:  Students must have completed BSA 504 before enrolling in the HRM concentration. 

The Master of Business Administration Leadership Concentration (MBA-LDR) is a graduate level program for those seeking professional competence in the field of leadership.  The concentration will provide students with an understanding of the theory, concepts, and applications of leadership in a global and increasingly competitive economy.  This program focuses on theory and practical application in different cultures.  The student will learn the difference in managing and leading and how to do each.  Students interested in international business will benefit from the concept of leadership based on culture, in other cultures.  Students will learn how to apply leadership and management concepts to achieve greater productivity, increased quality, less employee turnover, and fewer disciplinary problems.  This program is firmly grounded in research and will focus not just on theory but also on achieving measurable improvements in the careers of students.  NOTE:  Students must have completed BSA 532 and BSA 538 prior to enrolling. 

The Master of Business Administration Marketing Concentration (MBA-MKT) is a graduate level program for those seeking professional competence in the field of marketing. This program provides advanced and specialized learning about theory and practice for the marketing professional. The Marketing Concentration is ideal for business leaders who define and implement the marketing functions of a firm.  The program provides special marketing training that can advance both the firm’s brands and the career of the incumbent as well.  NOTE:  Students must have completed BSA 529 before enrolling.

Graduate Education

The Master of Education (M.Ed) is offered in Curriculum and Instruction, Special Education, and Administration and Supervision.  The program is designed for the classroom teacher to strengthen his/her understanding of the teaching-learning process.  To provide a strong theoretical base, a core of courses that examine philosophical, psychological, and research-oriented issues is required of all students.  The graduate education program provides both theoretical and practical experiences for teachers who wish to become leaders in their profession.
NOTE:  Students must have completed IDS 301 before enrolling in program courses.

GPS classes are normally taught in three or five-credit hour courses. These courses are intended to ensure that each student achieves the goals and objectives of the specific degree program.  Each course is a required component of the curriculum and is offered in sequence.

1.   Course work:  Classes focus on writing and speaking across the curriculum. Students provide a practical approach to academic concepts presented by the instructor, taking advantage of the extensive professional experience the adult learner brings to the classroom. The GPS Program uses the American Psychological Association (APA) style in all course work.

2.   Computer Accessibility:  All students admitted into the Averett University GPS degree programs must have access to a computer with Internet connectivity. The University has adopted Microsoft Office as a standard software program and Moodle to deliver the course outline and enhance learning.

3.   Class Representative:  Each cluster elects a Class Representative. The role of the GPS Class Representative is to be a liaison between Averett University (regional administrative staff) and the students in his/her cluster.  This individual is the class spokesperson and assists instructors as needed.
Responsibilities of the Class Representative include the following:
a.   Serve as a spokesperson for the group.
b.   Ensure the classroom is in satisfactory condition at the end of each class.
c.   Create a communication chain to exchange messages.
d.   Assist the class in organizing social events as appropriate.
e.   Assist each instructor in making a smooth transition when beginning a new course.
f.    Serve as the communication liaison between GPS administration, instructors, and students for general issues, such as class postponement due to inclement weather.
g.   Participate in meetings as scheduled.

Program assessment provides GPS administration with a means of monitoring the various aspects of our academic operation, furnishing a basis for assessing effects of degree programs on a student’s academic and professional progress, and supporting the University‘s effort to supply compliance data to the accrediting association and to federal, state, and other agencies.

      A:  Student End-of-Course Survey:  At the end of each course, students fill out a survey that will rate various aspects of the course, curriculum, and facilitator.  These comments are provided to administrators, as well as the facilitator of the course, after grades for the course have been posted.

      B:  Bibliographic Instruction/Library Survey:  Upon completion of the bibliographic instruction workshop, students will be asked to evaluate the instruction, content, and utility.

      C:  Graduation Survey:  Each year, graduating students will be asked to rate the overall quality of the program by responding to various inquiries about curriculum, faculty, and administration.