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Office
of News and Information
May 2, 2005 |
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State Authorizes First Ph.D. Program for UT Tyler The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board authorized the planning of a Ph.D. program in nursing at UT Tyler, President Rodney H. Mabry announced. Meeting in Austin, the Coordinating Board approved what will be UT Tyler's first doctoral level program and one of only seven nursing doctoral programs in the state. “This is an important milestone for the University and an even more important investment in the health of all East Texans. This new doctoral program will allow us to help reverse the shortage of nursing faculty and nursing slots for students, which will enable us, ultimately, to provide more nurses and administrators for area health institutions,” President Mabry said. Studies indicate Texas and the nation face a severe shortage of nurses. Nursing schools are often unable to increase the number of nursing students due to a shortage of faculty. This year, UT Tyler was able to admit only 200 of the over 700 applications for the undergraduate nursing program. “This is a big step toward decreasing the shortage by increasing the number of qualified nursing faculty. The doctoral program will offer a complete pathway to a comprehensive education from the pre-licensure program through the Ph.D.,” said Dr. Linda Klotz, UT Tyler College of Nursing dean. The Coordinating Board cited UT Tyler's successful bachelor's and master's programs as an excellent foundation on which to create a nursing doctoral program. “With state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure, we are well on the way to having what we need to start building the doctoral program,” Dean Klotz said. The doctoral program will be the only on-line nursing program in the state, providing greater access to advanced education and career mobility, she added. Today's decision to start the creation of a doctoral program in nursing comes 11 months after a prestigious group of scholars recommended that UT Tyler was ready to add select doctoral programs. The Washington Advisory Group led by Joe Wyatt, the chancellor emeritus of Vanderbilt University, was commissioned by The UT System Board of Regents to study the research capabilities of each UT campus. “UT Tyler could well achieve 'Doctoral/Research Universities-Intensive' Carnegie classification within a decade,” concluded WAG in a report to the UT System Regents. “The University should seek to augment research at the undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels while enhancing UT Tyler's tradition of outstanding undergraduate instruction and learning.” Doctoral/Research - Intensive universities offer a wide range of baccalaureate and master's degrees plus doctorates in three or more disciplines. Included in this group are universities such as Dartmouth, Baylor, San Diego State, Louisiana Tech and Texas Christian University. The advisory team characterized UT Tyler's College of Nursing and Health Sciences as a “national leader” for its accomplishments in research and education delivery systems. UT Tyler's nursing program is now the third largest and fastest growing nursing program in Texas.
Contact person: Lisa Buchanan, (903) 565-5769
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