Dr. Eldon Nelson, Dean -Life & Health Sciences Building #2.404 -554-5000

Department of Nursing

Dr. Katherine Dougherty, Interim-Chair -LHSB #2.720 -554-5071- kdougherty@utb1.utb.edu

The School of Health Sciences offers a graduate program of study leading to the Master of Science in Public Health Nursing which produces a nursing leader who is prepared in the practice of promoting and protecting the health of populations utilizing knowledge from nursing, social and Public Health Sciences. The program is in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health.

Dr. Ella Herriage, Program Director -LHSB #2.424 -554-5076 -eherriage@utb1.utb.edu

The MSPHN degree is designed to prepare nurses at the master’s level for leadership in traditional and non-traditional public health and other health care settings to meet the needs of a changing health care system. It has been developed to meet professional standards and guidelines of the Association of Community Health Educators Council on education for Public Health, American Nurses Association, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the PEW Health Profession Commission. Border health issues and their relationship to overall health care are included. The public health nursing area of study provides students with a foundation of knowledge and experiences in:

-   principles of public health and conceptual models of nursing

-    organization and administration of health services

-   strategies of work and culturally diverse high risk population groups

-    development and evaluation of health promotion and disease prevention programs

-   applied research

The graduates will be able to provide:

-   leadership in administration and supervision of public health programs

-   education and consultation

-   client advocacy, policy analysis and development at the local, state, and federal level

-   core public health competencies, assessment, assurance and policy development

These are evidenced by program ouomes and competency statements. A four-credit field experience will be provided as a graduate project in order to facilitate integration of learning and provide a capstone experience. The University of Texas School of Public Health will provide core public health courses for the degree plan. The University of Texas at Brownsville MSPHN program will offer core public health nursing and other nursing course required by the curriculum making the program a collaborative one of interdisciplinary education.

Admission

A student must meet all requirements for admission to the Graduate School to be admitted to the MSPHN program (see Admissions section). In addition, the student must have a GPA of 3.0 for the last 60 hours of undergraduate work, have a BSN from a nationally accredited school of nursing and be licensed to practice nursing in the state of Texas. The student must also be approved to enroll in the UT School of Public Health for core public health courses. Conditional admission may be granted to students according to graduate school policy. Conditions may be place on students receiving conditional admission, and subsequent registration will be barred if conditions are not met. Conditions will be in relation to individual deficiencies. All conditions must meet the approval of the director of the MSPHN program. International students must meet all requirements for admission in addition to those of the MSPHN program (see International Students section).

Admission Requirements for the MSPHN Program

To be considered for admission to the nursing program the following must be submitted.

- Admission to the UTB Graduate School. The Masters in Nursing Program will accept conditional admission to the graduate school according to the criteria set up in the categories of admission;

- An officially reported Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score;

- Two letters of recommendation;

- An officially reported transcript of TOEFL scores for international students.

- An official transcript (in English or translated into English) indicating an earned baccalaureate degree in nursing from a NLN accredited institution;

- Successful completion of an undergraduate statistics course;

- Current license to practice nursing in Texas;

-   Immunizations required by the Texas Department of Health for students in health-related programs.

-   Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 hours of previous college work.

- Evidence of successful interview with MASPHN Admission Committee.

- Application to the UT School of Public Health for concurrent enrollment.

Degree and Graduation Requirements

Each student will be assigned an advisor to assist in preparing the Graduate Program of Study before or during their first semester in the program. Advisors will be available throughout the program of study for guidance in field experiences e. Students must complete all course work, including the core public health courses form the School of Public Health which is a total of 48 semester hours.

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above to remain in the program in good standing. A student falling below this minimum will be placed on academic probation and must raise his/her cumulative GPA to at least 3.0 within nine hours. Failure to do so will result in academic suspension. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation.

Students who have been suspended may apply for readmission into the MSPHN program by the procedures outlined in the Academic Probation and Suspension section of the Graduate Catalog. Such applications will be considered on a case by case basis, and readmission will be granted at the discretion of the MSPHN program director and the Dean of the School of Health Sciences.

Transfer courses from other Graduate Nursing programs will be evaluated on an individual basis for acceptance.

