Academic Policies

1. All NUR course instructors will provide students with a syllabi on the first day of the course. All nursing handbook polices apply to all NUR courses. Faculty may also have more detailed polices that students are to adhere to.

2. It will be necessary to maintain an overall grade point average of 2.0 or “C.” A “D” or below in any required class, will result in a counseled withdrawal from the            Program.

3. Before starting clinical a student must have a test score average of 77% or above and satisfactory grade in all labs for NUR 109 Fundamentals in Nursing. If a student does not have a test score average of 77% and does not have a satisfactory grade in lab the students will be allowed to finish the semester and then will have a counseled withdrawal from the program. The student may finish the theory and lab component of the course but will be unable to do the clinical component and would need to repeat the course in its entirety.

4. All academic courses require a “C” in order to receive credit.  The Associate Degree in Applied Science in Nursing will not be awarded without a “C” or better in all courses.

• If a student receives a “D” or “F” in any required course including general education courses the student will have a counseled withdrawal from the nursing program.
• Students must maintain a minimum of a “C” average (at least 77%) on total exam scores in each NUR course to receive credit.  If a student has a “C” or better average in the course but is less than 77% on exam scores the student will not receive credit for the class.  The highest grade awarded to the student in this situation will be a “D”.
  NJC nursing faculty believe it is valuable for students to remediate on exams to continue further learning and correct any misinformation. Remediation on all unit exams in NUR courses will be offered but not required with the exception of those exams offered on D2L. Students will remediate on questions missed and will provide the following:
  • An explanation on why the question was missed
  • An explanation on why the answer the student provided is incorrect
  • An explanation on why the correct answer is correct and cite the source where the correct answer was found
    If the student provides all the above information the student will be awarded 1/8 of a point on the exam.
• All clinical courses are graded weekly.  Students must have an average clinical grade greater than or equal to 77% in order to successfully pass each clinical component.  If the student scores less than a 77% average for the clinical experience, the student will not receive credit for the class and the highest grade awarded will be a “D”.  The clinical component will be calculated into the total course grade for classes which require a clinical component.  The clinical component is worth 30% of the total grade for these courses.

5. If a student does not achieve 77% or greater in any component (theory, lab, and/or clinical) of any course the student will ultimately fail the entire course.

6. If a student receives a test score below 77% on any unit exam in a nursing course the student is required to meet with the instructor and may do a test analysis. This meeting is to take place as soon as possible after the exam and before the next unit exam in the course. Nursing exams take skill and practice to complete successfully.  Nursing faculty would encourage any student who needs to improve test taking skills to set up a meeting with faculty to do a detailed test analysis of a past test by completing the Test Analysis Tool (found at end of handbook).  No exam review of multiple tests will be allowed before finals. The Comprehensive Learning Center and the Life Skills Coach can also assist students with test taking skills.

7. If a student takes a test and believes a test question has been marked wrong in error the student may compete a Test Item Query form (found at end of handbook).  The form must be turned in to the instructor no later than one week after reviewing the test.  There will be no class time used to argue or debate exam questions.

8. The nursing program has employed a Life Skills Coach (LSC) as a resource for assisting all nursing students in designing specific learning plans, modifying existing behaviors, and exploring new areas for personal, academic, and career growth and development. 

Nursing students are offered the opportunity to meet with the Life Skills Coach at any time throughout the semester by appointment or drop-in.  Students are welcome to discuss strategies for academic and career success. Topics such as study and reading strategies, note taking, test preparation and test taking strategies, learning styles, resume writing, job searching, coping with stress and pressure, time management, organization, personal finance, goal development, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are encouraged for discussion.

Throughout the semester, periodic meetings can be beneficial: 

Beginning of the semester: review course load, set up schedule for time management, devise strategies to accomplish work, set goals for the semester

Throughout the semester: evaluate progress in classes and effectiveness of time management strategies, deal with issues that arise, maintain awareness of short and long term deadlines. 

End of the semester: review semester goals, come up with strategies for managing stress/pressure, and sharpen focus and motivation to finish the semester.  

