Academic Policies & Procedures
Campus Policies
Completion of Degree Requirements
The School of Nursing must receive notices of removal of Incomplete and Deferred grades, special credit grades, and independent study course grades no later than three weeks before the end of classes in the student's last semester prior to graduation (Policy U-VI-A-29).
Auditing of Courses
An audit student officially registers for a class and pays the applicable credit hour rate. Upon completion, the course is entered on the permanent university record as one taken for no credit (NC). Note that this option is available only with the instructor's permission.
Professional Liability Insurance
All undergraduate and graduate nursing students have liability insurance under IU's malpractice contract. This policy covers students only while caring for patients/clients in the student role. This insurance does not cover students who are working for pay or in any other capacity outside program-sanctioned learning experiences.
Criminal Background Checks
All applicants are required to submit a national criminal background check upon being admitted to the School of Nursing. Current students will be required to update their national criminal background checks on an annual basis (Policy VI-A-36).
Health Requirements
All nursing students must provide evidence of compliance with health requirements including immunizations, CPR certification, Training in Universal Precautions (Policy I-D-21), and Hepatitis B Vaccinations (Policy I-D-17) on the campus where they are enrolled. Failure to meet health requirements will prevent the student from participating in clinical learning experiences. Lack of participation could constitute a clinical course failure. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training related to blood-borne pathogens is required of all students annually (Policy I-D-34). Students will be notified of training dates and times. Students are also expected to meet any additional mandated OSHA requirements as dictated by agencies providing clinical learning experiences.
Health Insurance
Health insurance is mandatory and students are expected to demonstrate insurance coverage on entrance to the program and continued coverage throughout the program.
Academically Disadvantaged Students
Programs for academically disadvantaged students are available on IU campuses. Resources vary from campus to campus. Students should see individual campus bulletins for specific campus resources (Policy I-C-7).
Students with Disabilities
The university is committed to helping temporarily and permanently disabled students make the transition to student life. Students with physical, mental, or learning impairments are encouraged to consult with counselors from the Adaptive Educational Services for assistance in meeting degree requirements. Students with disabilities must meet all academic and technical skill requirements of their program (Policy I-C-7).
Writing Competencies
Writing competency is an expected outcome of the nursing program and of the university. In an effort to prepare students well in this area, faculty have developed the following writing criteria to be used in assessing all student writing (Policy III-E-4):
- The writing has a focus.
- The writing should be organized with an introduction, purpose, sense of audience, thesis, and conclusion.
- The writing shows development, organization, and detail; the writing reveals the student's ability to develop ideas with balanced and specific arguments.
- The writing is clear.
- There is coherence within and between paragraphs.
- The writing reflects critical thinking, linking the specific to the general.
- The writing follows APA requirements regarding sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, grammar and referencing unless otherwise specified by the faculty.
- The writing demonstrates original work, and where ideas or materials of others are used, appropriate credit is given to original sources.
- The writing demonstrates a reflection of Evidence Based Practice when appropriate.
- The writing demonstrates the use of professional literature resources and WEB sites.
Technology and Information
School of Nursing students must be able to send and receive e-mail, and add and retrieve attachments. They should be comfortable using a Web browser to access Oncourse, the University's learning management system, and to navigate the course environment and use the tools included in their courses. Students should use appropriate Internet etiquette in online communications. They should be able to search for and access nursing-related materials on the Web, and to return to those sites later by using stored Web addresses. Students should be able to competently use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to create and appropriately format written assignments and basic presentations. They should be able to differentiate between scholarly and popular sources of information on the Web and to evaluate sources for general reliability and trustworthiness. To update skills, students have many opportunities for both classroom and online learning sources through the IT Training & Education, http://ittraining.iu.edu/.
Students participating in Web-based courses and/or those using Adobe Connect Web-conferencing should have consistent;access to computers with appropriately configured software and reliable Internet access at sufficient speeds (see http://nursing.iupui.edu/students/computing_technologies.shtmlfor specific information). The University officially supports both Macintosh- and Windows-based computers, but some software such as SAS is not available for Macintosh computers. Students can download applications by logging in with their IU Network ID and passphrase to http://www.iuware.iu.edu/. Students are expected to install and maintain up-to-date virus detection software to prevent spreading harmful viruses and malware to faculty and other students when sharing files.
Formal Communication
The School of Nursing recognizes students' Indiana University / IUPUI e-mail address as the only official means of formal communication via e-mail with students. All students are required to have Indiana University / IUPUI e-mail accounts.
Transportation
Clinical practice learning experiences are varied in setting and are located within the surrounding communities of Indianapolis, Columbus, and Bloomington. Students are expected to travel to and from all clinical experiences, are responsible for providing their own transportation, and are expected to carry the appropriate insurance. The School of Nursing is not liable for any traffic violations or auto mishaps occurring during student commutes.
Additional Requirements
Students may be asked to submit to random drug screens anytime throughout their program in compliance with contract requirements of clinical agencies where students are placed. Positive drug screens may prevent a student from participating in clinical learning experiences. Lack of participation could constitute course failure and potential for dismissal from the program.
Last updated February 18, 2010