ADMISSION TO THE PROGRAM

The Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program is a seventy-two credit hour curriculum leading to the Associate of Applied Science Degree.

NOTE: The college reserves the right to make changes in program enrollment capacity. Program guidelines are subject to change. Students are advised to obtain the latest program information by contacting the Health Occupations Admission Office.

Educational opportunities are offered by the Dallas County Community College District without regard to race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex, or disability. Admission of students to the ADN Program is made in accordance with the clearly defined and published practices of El Centro College.

Admission requirements include:

• Graduation from high school or successful completion of the General Education Development (GED) certificate.
• Completion of all requirements for admission as a fulltime student to the college
• Attendance at a program information session (optional but highly recommended)
• Satisfactory scores on pre-entrance on reading comprehension and mathematics assessment testing
• Meet TASP requirements
• Completion of the program prerequisite courses with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher on those specific courses
• Submission of a complete application packet to the Health Occupations Admissions Office during a designated filing period
• Formal acceptance into the Associate Degree Nursing Program and successful completion of background check and drug testing.

Applicants to the ADN Program must meet general admission requirements to the college as outlined in the college catalog. Applicants who have not finished high school should have earned a General Education Diploma (GED) before enrolling in the associate degree nursing Program.

If you are not currently enrolled in El Centro College, please contact the college Admissions Office (214.860.2311) to complete an application for college admission, or using your Internet browser, download and print a DCCCD college application for admission form. Adobe Acrobat must be installed on your computer to download this form.
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For your assistance in submitting an application to the nursing program, you are encouraged to attend an Associate Degree Nursing program information session. These optional information sessions are held throughout the year at both El Centro (dates listed here) and Brookhaven Colleges. It is not necessary to make a reservation to attend an El Centro information session. Please call 214.860.4709 for more information regarding sessions held at Brookhaven College.

Please bring the information packet with you to the information session. The packet may be downloaded (The file is in PDF format; and requires Acrobat Reader software, downloadable from www.adobe.com). You may also call the El Centro Health Occupations Admissions Office (214.860.2272) or email Linda Anderson.

Information packets are revised periodically. Potential applicants are advised to contact the Health Occupations Admissions Office to verify they have received the latest Information Packet on a Health Occupations program, such as the associate degree nursing program.
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All prospective students MUST achieve minimum assessment scores in reading comprehension and math skills. Students who are TASP exempt through previous coursework (includig English and Math courses), previous degrees, or the "B or Better" provision are NOT exempt from readig comprehension and math assessment testing.

A testing referral slip from the El Centro College Health Occupations Admissions Office (Room A-140) is required to test at that campus. To test at Brookhaven College, please obtain a referral from the Counseling Center. It is not necessary to make an appointment to complete assessment testing. For Assessment Center hours, please call 214.860.2178 at El Centro College and 972-860-4865 at Brookhaven College. For further assistance regarding assessment testing, please consult the Health Occupations Admissions Office (214.860.2242) or the Brookhaven Counseling Office.

Students may present any combination of the following reading and math tests with the designated minimum scores to fulfill the assessment testing requirement. Test scores are valid for two years from time of testing to date of application, unless noted below. The College may require additional testing for TASP requirements.

Various assessment tests and the minimum acceptable scores for each:

If the applicant does not achieve minimum required scores on the retest, the applicant must complete one of the following options to be granted a third and final testing opportunity during that application filing period. The three options are:

• enrolling in developmental coursework
• submit documented proof of obtaining tutoring
• enrolling in the Continuing Education course "College Fresh Start" which grants access to the College Learning Center for self-remediation utilizing computer programs, video/audio tapes, etc.

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Students who have not earned at least three (3) credit hours of college-level coursework prior to Fall 1989 and who have not passed all sections of TASP are considered TASP vulnerable. It is in the student's best interests to resolve TASP issues prior to applying to the nursing program.

To determine your TASP status, please see a counselor in the College Counseling Center. The above chart refers to testing requirements for application to the nursing program only and does not reflect complete TASP policies or procedures instituted by the College or the State of Texas.