The Life Skills Coach will maintain student confidentiality. The Life Skills Coach will only report to nursing faculty the students he/she is assisting and the academic success plan developed with the student. Please note the LSC and all nursing faculty are mandatory reporters and therefore have an obligation to report certain issues relating to the health and safety of the campus community members. Further information may be found on the college website: www.njc.edu/safety-and-security/title-ix

The Life Skills Coach will contact students during the semester if the student has a NUR test score between 77-80% to discuss strategies to improve exam scores. If a student’s NUR exam score drops below a 77% a nursing faculty will refer the student to the Life Skills Coach to set up an academic success plan. Students will also be required to meet with the Life Skill Coach if the student’s lab or clinical average drops below 77%.

9. Students are encouraged to seek assistance from the Life Skills Coach and/or Monahan Learning Center (MLC) in the library, if needed, as early as possible. MLC has a professional nursing tutor who is available for appointments. The nursing tutor will offer 1 hour group study sessions for 1^st and 2^nd year students each week to review difficult content.  Nursing program faculty/staff will also serve as tutors in nursing subjects and skills and will be available 2 hours per week in open lab time to any student interested and in need of assistance.  A tutoring schedule will be prepared and posted at the beginning of each semester.  Open lab hours can be used for tutoring on nursing subjects, assistance with or remediation of clinical/laboratory skills, and assistance with clinical paperwork.

10. Students will be placed on academic probation while in the nursing program for the following:

• Test score average for any course is at or below 80%
• Lab component of any course is at or below 80%
• Clinical component of any course is at or below 80%
• Failure to pass the term/semester dosage calculation exam after the 3^rd attempt.

The student will be informed of his or her academic probation status by the director of nursing or designee. Once notified of status the student will have 48 hours to respond to the Director of Nursing. The student will be required to sign a contract agreeing to terms the student will need to comply with in order return to good academic standing and progress in the program. These terms will include the following:

• For failure to pass the dosage calculation exam for the term/semester after the 3^rd attempt the student will be required to complete the next offering of NUR 101 Dosage Calculations or MAT 103 Math for Clinical Calculations on-line with a “C” or greater. Failure to complete the course successfully will result in a counseled withdrawal from the nursing program. If the students is unable to pass the 3^rd attempt of the dosage calculations exam any of the following semesters a Math remediation plan will be given to the student by the director and must be completed satisfactorily to progress in the nursing program. If the student is unable to pass the dosage calculations exam subsequent semesters/terms the student will have a counseled withdrawal from the nursing program.
• For students who drops at or below 80% in any aspect of the course, the student will be required to:
  • Schedule and meet with the Life Skills Coach weekly to develop and maintain an academic plan.
  • Meet 1 hour a week with the professional nursing tutor
  • Meet 1 hour a week in open lab
  • Attend the Nursing Seminar each week during the first semester.

A self-evaluation of academic progress will be due to the Life Skills Coach and the Director of Nursing every 4 weeks while on academic probation. Once the student earns an 80% or greater in all aspects of the nursing courses the student will be removed from academic probation status.

11. To make up a test due to an absence the student is to call the nursing department   before the test is given to notify the nursing department of the absence. If a student does not notify the nursing department prior to the missed test the students will be allowed to take the test; however, the student will only be able to obtain 50% of the total possible points.  The test is to be made up the next school day or at the earliest date as determined by faculty. If a student misses more than one unit exam in any one course the students will meet with the instructor for counseling and an incident report will be completed.

12. Except where a student is entitled to make an audio or video recording of class lectures and discussions as an educational accommodation determined through the student's interactive process with college disability services, a student may not record lectures or classroom discussions unless written permission from the class instructor has been obtained and all students in the class as well as guest speakers have been informed that audio/video recording may occur. A student granted permission to record may use the recording only for his or her own study and may not publish or post the recording on YouTube or any other medium or venue without the instructor's explicit written authorization. Please contact college disability services at (970) 521-6727 if you require an educational accommodation.”

