Engaging Health Care Employers to Develop an AS in Health Sciences Degree With Stackable Credentials

Abstract

Many pre-clinical nursing students at Bronx Community College (BCC) of the City University of New York fail to sustain momentum, resulting in derailed or prolonged paths to graduation. To help increase students’ chances of graduating, and finding careers within the health professions, BCC is developing a new Associate of Science (AS) in Health Sciences with embedded “stackable” certifications. This paper will describe how faculty hosted a round table discussion with employers to obtain information regarding growing health sectors and needed skills, the salient themes that arose from the event, and how these findings are being used to create the degree’s curriculum.