College of Nursing

University of South Florida
College of Nursing
12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC22
Tampa, FL 33612

Web address: https://health.usf.edu/nursing
Email: nurstudent@usf.edu
Phone: 813-974-2191
Fax: 813-974-5418

Accreditation:

The baccalaureate, master’s, and DNP programs at the USF College of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791. In addition, the Nurse Anesthesia program is accredited by the Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, 222 South Prospect Avenue, Suite 304, Park Ridge, IL 60068-4041. (847) 692-7050.

Mission Statement:

Employ the core values of excellence, innovation, inclusion, and respect to educate future nurses, advance nursing science, and implement evidence-based clinical practice to improve health and wellness. 

Major Research Areas:

Consistent with its mission of preparing 21st-century nurses to improve health care throughout the world, the College of Nursing faculty and students pursue scientific inquiry across a wide range of topics. Faculty and students are challenged to analyze problems, discover new findings, as well as develop and test models for implementing evidence-based guidelines. Research is conducted collaboratively with colleagues throughout USF Health and other USF colleges such as Engineering, Computer Sciences, etc., to study cutting-edge questions related to: biobehavioral mechanisms of health; caregiver support; chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular health, cancer prevention and management, COPD complementary therapies to manage health and illness; digital solutions for health promotion and symptom management; precision health; and veterans’ health. The College of Nursing also houses a biobehavioral lab with 2,000 dedicated square feet of space. It contains state-of-the art equipment for conducting assays, such as inflammatory markers, stress hormones, proteomics, microbiome, and genetics.

College Requirements

1. Graduate Clinical Programs (M.S.N. and D.N.P.)

1.1 Students must earn the grade of ‘B’ (84%) or higher in each required nursing course in their respective nursing concentration. An unsatisfactory (‘U’) or any grade below a ‘B’ (including B-) is not acceptable.  Please note, the grades earned are not rounded.

1.2 Students enrolled in the Nurse Anesthesia Major MUST obtain a ‘B’ or better in each Nurse Anesthesia Core course, on the first attempt. Students who do not earn a ‘B’ or better in the Nurse Anesthesia Core courses on the first attempt will be recommended for dismissal from the Nurse Anesthesia Major.

1.3 Students must maintain an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 in order to be considered in academic “good standing” and earn a degree.

1.4 Students who earn two (2) grades below a ‘B’ (including B-) and/or ‘U’ may be recommended for dismissal to the Office of Graduate Studies from the College of Nursing.    

1.5 Students who withdraw three (3) times (excluding military duty) may be recommended for dismissal to the Office of Graduate Studies from the College of Nursing. 

1.6 Unsuccessful course attempts, including situations where a student participates through the withdrawal deadline and does not pay for the courses (i.e. Cancelled for Financial Reasons), will count toward the progression policy for the maximum number of withdrawals.

1.7 No more than two attempts are allowed for any course regardless of withdrawals or failures.

Adherence to Degree/Program Plans and Academic Continuity

1. Each student must adhere to their program plan that they receive upon admission. 
2. Should a student break progression in their program plan due to earning a non-passing grade, withdrawal or leave of absence, the student’s program plan will be reviewed by the Associate Dean for any core courses that need to be repeated and/or their concentration director for concentration specific courses to determine when a learner seat will be available for the student to repeat the course. 
3. A break in progression for any reason may result in a pause in progression of up to a year based on the availability of learner seats.
4. BSN-DNP students must have their national certification no later than the end of the first semester of DNP coursework and will not be allowed to progress in their DNP program without meeting this requirement. (This requirement does not apply to students in the Nurse Anesthesia, DNP program.) 
5. If DNP students break progression in the DNP project/practicum courses, reinstatement is contingent upon the availability of project faculty within their educational specialty concentration. If the appropriate faculty is not available at the time the student requests reinstatement, the student must wait to re-enter until appropriate faculty becomes available.

*Note; This change was approved by the entities and dates as follows:
DNP/MCC via APG sub-committee: October 4, 2020
CON Faculty Council: October 16, 2020

2. Ph.D. students only:

2.1. All Ph.D. students must earn the grade of ‘B-’ or higher in each required course in their respective nursing major. An unsatisfactory (‘U’) or any grade below a ‘B minus” is not acceptable.

2.2. Ph.D. students must also maintain an overall grade point average of 3.00 in order to be considered in academic “good standing”. Students also must meet any special conditions of their admissions. No grade below ‘B-’ will be accepted toward a Ph.D. graduate degree. All grades will be counted in computing the overall grade point average. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.00 at the completion of their respective major, or they will not be awarded a degree from the University of South Florida. Unsuccessful course attempts include any withdrawal from a course or cancellation for financial reasons, except for approved “withdrawals with cause” will count toward progression policy.

2.3. If a student earns a grade below a ‘B-’ or receives a ‘U’ in a required course, she/he must repeat the course. The course must be taken in the next semester that it is offered and the student must earn a ‘B’ or higher. Any student, who earns below a ‘B-’ (or ‘U’) in two or more required courses or earns below a ‘B-’ (or ‘U’) in a required course twice, will be dismissed from the College. Unsuccessful course attempts, including situations where a student participates through the Withdrawal deadline and does not pay for the courses (aka: Cancelled for Financial Reasons), will count toward the progression policy.  The Dean of the College of Nursing, or designee, will notify students who are dismissed in writing. Students may petition for re‐admission pending approval of their respective Concentration Director. A petition must be submitted to the Vice Dean of Graduate Programs.  

Clinical Performance
Patient safety and welfare are the most critical criteria of the clinical rotation. If at any time during the clinical rotation the student places the patient in an actual or potentially hazardous or unsafe situation or the faculty judges the student to be deficient in clinical competence for patient care responsibility, the student will fail the course regardless of previous clinical performance. Students who receive an unsatisfactory grade for their clinical performance may be dismissed from the major, regardless of academic standing in other classes. (enacted Fall 2004)

Human Research Conduct

The protection of the rights of human subjects is the most critical criteria of any research study involving human subjects. If at any time during the conduction of a human subject study, a student violates the rights of the participants, the study will be stopped. Permission to continue with the study will be dependent upon an investigation by the University of South Florida Institutional Review Board, the student’s research advisor and the Dean of the College of Nursing. (enacted Fall 2004)

Withdrawal Policy

Withdrawals are limited to 1 per course, with a limit of 2 per undergraduate or graduate major. Withdrawals are defined as officially withdrawing from any class after the drop/add period and before the final withdrawal date as outlined in the Academic Calendar. Any student withdrawing in excess of the stated policy may be dismissed from the College of Nursing unless the College has pre-approved a documented medical and/or emergent situation.

Grading Scale

Grading scale effective spring 2014 for all nursing courses (note – this does not change the University grading scale referenced in the Academic Policy Section of the Catalog):

98-100=A+
94-97=A
90-93=A-
87-89=B+
84-86=B
80-83=B-
77-79=C+
74-76=C
70-73=C-
67-69=D+
64-66=D
60-63=D-
Below 60=F
 

Programs may be viewed on the Programs by College  ​ page.