Nursing and Public Health Nursing

NURS    6321   Structure and Discipline of Nursing

NURS    6322   Moral/Ethical Issues in Policy Development and Health Care Management

NURS    6333   Research in Nursing

NURS    6334   Advanced Public Health Nursing

NURS    6343   Nursing and the Politics of Health Care

NURS    6351   Nursing Leadership for a Changing World

NURS    6353   Community-Based Public Health Nursing Interventions

NURS    6452   Public Health Nursing Leadership Practicum

NURS    7400   Field Experience Masters Project

PH          1110B    Social and Psychological Aspects of Community Health

PH          1610B    Introduction to Biometry

PH          2110B    Overview of Environmental Health

PH          2610B    Introduction to Epidemiology

PH          4410B    Health Program Planning Implementation & Evaluation

NURS    6321   Structure of the Discipline of Nursing

The structure and the discipline of nursing will be examined. Purposes, characteristics, and kinds of structures will be explored, with particular emphasis on theories, model, and conceptual frameworks. Lec 3, Cr 3

NURS    6322   Moral/Ethical Issues in Policy Development and Health Care Management

This course provides a study of health care policy, service delivery systems and the economics and management of health care systems. Emphasis is on the influence of moral and ethical positions on behavior and decision making in policy formulation and practice. This course helps the student identify action that reflects amoral or ethical position in various nursing contexts, understand how moral and ethical beliefs influence behavior, relate selected moral and ethical theories to position-taking, specify a personal position on moral and ethical issues in nursing, and identify the consequences of taking a position. Lec 3, Cr 3           

NURS    6333   Research in Nursing

This course introduces students to the procedures and methods utilized in conducting clinical and epidemiological population based research. The planning and design of research proposals and projects are undertaken. The various types of nursing research are examined, and critical analysis of research articles and research design are stressed. Students prepare research proposals during the course and focus on problem identification, literature review and analysis, project description and evaluation, and measurement of health care ouomes. This course continues as the implementation of the students research project in NURS 7400 Field Experience Masters Project. Lec 3, Cr 3

NURS    6334   Advanced Public Health Nursing

This course provides an overview of factors related to public health nursing with special emphasis on development of conceptual frameworks for advanced practice. Focus on national health priorities and assessment strategies. Lec 3, Cr 3

NURS    6351   Nursing Leadership for a Changing World

Theories of visioning, change, organizational culture, power, negotiation, team-building, forecasting, and personal growth are analyzed to strengthen leadership skills for the future. Focus includes evaluation of concepts within a variety of nursing leadership roles (educator, manager, clinical specialist, consultant). Lec 3, Cr 3

NURS    6343   Nursing and the Politics of Health Care

Analysis of social policy from health care formulation to appropriation and allocation of funding (federal, state, local); its impact on health status and on nursing education, research, and service. Lec 3, Cr 3

NURS    6353   Community-Based Public Health Nursing Intervention

Systematic inquiry into community-based intervention models that integrate knowledge, clinical research, and public health knowledge. Emphasis on community organization and social change models and the development of community-based nursing intervention models for practice. Lec 3, Cr 3

NURS    6452   Public Health Nursing Leadership Practicum  

Focusing on the development of knowledge and skills of a specific leadership role within the field of public health nursing, this course facilitates the examination of leadership and role theory within the enactment of a leadership role. This 120-hour Practicum experience involves a precepted public health nursing leadership placement, a journaled analysis of leadership experiences as they relate to leadership and role theory, and the completion of a project such as development of a new program initiative, planning for a change in the organization’s activities, analyzing a leadership or policy issue, assisting with development or management of a component of a budget, planning a quality assurance program, evaluating an activity, and developing an education offering Cr 4.

NURS    7400   Field Experience Masters Project

Building upon the research skills learned in NURS 6333 (Research in Nursing) the student is given the opportunity to implement their research proposal in a field setting. A total of 320 hours will be spent in an agency of the student’s choice and will culminate in the submission of a scholarly research report. Teaching-learning methods include discussing aspects of process with other students and the instructor, working individually on the project, doing peer reviews of report drafts of two student colleagues, and meeting one-to-one with the instructor. Students work in a self-paced manner to meet course deadlines by completing a series of steps necessary to finish the project and final written report.

PH          1110 B   Social and Psychological Aspects of Community Health

This course will benefit participants by providing them with foundations of behavioral science theory and practice. Its purpose is to provide participants with a broad background in the behavioral sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, social psychology, e.), and with experiences in accessing, understanding, and using these sciences in developing solutions to community health problems in the context of burgeoning electronic data resources.

This course provides relevant training into planning, organization and conduct of the complex array of activities that constitute public health. Public health embraces a remarkable variety of skills, requiring persons trained in medicine, other professional health fields and many aspects of physical, biological, and social sciences. The School of Public health must provide the orientation and philosophy that establishes unity from this diversity.