13. Associate Degree nursing students must pass a dosage calculations test with 100% every semester. A dosage calculation test will be part of a clinical course for each semester. The dosage calculations test will equal the weight of one clinical week’s grade.

Fall semester first year math competency test will be part of NUR 109
Spring semester first year math competency test will be part of NUR 106
Fall semester second year math competency test will be part of NUR 206
Spring semester second year math competency will be part of NUR 216

Summer courses (NUR 169 or NUR 189) will also have a math competency test.

• Students who pass the competency test on the first attempt will receive 100%.
• Students who pass the competency test on the second attempt will receive 77%
• Students who pass the competency test on the third attempt will receive 65%
• After 3 attempts to pass the competency test unsuccessfully the student will be  put on academic probation and will receive a “0”. See item 10.

14. Grading scale for program. (The grading scale will carry to the 2nd decimal place).
100-90 - A
  89-83 - B
  82-77 - C
  76-69 - D
  68-0   - F

15. Kaplan

Northeastern Junior College implements the Kaplan Integrated Testing Program and NCLEX-RN review into the nursing curriculum for purposes of identifying areas of strength and improvements needed in the student nursing population. Students are encouraged to fully use this service to assist in his or her educational process. Kaplan provides numerous practice assessments that are accessible to students throughout the program and may be required before administration of proctored assessments.  Selected courses each semester will have Kaplan examinations that will assess the level of knowledge in particular areas. Remediation will be used to correct student’s knowledge deficits and to enhance areas of proficient knowledge.    

Before students take the secured (proctored) Kaplan tests the student may be assigned a Kaplan practice test and remediation on the practice test as a ticket to take the secured (proctored) Kaplan exam. If the practice test is used before a proctored exam, no student will be allowed to take the secured (proctored) test until this is complete.

Kaplan proctored exams are used in NJC’s nursing programs to give the student an indication of performance probability in specific content areas and/or on the NCLEX-RN in totality.  All Kaplan proctored exams will be given during class time and students are encouraged to use all the time allotted for the exam. If students complete the exam early the student is to start remediation. No students will be allowed to leave class early. All students should aim for proficiency on all exams.  Success Plan/progression:  Scores on the secured (proctored) Kaplan examinations will comprise a component of the course grade. 10% of the theory grade will be based on achievement of proficiency levels and remediation as described in the following paragraph.

Proficiency score:

Significantly below proficiency:  < 49^th percentile = students will receive a grade of 30%
Below proficiency:  50^th -59^th percentile = students will receive a grade of 40% Proficiency Level:   > 60^th percentile = students will receive a grade of 50%
If a student receives a score of 75^th percentile or great and has a test score average in the course of an 82% or greater the student does not have to take the final exam for the course.

Note: Percentile number is based on others who have taken the exam and not on % correct.

Remediation:

Remediation on the secured (proctored) exam is required.  Students are required to complete remediation on all questions including questions that were answered correctly. Sixty second remediation time will be the minimum amount of time allowed per question for full credit. In addition, the student must take notes on remediation using bullet points for each question. In addition to remediation notes the student will turn in a test reflection with specific format given by the nursing faculty. A portion of the student’s grade for this component will come from remediation as described in the following section.

Remediation on every question for 60 seconds with bullet point notes on each question and completion of a test reflection:  50% added to proctored test score

Remediation on < every question with bullet point notes on each question and completion of a test reflection:  0% added to proctored test score

No remediation completed:  10% deducted from proctored test score

Please note:  Program faculty and directors can view total time remediated on each question in a report provided by Kaplan.  Remediation is to benefit the student.  Please take testing and remediation seriously.

16. NCLEX Review Class
There is a mandatory NCLEX review course offered the last semester of the ADN program.  This course generally lasts from 8 am to 4 pm and includes pre and post testing of all students. It may include live or on-line instruction and may include activities each student must complete before, during, and after the course is offered.  The goal is to assist nursing students in preparation for taking the NCLEX-RN exam upon successful completion of the ADN program.