Passing TASP is not required to apply to the nursing program, however, if developmental coursework is required and the student is accepted to the nursing program, the developmental coursework will be added to the student's courseload. Developmental course requirements fall under the jurisdiction of the College Counseling Office. A student cannot be awarded a degree or a certificate of completion for a Health Occupations program until TASP requirements are satisfied.

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Applicants are ranked according to overall grade point average (GPA) on the five program prerequisite courses listed below. Applicants with the highest GPA on the five prerequisite courses are admitted according to the number of spaces available.

All science, math and nursing courses submitted for program credit must be completed no more than five years prior to program admission to the nursing program.

Applicants must attain a minimum of a 2.5 GPA on the five prerequisite courses to be eligible to make application.

Applicants must also achieve an overall GPA of 2.5 or better on a 4-point system to be eligible for program acceptance. Applicants must also achieve an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher on a 4-point system to be eligible for program acceptance. Developmental course grades are not included in the GPA calculation.

*NOTE: BIOL 1470 (Introduction to Human Anatomy & Physiology) will be recognized as the anatomy/physiology prerequisite up to the five-year time limit for acceptance of math and sciences coursework. MATH 1414 will also be recognized for the math prerequisite course, however it will be calculated as a three credit hour course for ranking purposes only.

Support courses completed at colleges and universities outside the DCCCD must be approved for transfer credit prior to the semester in which the course is required as stipulated in the curriculum degree plan.

Before foreign credentials will be considered for transfer credit, the student must arrange the evaluation of transcripts and related documentation by a professional evaluation agency. After the professional evaluation is complete, the student must then submit the original documentation and a certified English translation to the Health Occupations Admissions Office.

The student is responsible for all costs of the evaluation and translation of foreign credentials. Evaluations of foreign credentials completed by individuals or professional evaluation agencies are subject to review and approval by the Director of Admissions and Registrar. A list of these evaluation agencies is available at the College Registrar's Office.

If approved, the transcript need not be submitted, however, a copy of the Registrar's letter granting the "Academic Fresh Start" consideration should be submitted with the associate degree nursing application. NOTE: Transcripted coursework ignored under "Academic Fresh Start" cannot be used to claim exemption from TASP requirements.
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Submit a completed application packet to the office designated at your preferred campus on or before the enrollment period deadline (Health Occupations Admissions Office at El Centro, or Admissions Office at Brookhaven College). An incomplete packet will be returned to the applicant.

Note that this process is separate from applying for general admission to the college.

If you are not currently enrolled, please contact the college Admissions Office at your preferred campus to complete an application for college admission. Students choosing Brookhaven College as their first campus preference must submit a separate set of official transcripts to the Brookhaven College Admissions Office.

If you are not currently enrolled in El Centro College, please contact the college Admissions Office (214.860.2311) to complete an application for college admission, or using your Internet browser, download and print a DCCCD college application for admission form. Adobe Acrobat must be installed on your computer to download this form.

• A photocopy of the applicant's high school transcript, high school diploma or GED certificate.

• Completed application form and signed Statement of Student Responsibility form (included in application packet).
  
  
• A signed "Statement of Student's Responsibility" form (printed on the back of the application form).
  
  
• Assessment test scores indicating successful achievement of minimum reading and math scores. These scores are obtained from the Assessment Center at the time of testing. The date of testing must also be indicated with the assessment test scores. TASP and other recognized assessment scores are routinely printed on college transcripts.
  
  
• A photocopy of catalog course descriptions for all courses taken outside of DCCCD colleges which apply to the nursing curriculum and which the applicant seeks to transfer to this program. Course descriptions must be copied from the college catalog which was in effect the semester the course was completed and course numbers must match the transcript. Courses presented for transfer consideration must be clearly marked on the photocopy. Do not mark or highlight courses on transcripts. No course descriptions are required for courses completed at Dallas County Community College District campuses.

• One (1) official transcript from all colleges attended must be submitted, including a transcript from any Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) campuses (only one DCCCD transcript is required). Only courses reflected on official transcripts will be considered in the ranking process. Official transcripts are required although those documented courses may not directly apply to the nursing curriculum. Grade reports, official or unofficial degree plans, memos from instructors, and other such documents will not be accepted as substitutes for official transcripts. Only courses reflected on official transcripts will be considered in the ranking process. Failure to present all official transcripts will invalidate the nursing application packet.

