The Family Nurse Practitioner, M.S. program prepares advanced practice nurses to provide primary care to individuals across the lifespan and in a variety of settings.
Admission Requirements
All program applicants must have:
- An unencumbered RN license in the state in which you reside
- A bachelor’s degree in nursing from a nationally accredited baccalaureate nursing program (CCNE, ACEN, etc.) with a GPA of 3.0 or higher (faculty review if under 3.0)
- 2000 hours of work experience in nursing (verified by your HR department) NOTE: 2,000 clock hours is roughly equivalent to 1 year of full-time work or 2 years of half-time work
- Completed a statistics course with a grade of “C” or higher. If the student has a grade between a “C” and a “B,” they need to take the Stats module via Peregrine.
- A 300-level or above baccalaureate level health assessment course with a grade of “B*” or higher (must be TES equivalent to Utica University’s health assessment course).
- Two letters of recommendation (a faculty recommendation preferred and/or a peer with RN or higher or a supervisor)
- A statement of 500 words or less that demonstrates effective writing ability, analytic skill, and knowledge of the advanced practice nurse’s role.
Family Nurse Practitioner Program Goals
1. Integrate the arts and sciences, including leadership and ethical principles, with nursing science as a foundation for decision-making within diverse situations, settings, and communities resulting in safe patient care, quality outcomes, and health promotion.
2. Use critical reflection, innovation, and interprofessional collaboration to promote lifelong learning and continual improvement, integrate current evidence, and inform policy.
3. Incorporate current technologies to augment professional practice and scholarship.
4. Employ analytic and diagnostic reasoning skills in the promotion of health, reduction of risk, and management of illness with diverse patient populations
5. Demonstrate interprofessional collaboration, ethical principles, and leadership through political and policy endeavors to enhance safety, quality, health care processes, and delivery systems.
6. Illustrate effective communication and collaboration during patient and family interaction and coordination of care services.
Graduate Nursing Grading Policy
Graduate students must maintain a minimum of an 84 weighted average on their exams- exclusive of their graded assignments to pass the course. In addition, if the 84 overall course grade cut point is not met, the grade recorded on the transcript will the earned exam grade. Students must earn a grade of B or better in all of the core courses, and in all of the separate but linked courses (separate but linked courses cover related content in two settings: mastery of didactic knowledge in the academic setting; application of didactic knowledge to practice in clinical settings). Both separate but linked courses must be passed with a satisfactory grade (B). If a student fails either of the two courses, they must retake both courses. (If a student receives 83.5 or higher on the exam average, and/or final grade, the grade would be rounded up to 84.) Student grades .5 or higher will be rounded up to the next whole number; this grading rule applies to both final exam grades, and final grades).
This policy is specific to the following courses: NUR 612, NUR 616, NUR 621, NUR 622, NUR 625, NUR 634
Retention Criteria
A letter of academic notice will be issued to any student who receives a grade of B- and has 12 or fewer attempted credit hours. A copy of any letter of warning will go to the student’s advisor but the notice will not be noted on the student’s transcript.
A letter of warning will be issued to any student who earns a grade of “C” at any time.
A letter of probation will be issued to any student who meets the following criteria:
- GPA of less than a 3.0 after 6 attempted credit hours
- 2 grades of C
- 1 grade of F
- 1 grade of WF
If a student receives an F or WF the student will be placed on probation and must retake the course, or an equivalent course as approved by the program chair, and earn a grade of B or better in the next semester. If the course is not offered in the next semester, the student may, with the approval of the program chair, remain as an active student and take courses appropriate to his/her course of study. However, the student must retake the failed course the next time it is offered and earn a grade of B or better. Failure to achieve a B on retaking the course will result in dismissal from the program. The student is allowed to retake the course only once. Once the failed course is retaken, the grade of F or WF is no longer calculated into the GPA but remains on the transcript and counts toward dismissal. If the course is not required for the program or concentration in which the student is enrolled, the student, with the permission of the program director, may decide to not repeat the course, but the grade of F will remain calculated in the GPA.
A letter of dismissal* will be issued to any student who meets one or more of the following criteria:
- GPA of below a 3.0 after 18 attempted credit hours
- 3 grades of C
- 2 grades of C and 1 grade of F
- 2 grades of F
- A grade below a B in any course in which that student previously earned an F
This dismissal decision may be appealed to the Academic Standards Committee. Students who wish to appeal should consult with the Office of Student Success.
If following a successful appeal and reinstatement, a student earns a second dismissal, that dismissal cannot be appealed and is considered a permanent separation from the University.
Some programs may have stricter policies or procedures, please see program-specific pages.
Note: All the steps outlined in this policy may not happen to a student. It is possible for a student to be dismissed without warning or probation if that student meets the requirement for dismissal.
* Students who are dismissed and wish to return, at any point, must submit an appeal to the Academic Standards Committee by emailing ogs@utica.edu.
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