Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 12:56 pm

The Messenger 01.21.09

Dyersburg State Community College’s Center of Emphasis, as approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), will change from communications and information technology to nursing.
Effective in the spring, the new Center of Emphasis in Nursing will fund workforce training to help satisfy the shortage of RNs in the DSCC service area.
The shift from communications and information technology to nursing reflects the changes in work-force demand in the community. The shortage of registered nurses in the counties served by DSCC is at an all-time high. Last fall, 27 percent of applicants to Dyersburg State declared nursing as a major, compared to less than 3 percent of students who planned on participating in computer programs.
Current appropriations used for DSCC’s Center of Emphasis for 2007-08 were $104,900 with $52,400 in matching funds from the community, totaling $157,300. If approved for the new Center of Emphasis, these funds would be used to purchase simulation lab equipment and train faculty. A full-time nursing program coordinator position will be funded to expand access to nursing education at the DSCC campus and the DSCC Jimmy Naifeh Center in Covington.
“The Center of Emphasis is very visible and has additional financial support to enable us to strengthen the nursing program in both Dyersburg and Covington. It will allow us to educate more nurses,” Dyersburg State President Karen Bowyer said.
The Center of Emphasis program was started in 1986. Centers of Emphasis are established on a competitive basis through proposals submitted to the Tennessee Board of Regents and THEC. The centers aim to demonstrate accreditation or recognition by disciplinary associations and to have a substantial student impact in size and job placement.
Centers of Emphasis receive budgetary priority and have been judged to be important and serve an area of greatest need for the college’s service area. Centers of Emphasis are authorized on a two-year cycle by the TBR and THEC. To maintain funding, prescribed goals must be met and must demonstrate continued benefit to the community.
Dyersburg State Community College is a part of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the nation’s sixth largest higher education system, governing 45 post-secondary educational institutions. The TBR system includes six universities, 13 two-year colleges and 26 technology centers, providing programs in 90 of Tennessee’s 95 counties to more than 180,000 students.