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SPECIAL NOTATION REGARDING OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS

The student is solely responsible for ensuring that his/her transcripts are received in the Health Occupations Admissions Office by the filing deadline. Official transcripts must be submitted with the application packet regardless of whether or not the applicant has previously submitted official transcripts to other campuses within the DCCCD.

In the event that a college will only release a transcript to another institution directly, an applicant should request that the transcript be mailed to the address designated in the information packet according to the applicant's campus preference. If the transcripts have previously been mailed to the College Registrar's Office, the student should request a stamped photocopy of their transcript from the Registrar's Office to include with their application materials.

Allow 6-8 weeks to receive official transcripts from colleges outside the DCCCD. To reduce the risk of lost transcripts (including those from DCCCD campuses) applicants should secure transcripts personally. The applicant is ultimately responsible for determining that all transcripts are either presented in the application packet or sent and received by the proper office by application filing deadlines. Therefore, it is to the student's advantage to obtain transcripts personally if at all possible for submission with the rest of the application materials.

Students enrolled in courses during an application filing period who will complete those courses before the designated filing deadline should hold their application packet until all courses they wish considered for nursing program credit are completed and an official transcript is obtained verifying the grade(s) earned. Application packets submitted during a filing period are considered complete for that filing period and additional coursework will not be added to a previously submitted, valid packet.

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Fall admission:
November 1 - February 28
Acceptance letters mailed by April 15th

Spring admission:
May 1 - August 31
Acceptance letters mailed by October 15th

Fall Admission: May 1 - July 31.

Spring Admission: November 1 - December 20.

Late applications should be submitted in person to the designated office at your first campus preference. Please note that the late filing periods are subsets of the next official filing period. For example, late filing for Fall is actually the first portion of the following official Spring filing class (applications will be held over and no further action on the part of the student is required for the application materials to be ranked in the next subsequent application filing period).
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Admission to the ADN Program is made without regard to race, color, age, ethnic origin, religion/creed, gender/sex, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Applicants will be selected for admission to the ADN Program according to the following competitive ranking process:

1. Applicants are listed by grade point average (GPA) on the four prerequisite courses from the highest (4.0) to lowest (2.5). A minimum of a 2.5 GPA is required on the four prerequisite courses.
   
   
2. When two or more applicants have the same GPA on the prerequisite courses, the total number of required general education support courses are listed from the highest number of credit hours completed (e.g., 17 hours), to lowest, (e.g., 0 hours).
   
   
3. When two or more applicants have the same GPA on the prerequisite courses and the same number of required general education support course credit hours completed, the overall GPA on the required support courses is used to rank order applicants.
   
   
4. Applicants may improve their ranking by:

• Repeating one or more prerequisite courses to earn a higher grade point average
• Completing additional support course hours
• Earning a high grade point average on the support courses.
  
  Note: The decision to repeat a successfully completed course (i.e. a prerequisite course or required general education support course completed with a grade of "C" or higher) in order to improve an applicant's ranking rests solely with the applicant. The last grade earned is the grade of record.

  CLEP, DANTES, and Credit by Examination may also be completed in lieu of repeating a course. CLEP, DANTES, and Credit by Examination are available to a student enrolled at a DCCCD campus, but may not be requested for courses in which the student is currently enrolled. Credit for a CLEP, DANTES, or Credit by Examination will be considered only if a documented letter grade or numerical score is presented for evaluation. For more information regarding the acceptance of CLEP, DANTES, and Credit by Examination, please contact the Health Occupations Admissions Office. The CLEP exam for English 1301 is not accepted by the Dallas County Community College District, however, credit for previous work may be considered. For more information concerning English 1301 credit, contact the Communications/Math/ Developmental Studies Division at El Centro College.

