Ronda Mintz-Binder, on launching an ASN program

By Bree LaMaire, MS, RN
February 12, 2003

How did you get into nursing and nursing academics?

I was in my second year of the biomed program at the University of California, Riverside, when I realized that being a physician was not for me. The lifestyle and the commitment just wasn't what I wanted, so I looked into nursing programs and was accepted into the UCLA BSN program. I graduated from UCLA and then went back for my MN a year later. While I was at UCLA, I was able to work as a teaching assistant in some of the nursing classes. That seemed to be a really good fit. I liked teaching.

After graduating with my degree in psychiatric nursing, I went into private practice, but again it wasn't something I really enjoyed. So I decided to focus on teaching and started out at Del Amo Hospital in Torrance as the acting inservice education director.

I was then recruited to teach at UCLA and taught there for 12 years. In the mid-'90s, the UCLA School of Nursing was given a huge budget cut and a decision was made to phase out the generic undergraduate BSN program. I made a career decision to be a full-time administrator and, for a short time, worked as director of education in a vocational program. I became dean of nursing at L.A. City College last January.

What is the significance of the L.A. City College Nursing School?

This nursing department closed in 1987 as a result of massive budget cuts. Then last year, the college faculty, legislators and hospitals in the area came together and applied for and received a grant to reopen the nursing program.

This associate in science degree program was funded initially as an industry-driven collaborative with the following three hospitals and their selected curriculum writers: Kaiser Permanente Sunset Hospital, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. All three hospitals are less than half a mile away and are committed to our program.

In nine months, I have been able to move forward with approvals by the BRN, the curriculum committee, the vocational dean of the community college, the state and the district to hire faculty and begin the RN program. This is the only ASN degree program that opened in California last year.

What are the obstacles you've faced since opening?

We're going through our biggest obstacle right now, with a projected $20 billion state deficit and horrendous budget cuts.

We had looked forward to expanding our program, maybe even going to a twice-a-year enrollment and that's just not going to happen as quickly as I'd hoped. As dean, I'm seeing the budget crunch firsthand, and it's a challenge.

It will also be hard to hire new faculty and do some of the things we wanted. Luckily, we're still intact. What is difficult is being in meetings and seeing other college programs forced to reduce their size and offerings. This has hit everyone out of the blue when we really thought we'd be making an impact on the nursing shortage. We will make an impact, but not to the extent we'd planned.

What is the Roy Adaptation Model for nursing process?

The Roy Model is a way to organize and document patients' behavior and concerns that works well at the associate degree level. The BRN requests that curriculum revolves around a nursing model and the Roy Adaptation Model is used in many neighboring nursing programs, including Los Angeles Harbor College and Mount St. Mary's College. Sister Calista Roy conceived this model and is still working on it today at Boston College.

How's enrollment going?

Enrollment is great. We had a late enrollment in July and close to 100 applications filed. We ended up with the perfect 36 students that we needed, along with five alternates.

Have you implemented the lottery for enrollment yet?

Next year, we anticipate 150 applications for the 40 openings and will probably implement the lottery. We're getting a number of neighborhood people applying for our program and that's good. We also provide a nursing counselor to work with prospective students and give application materials only to students who are truly ready to apply.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I would love to encourage master's-prepared nurses to consider going into teaching. We need that group, and I want to mentor that next generation as much as I can. Teaching has tremendous rewards and it probably hasn't received the recruitment attention that it deserves as a wonderful professional and career opportunity of the future.