Internal Factors Affecting the Proposed Curriculum Design
Various internal factors affect the curriculum design. These factors include organizational processes, curriculum committees, and internal review bodies. The organization process defines what steps must be taken to approve a change in the curriculum. While some private universities require single approval from nursing faculty, other institutions may need a comprehensive, multilevel approval process involving different committees’ opinions and decisions (Chen et al., 2020). The process developed by the institution complicates or eases the changes in the curriculum. For example, the process, like the annual work cycle, influences the plan for beginning and completing the curriculum development process (Chen et al., 2020).
The curriculum committee is another factor affecting the change of any curriculum. The committees must approve and change the study hours to incorporate the new course. The committees must assess the institution in terms of readiness by determining its current approval process and the channels that will be followed to approve the new course. The approval of changes and curriculum proposals must go through the local level, which is the nursing curriculum committee (Iwasiw et al., 2020). The next level would be the dean and the college committee. Finally, the course would be approved by the all-college curriculum committee, and their recommendation would lead the proposed course to the faculty for final approval.
The internal review process also affects curriculum development. The internal process would include the opinions of the faculty and students. In the event of proposing a new educational program or revising an existing curriculum, thoughts need to be directed to the existing features of faculty and student organization, forming part of the internal review process (Iwasiw et al., 2020). The faculty will decide to participate in the education program because a high student ratio supports the curriculum change. The skills and expertise of the faculty will need to be taken into account because there is a need to have enough faculty teaching the proposed program at the university. For instance, if the program is designed for new nurses, the older nurses looking to obtain BSN would not benefit from the new curriculum.
External Factors Affecting the Proposed Curriculum Design
Funding is an important factor that will affect the curriculum design. Analyzing the proposed program’s finances would provide its developers with important information on the economic aspect of the new program (Bokonjic et al., 2019). Funding affects any potential change, and in this change, funding is a key factor defining its success or failure. A financial assessment and business plan will be done to assess the program would need additional sources of funds to support its implementation.
The stakeholders would as well affect the curriculum development. Involving stakeholders in the early and preceding stages of implementation aids in strengthening their collaboration with the school of nursing (Bokonjic et al., 2019). The stakeholders could as well be institutions that fund the institution and must be included in the considered changes to the curriculum. Failure to consider the stakeholders would affect their approval of the program.
Another external factor affecting curriculum development is the regulatory and accrediting agencies. The accrediting bodies of the institution have set policies and standards that the curriculum must meet. Any proposed change must be submitted to the accreditation bodies for approval. A new or any program under revision must meet state regulations to ensure compliance with the agency guidelines. For instance, the Capella University nursing program is accredited by Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Therefore, the new course must also meet these standards to be implemented in the curriculum.
Mission, Philosophy, and Parent Institution Impact
A mission statement exists in all organizations and defines the institutions distinguishing character. The mission statement relays more information on some of the values that an organization stand for or seem to be championing (Chen et al., 2020). Most students and stakeholders use the mission statements if they want to be affiliated with a particular school. The parent institution’s mission, philosophy, purpose, and goals communicate more on a nursing program. The nursing school must evaluate itself based on the quality of nursing education, service, and scholarship programs (Iwasiw et al., 2020). The changes in the curriculum program need to support the current mission and values of the nursing school. The curriculum must hold tr
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