	GPA on 4 Prereq.	# Hours Gen. Ed	GPA on Gen. Ed
Applicant #1	4.0	17
Applicant #2	4.0	15
Applicant #3	3.46	12	3.3
Applicant #4	3.46	12	3.1
Applicant #5	3.0	16	3.0
Applicant #6	2.77	10	3.5

If there were only five spaces available for admission, Applicants #1 through #5 would be accepted.

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A student who receives an acceptance letter is required to return the enclosed confirmation form to the designated nursing admissions personnel within a specified time frame to accept their space in the class. Failure to return the confirmation by the specified date or failure to attend the scheduled preregistration/orientation seminar for the accepted class will result in forfeiture of the student's space in that class.

NOTE: Applications are not automatically "held over" from one official application filing period to the next. Students who are not selected for admission the semester for which they apply or students declining the acceptance for that semester must resubmit their application during the next filing period to be considered for the next admission opportunity.
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All clinical facilities require all students attending their facility have a current Drug and Background Screen. The prescreening requirements are the same as those required of employees. All screens must be conducted after admission to the clinical program, but within 30 days prior to the start of the agency rotation. Verification of the satisfactory results must be received by the participating hospital prior to the student's rotation start date, and will be honored by all hospitals for the duration of the student's enrollment in the clinical program if the participating student has not had a break in the enrollment at the college.

The student is solely responsible for payment of all fees at the time of the screens (approximately $80). All reports and findings from the Background and Drugs screens will be reported directly to El Centro College Health Occupations Administration. The results of the screening can prevent clinical placement.

The rationale for the screening is that of due diligence and competency assessment of all individuals whose assignments bring them in contact with patients or employees. Competency extends beyond technical skills to an individual's criminal and substance abuse history. This approach ensures uniform compliance with Joint Commission standards pertaining to human resource management.

The drug screen follows National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) guidelines and screens for ten substances as designated in the Substance Abuse Panel 10 ("SAP 10"). These substances are:

SAP 10 test results which fall outside of any of the acceptable ranges are considered positive test results and are automatically sent for a separate confirmatory test by a Gas Chromatography Mss Spectrometry (GCMS) method. If these results remain positive, the test results are sent to a Medical Review Officer ("MRO") which will entail an additional cost of $25 - $75 to the student. The MRO will then contact the student to determine if there is a valid prescription for the drug in question. If a valid prescription exists and is verified, the test result will be deemed to be negative and acceptable.

Note: A clinical agency reserves the right to remove a student from the facility for suspicion of substance use or abuse, including alcohol. The clinical agency will notify the El Centro College Health Occupations administration to faacilitate immediate removal of the student and request that the student submit to a repeat drug screening porcedure at the student's expense on the same day of removal from the clinical agency. Failure to comply will result in immediate expulsion from the clinical agency. Further, regardless of testing or test results, the agency reserves the right to expel any student form their facility. The agency will provide El Centro College Health Occupations administration with written documentation of the student's behaviour(s) by tow or more agency representatives.

The criminal background check reviews a person's criminal history seven (7) years previous to the date of program application. The check will include all cities and counties of the person's residency during that time period. The following histories will disqualify an individual from consideration for a clinical rotation:

• Felony convictions
• Misdemeanor convictions or felony deferred adjudications involving crimes against persons (physical ro sexual abuse)
• Misdemeanor convictions related to moral turpitude (prostitution, public lewdness/exposure, etc.)
• Felony deferred adjudications for the sale, possession, distribution, or transfer of narcotics or controlled substances
• Registered sex offenders

Exceptions:

• If a licensing/registry body approves the individual to take the licensing/credential exam, the individual may participate in the clinical rotation
• The college may reuest an exception form the first clinical agency for a student with a felony deferred adjudication and no alternate recourse through a licensing/registry authority, i.e. Boaard of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas. Following approval from the first clinical agency, the student may progress as stated above.

Note: Should a student accepted to a health occupations program be prohibited from attending a clinical rotation experience due to findings of a criminal baackground check and/or drug screening, the student may be dismissed form the health occupations program.

For more information regarding the cirminal background check and drug testing requirements, please contact Ms. Charlotte Green, Associate Dean of Nursing by phone at 214.860.2269 or email (csg5541@dcccd.edu).