Academic Policies

Social Media Procedure

Students must exercise caution when using social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram.  Students must remember that what is posted may be accessible to the public, including NJC administration and faculty and future employers.  

Examples of content that reflects negative or questionable motives include but are not limited to:  postings about clinical sites or patients, comments about fellow students or faculty, and photos of social activities involving (or those that could be construed as) involving illegal or inappropriate actions or behaviors.

Academic Policies 

1. All NUR course instructors will provide students with a syllabus 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 Nursing Program. 
3. Grading scale for program.  (The grading scale will carry to the 2nd decimal place).                                                                    

4. Before starting clinical a student must have a test score and lab average of 77% or above and for NUR 1009, 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.  
5. 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.  All required general education courses must be completed by the beginning of 3^rd semester.
6. Students must maintain a minimum of a “C” average (at least 77%) or greater in all component of the NUR courses to progress in the program. See syllabi for specific information for each NUR course.  In addition, the student must have a test score average of a 77% or greater in all NUR courses to progress in the program. If the student has below a 77% average in any component of the NUR course the highest grade awarded to the student in this situation will be a “D”.
7. Exams and Remediation
   • Nursing school exams are rigorous and require skill to master. Nursing faculty have developed a Test Plan for the nursing program that includes increasing the number of higher level questions as the student progresses in the program. The intent of the nursing exams is to prepare the student for the NCLEX exam. Students who struggle with test taking skills are encouraged to seek assistance as soon as possible. Available assistance for test taking tips include:
     • Course faculty
     • Monahan Learning Center
     • Life Skills Coach
   • Students with qualified disabilities are encouraged to contact the NJC Transition Specialist to make arrangements for accommodations and support services. That office is in the NJC Monahan Learning Center (MLC), phone (970) 521-6727. In addition to contacting the Transition Specialist, students will need to submit their certification letter of accommodations to instructors as soon as possible to ensure success in the course. For students with accommodations, the exams are expected to be completed on the same day as the rest of the class. The student with extended time to take the exam is not to miss class time in any NUR course due to extended test time. This requires the student to set up an appointment a week before the exam with the MLC. If the exam date is not able to be the same date as the rest of the class, the student must notify faculty for approval prior to test day.
   • 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 unless the student scores at a 77% or below on the exam or if the student is on a Student Success Plan. Test remediation will be conducted as follows:
     • The instructor will review the most missed questions to include an explanation on why the correct answer is correct and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.
     • The student will complete a test analysis using a form provided.
     • The student will complete a reflection on his/her preparation for the exam and test taking skills.
     • No test remediation will be allowed off campus or at a different time.  If a student completes remediation on all exams in the course the student will earn 1 point on the lowest exam score for the course.
   • NJC’s nursing program uses a testing software, Exam Soft. The first semester of nursing school students will be able to go back to previous questions during the test to review. After the first semester students will not be able to go back to previous question as this mirrors the NCLEX exam.
   • 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 count as one test grade. 
     • Fall semester first year math competency test will be part of NUR 1009
     • Spring semester first year math competency test will be part of NUR 1006
     • Fall semester second year math competency test will be part of NUR 2006
     • Spring semester second year math competency will be part of NUR 2016
     • Summer courses (NUR 1069 or NUR 1089) will also have a math competency test.
       • Students who pass the competency test on the first attempt will receive 30 points or 100%.
       • Students who pass the competency test on the second attempt will receive 24 points or 75%
       • Students who pass the competency test on the third attempt will receive 18 points or 65%
       • After 3 attempts to pass the competency test unsuccessfully the student will be placed on Student Success Plan (SSP) and will receive a “0”. See Academic support 9c in this handbook for explanation of SSP
   • If a student takes a test and believes a test question has been marked wrong in error the student may complete a Test Item Query form (found at end of handbook). The Test Item Query form may only be completed during remediation.  There will be no class time used to argue or debate exam questions.
   • 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. 
8. Students will be awarded a pass/fail clinical grade. 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”. 
9. Academic support
   • The nursing program has employed a Life Skills Coach (LSC)/nursing support position 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.
     • Appropriate Topics for discussion are:
       • study and reading strategies
       •  note taking
       •  test preparation
       •  test taking strategies
       •  learning styles
       • coping with stress and pressure
       •  time management
       • organization
       • personal finance
       • goal development
       • maintaining a healthy lifestyle
   • 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
       • 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 nursing department 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 offer assistance weekly in open lab to any student interested and in need of assistance.  The schedule for group study sessions and open lab will be prepared and posted at the beginning of each semester.  Open lab hours can be used for assistance with any nursing subjects, assistance with or remediation of clinical/laboratory skills, and assistance with clinical paperwork. 

c. Students will be placed on a Student Success Plan (SSP) while in the nursing program for the following:

• Dropping at or below 80% in any aspect of a NUR course. The student will be on the SSP until the average on all components of the NUR course is above 80%.
• Failure to pass the term/semester dosage calculation exam after the 3^rd attempt. The student will remain on a SSP for the remainder of the semester.
• Re-admission to the nursing program or at admission is identified as at risk for successful completion of the program. The student will remain on a SSP for the entire duration of the nursing program. This may be re-evaluated after successful completion of the first year.

  The student will be informed of his or her need to develop a Student Success Plan by the Director of Nursing or designee. The student will be required to sign a contract agreeing to the following terms:

• 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 1001 Dosage Calculations or MAT 1120 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 student 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.
  • Attend the group study session
  • Attend test remediation in course (s) that are at or below 80%
  • Attend the Nursing Seminar each week during the first semester.

10. 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.”
11. 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. 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 integrated 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 integrated 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.

If the first attempt on an integrated exam is below the Proficiency score the student will be required to complete remediation and complete another integrated exam with remediation before a final grade is submitted for the course.

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 90% 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 integrated exam is mandatory. Students will access Kaplan’s “Channel” and watch the correlating crucial topic(s) lecture recording as assigned by the course instructor. 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 the crucial topics and reflection will result in 50% added to integrated test score. Failure to complete the videos and/or reflection will result in 0% added to proctored test score.

Please note:  Program faculty and directors can view if the student has watched the assigned lecture video(s). Remediation is to benefit the student.  Please take testing and remediation seriously.

     Kaplan Integrated Exams in the ADN program include, but are not limited:                             

Please note in order to complete NUR 2030 the students must score a green thumb’s up on 2 of the 3 CAT exams. If 2 green thumbs up are not obtained the students will be required to remediate and will be given an Incomplete in NUR 2030 until readiness for NCLEX is determined.

   12. 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.