(Left, College Director of Development John Pepitone; Nursing Department Chair Marianne Hattar-Pollara; College Dean Sylvia A. Alva with Susan and Larry Wolfe of the Richard Siegel Foundation, strong supporters of CSUN Nursing at Nursing's 20th Anniversary event. The Wolfes are alumni of CSUN.)
In May 2015, the Nursing Department celebrated its 20th anniversary. Sylvia A. Alva, Dean of the College of Health and Human Development said, “Throughout the program’s history, its faculty and staff have reached for and consistently achieved regional and national standards of excellence.”
Dean Alva talked about the vision of the nursing faculty twenty years ago, and their ability to see the need to prepare more nurses in what was then, and continues to be, a rapidly growing and sprawling region. “Under the leadership of these faculty and staff, the first RN to BSN program in the San Fernando Valley was established. The program opened the door for Registered Nurses to expand their knowledge and skills and to rise to even higher levels of professionalism and leadership,” she said.
With over 800 alumni, CSUN Nursing continues to play a critical role in meeting the healthcare needs of the region. “Our graduates continue to be highly sought after and essential members of the healthcare teams in a variety of settings and clinical specialty areas,” Alva added.
At the event, Department Chair, Marianne Hattar-Pollara shared her insights and a brief history of the program and its evolution to department status at the anniversary celebration.
The RN to BSN program welcomed the first cohort of RN transfer students in 1993 and graduated the first class in May 1996.
A sampling of our successes:
- increasing enrollments by 217%
- excellent NCLEX pass rate of first time test takers
- increasing retention and on time graduation (97% retention rate and 100% on time graduation)
- creating four pathway agreements for streamlined RN-BSN program with community colleges and increasing pathway enrolment by 200%
- The Department of Nursing has proposed offering the MSN program in adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner track and in acute adult-gerontology nurse educator track.
“These and other achievements could not be realized without the highly competent nursing faculty whose commitment, dedication and enthusiasm are ultimately the distinguishing feature that sets CSUN’s nursing program apart from others,” Hattar-Pollara said. “They are tireless in their efforts to deliver outstanding nursing education and in training professional, competent and practice ready nursing graduates.”
“This anniversary celebration was also an opportunity for CSUN Nursing to pledge its commitment to improving the health of society by marching on with further strategic growth and development of the nursing program at CSUN,” Hattar-Pollara said. “We came together to celebrate the professional work of the 1,000 plus nursing alumni and to formally initiate the nursing alumni chapter.”