A second major objective of the School is to serve as a focus for research activities directed toward community health problems, and thus an important component of this course is also exposure to and experience with social and behavioral science research at the community level.

This course is taught concurrently with public health nursing courses and is taught by the School of Public Health. Consent of the program director is required. Registration for the course is through the MSPHN program director.

PH          1610 B   Introduction to Biometry

This course is designed for students with little or no previous coursework in mathematics or statistics. Topics include study design, data description, elements of probability distribution of random variables, applications of the binomial and normal distributions, estimation and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, contingency tables, regression and analysis of variance. Additional topics include introduction to statistical computing and data management, distribution free statistical methods and demographic measures. This course is taught concurrently with public health nursing courses and is taught by the School of Public Health. Consent of the program director is required. Registration for the course is through the MSPHN program director.

PH          2110 B   Overview of Environmental Health

There are no prerequisites for the course, but students will find it to their advantage if they have taken Introductory Epidemiology and Biometry and have taken college level chemistry and biology. Those latter courses, taken at the high school level, may be adequate if you remember the content.

The course consists of videotapes made of live lectures, reading materials from various sources including the World Wide Web, and three ITV sessions that will be reserved for student presentations. The first ITV session may be strictly introductory in nature due to its occurring early in the schedule. The makeup and demographics of the students will determine the nature of the presentations once the course begins.

This is an issues and concepts course. The lectures will be used by the instructor to provide supplemental information on the topic and to explain any information in the reading that may be difficult to understand or particularly germane to the subject. The projects/exams will be devoted to a deeper understanding of the subject. Students should prepare for the tapes by reading the material. It is expected that the student in each of the following should spend approximately 45 hours: tape review, reading, and preparing projects/exams.

Topics to be included are importance of the risk assessment and risk management education and environmental awareness in problem solving and preventing environmental problems, specific issues related to air, water and land pollution, relationships among environmental media, international aspects of environmental health, and environmental issues to specific disciplines.

This course is taught concurrently with public health nursing courses and is taught by the School of Public Health. Consent of the program director is required. Registration for the course is through the MSPHN program director.

PH          2610 B   Introduction to Epidemiology

This course is intended to provide an overview and introduction to the fundamentals of epidemiology. Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems. This course is taught by the School of Public Health. Consent of the program director is required. Registration for the course is through the MSPHN program director.

PH          4410 B   Health Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation

This course is an introduction to the theoretical basis and essential techniques for meeting the health needs of populations through organized programs. The course is structured around the three central program management concepts of planning, implementation, and evaluation. Each concept is presented and illustrated in ITV lecture/discussions, readings, and videotaped lectures. Work will be done in small groups to complete exercises that provide “hands on” experience in applying the central program management concepts. This course is taught concurrently with public health nursing courses and is taught by the School of Public Health. Consent of the program director is required. Registration for the course is through the MSPHN program director.

Cooperative Degree Programs

UTB/TSC participates in cooperative degree programs with the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Arlington, Sam Houston State University, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Acceptance into a cooperative degree program is conditioned upon the understanding that institutional sponsorship of the program may change during the period of matriculation. This will not affect a student’s continuation in the program, but may subject the student to different policies and procedures. In addition, the identity of the institution officially granting the degree upon successful completion of the program will depend upon official sponsorship of the program at that time.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

The University of Houston, in cooperation with UTB/TSC, offers opportunities for doctoral studies in education, The 66-semester hour program includes courses from both universities and are structured to serve students residing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. As the programs are hosted by the University of Houston, all policies and requirements of The University of Houston College of Education apply. Students must have the master’s or appropriate professional degree.

To be admitted to doctoral studies, applicants must meet all UTB/TSC as well as University of Houston admission requirements. Generally, these requirements are:

–  GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytical) at the 35th percentage (e.g., above 500 on each scale)

–  GPA above 3.25 on the last 60-semester hours of coursework

–  High level skills in written and oral English language

–    Experience in the field of education

–  Success potential as viewed by three references

Coursework will be taken in both Brownsville and Houston. Students must be able to travel to Houston for weekend and/or summer coursework, library study, and dissertation work. In addition, students must be computer literate and possess a computer and modem for telecommunication with UH faculty.

Application forms and details are available from the UTB/TSC Office of Graduate Studies. All inquires regarding doctoral studies should be made to that office (956) 548-6552. Students may also consult The University of Houston’s web page at www.uh.edu.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Master of Science (M.S.)

