Incetive for nursing instructors in Georgia

[cougarnurse]

FYI: Incentive for nursing teachers | News | OnlineAthens.com

Part-time nursing instructors at the state's public colleges will be able to take graduate courses for free under a policy change the University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved Wednesday.

The policy change is an effort to cultivate more nursing faculty with advanced degrees.

Full-time faculty and staff long have been able to take classes when there was an extra seat for them.

Now, part-time instructors can get free tuition. But unlike their full-time colleagues, the part-timers will have to make a B or better in each class and agree to remain on the faculty full time for at least two years after they graduate. Otherwise, they'll have to pony up for the tuition.

With roughly 40 percent of the current nursing faculty eligible for retirement within five years, the regents are worried about finding qualified replacements. Nursing schools turn away the majority of applicants for undergraduate courses because there already is a faculty shortage.

"Finding doctorally prepared faculty is almost impossible - which makes it very hard for nursing programs to expand their numbers," said Valerie Hepburn, president of the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick.

Public colleges complain they can't hire the few available nurses with graduate degrees because competing salaries are much higher. Hospitals and insurance companies are hiring more nurses with advanced degrees, and nurses with advanced degrees can get the authority to write prescriptions, increasing the salary they can command.

By requiring a two-year teaching commitment in exchange for free tuition, the regents are hoping to lock in a steady stream of new faculty.