By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Reports of more potential nursing students than there are slots for them in the state's nursing programs is not actually a new phenomenon, according to the president of the local community college.
"When I started working in education in 1976, there were more applicants than you had room for in the nursing program," said Dr. Coy Grace at East Arkansas Community College. "And everywhere I've been, it's been that way. That's nothing new."
Grace said there was a possibility that reports of nursing shortages around the state had caused even more people to apply to nursing schools, resulting in even longer waiting lists.
An Associated Press story bore this out. It said more and more people are applying to attend nursing schools as the health-care industry pleads for more nurses. But more and more people are being put on waiting lists at nursing schools, too, because the institutions don't have the facilities to teach all the students who are qualified.
Grace said there are some good reasons there aren't always enough slots for those who want to study nursing. One, unfortunately, is difficulty in finding qualified teachers.
"It is very difficult," he said. "Sometimes we're hampered by the number of faculty we can hire."
The recommended teacher-student ration in nursing programs is another factor, he said.
"The State Board of Nursing and the National League for Nursing recommend that you employ one nursing instructor per 10 students. So if you have five faculty members, you typically have 50 students."
Also, Grace continued, the number of teaching faculty for nursing programs, like any other program, is figured into the school's budget.
"Certainly, you can't hire more faculty at the last minute," he said.
Some schools have been able to increase their class sizes to accommodate more applicants. The nursing program as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock increased its enrollment by 30 students to 140, and the University of Arkansas' Eleanor Mann School of Nursing in Fayetteville doubled its class size to 60 students.
EACC is also trying to increase its faculty so it can accept more qualified applications.
"It is our intention, before school starts, to employ five full time faculty members, long with a director of nursing. We may even have six (faculty members) if we can find a sixth person available."
He said last year, there were some part-time faculty "in order to round out the program. But this year we hope to have more full-time faculty. We employed two new faculty members and a director of nursing this past week to go with those we already have."
The school could possibly have slots for as many as 60 nursing students this fall.
"From an education standpoint it's a nice circumstance to have a program with a high number of applicants," he said. "It's unfortunate that you sometimes have more than you're able to accept."
According to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, the number of nursing majors increased more than 14 percent, from 2,590 in 2001 to 3,016 in 2002. Nationally, enrollment jumped nearly 9 percent last year to 116,099.
In 2002, Arkansas' nursing schools rejected 93 qualified applicants, up from the 21 denied admission a year before, according to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.
Two new filings have been recorded by the St. Francis County Clerk's office for the upcoming School Board elections.
In the Palestine-Wheatley District 23, Randy Holman is seeking the Zone 3 position from incumbent Gail Gardner. No one has filed for the Zone 2 position currently held by Rodney Hicks.
The second new filing is in the Hughes School District 27. Melinda Patrick has joined the race for the Position 6 (at large) against Edward Watt. Incumbent Hudie Hardaway has filed for re-election for Position 7 (at large)
In Forrest City, Aubrey Jayroe, the incumbent for Forrest City School District 7, Position 1 has filed. For Position 2, Wayne Jones and Pat Flanagin both have filed.
The deadline to file is Monday, Aug. 4, at 4:30 p.m. The election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Members of the Times-Herald news staff received several awards during the 2003 Arkansas Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest during a convention held this past weekend in Eureka Springs. Contest winners were announced at a banquet on Saturday night.
The staff received a third place award in its size category in the Page One Content division.
Fred Conley took a third place in the Feature Photo division.
David Nichol took a second and third place in the Humorous
Column division.
The Forrest City School District will hold physical exams for all male high school athletes on Tuesday, July 29, at 9:30 a.m. at Mustang Field House.
There will be a $10 charge for the physicals.
For more information, contact Donnie Willis at 261-1890.
Forrest City High School has announced registration for the 2003-04 school year.
The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 6, grades 10-12, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7, grades 11-12, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 8, grades 11-12, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
All students must pay a $5 registration fee at the time of registration. A late registration fee of $10 will be assessed to students registering after Aug. 8.
All fines must be paid prior to registration.
All 10th grade students should come prepared to have student identification pictures made on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Orientation for all new students planning to attend East Arkansas Community in the fall semester is scheduled for July 29, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. in the EACC Learning Resource Center, room B-129.
Students are encouraged to attend if:
* Fall 2003 will be the student's first semester at EACC;
* Summer I or II 2003 was the first term the student attended EACC and he or she plans to return this fall.
* The student was prepared to attend EACC in Fall 2002 or Spring 2003, but was unable to do so.
Student Services staff and other administrators will be sharing information about the college and the resources available to students.