The University of Texas at Arlington, in cooperation with UTB/TSC, offers Graduate Programs in Electrical Engineering through distance learning technology. Graduate study and research are offered in a wide range of areas including:

1. Systems, Controls, Microprocessors, Nonlinear Modern Control, Robotics, Biomedical Signal Processing and Instrumentation.

2. Remote Sensing, Electromagnetic Fields, Propagation, Scattering, and Microwave Systems.

3. Optics, Electro-optics, Diffractive optics, Nonlinear Optics, and Lasers.

4.    Microelectronics and Semiconductors: Microwave, Millimeter-wave and Optoelectronic Devices and Integrated Circuits.

5. Digital Signal Processing, Digital Image Processing, Vision Systems, Neural Networks, Statistical Signal Processing, Nonlinear Image Processing, Virtual Prototyping, and Virtual Environments.

6. Information Transmission and Communication Systems.

7.     Energy Systems, Efficient Operation and Planning, Generation and Transmission, Conversion and Distribution.

8.     Applied Physical Electronics: Pulse Electronics, High Power Optical Electronics, Laser Applications and Diagnostics.

9.     Manufacturing Engineering: Robotics, Automation, Control, Data Management, Economics, and Instrumentation as applied to Manufacturing.

Admission Requirements:

Students wishing to major in electrical engineering at the graduate level should have the Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from an approved school. Applicants with degrees in other closely related disciplines may qualify for graduate study in electrical engineering after completion of a faculty-approved program of leveling courses.

The Ph.D. degree is a research degree.

The Master of Science program includes Thesis, Thesis Substitute, and Non-thesis Degrees.

Application forms and more information are available at the Department of Engineering Technology office. For further information about the UT Arlington Programs, consult the UT-Arlington catalog on the Internet at http://www.uta.edu/orgs/catalog/GradCat1.htm .

The Department of Physical Sciences at UTB/TSC and the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at El Paso have combined to offer studies leading to the degree of Masters of Science in Physics. Several of the classes are taken via video conferencing; others are taken locally. The experimental and/or theoretical research opportunities for thesis work include gravitational wave physics, optics, condensed matter and surface physics, geophysics, and radiation physics.

General Departmental Requirements for Graduate Admission

The normal prerequisite to graduate studies in the Department of Physics is the bachelor’s degree in physics with a “B” average in physics courses taken at the undergraduate level. The bachelor’s degree coursework should include advanced undergraduate courses in Mechanics, Electromagnetics, Modem Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermal Physics and advanced laboratory practice. Any deficiency must be removed before the petition is made for candidacy for the M.S. degree. Interested applicants can apply for admission to the Master of Science in Physics program at UTEP. For more information about admission requirements see the UTEP Graduate Studies website at http://www.utep.edu/graduate/  although admission and degree are through El Paso all classes can be taken locally.

Master of Science in Criminal Justice (M.S.C.J.)

36-Hour Thesis/Non-thesis Program

Dr. Susan E. Ritter, Advisor -South Hall #323 -548-6569 -ritter@utb1.utb.edu

The Master of Science in Criminal Justice is offered by The University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg in cooperation with UTB/TSC with thesis and non-thesis programs available. Twelve hours are offered by UTB/TSC faculty on the UTB/TSC campus, and the other 24 hours, delivered by UTPA, are available in Brownsville via interactive video. The program is designed for individuals who are already employed in the criminal justice field and wish to prepare to assume administrative or management responsibilities in federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies. The program includes a Comprehensive Written Examination testing knowledge from the core courses and the student’s areas of additional coursework.

Core Courses

CRIJ     6301            Criminal Justice System

CRIJ     6302            Crime, Criminal Behavior, and Criminology

CRIJ     6303            Criminal Justice Policy Analysis

CRIJ     6304            Law, Courts, and Criminal Procedure

CRIJ     6305            Criminal Justice Organizational Theory and Behavior

CRIJ     6306            Statistical Methods in Criminal Justice

CRIJ     6307            Criminal Justice Research Methods

Electives

Students will take from nine to 15 semester hours from the following courses depending on whether or not they take the thesis, applied project, or additional coursework option.

CRIJ     6308            Juvenile Justice System

CRIJ     6309            Issues in Corrections

CRIJ     6310            Issues in Policing

CRIJ     6311            Special Topics (May be repeated once for credit if new topic)

CRIJ     6312            Independent Research or Studies (May be repeated once for credit)

Other Electives

A maximum of six hours of graduate courses may be taken from related disciplines. Courses must have prior approval of the Graduate Program Director.

Thesis or Applied Project Option

CRIJ     7301-7302 Thesis

CRIJ     7303-7304 Applied Project

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