DNP Acceptance

Transfer of Credit for Degree-Seeking Students

USA will allow up to 12 graduate credit hours of grades of “B” or above to be transferred into our graduate programs. Only courses that have been completed within five years of the anticipated date of graduation from the USA program will be considered. Once a student applies and is accepted, at this time, they are able to submit syllabi for the courses they wish to have considered for transfer. All syllabi are sent to the Transfer Credit Review Committee for review. The Committee will submit a recommendation to the Registrar’s Office for final approval. The Registrar will contact the student with final approval after the student has started taking classes at USA.

To request the transfer of credit hours for graduate level courses, please complete the following form along with your course syllabi Mrs. Jennifer Bouvier at jcamp@southalabama.edu for your courses to be reviewed for transfer of credit.

Form to Transfer of Graduate Level Courses

Approval of Credit for Post-Graduate Certificate Students

The College of Nursing must approve the Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and Advanced Physical Assessment courses for students entering the Post-Graduate Certificate program. The five-year requirement does not pertain to Post Graduate Certificate students who only need to submit the form. Post-Graduate Certificate students are not required to submit course syllabi since courses are not formally transferred into a degreed program. 

To request the approval of credit hours for graduate level courses, please complete the following form.  Email the form to Mrs. Jennifer Bouvier at jcamp@southalabama.edu for your courses to be approved.

Form to Approve Graduate Level Courses for Post Graduate Certificate Students

Support Courses (Pathophysiology/Pharmacology/Physical Assessment)

The APRN accreditation standards and certifying bodies require students to have three separate courses that include: Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and Advanced Physical Assessment.  

The University of South Alabama College of Nursing requires students to complete the following courses for completion of their MSN degree or Post-Graduate Certificate:

• NU 545 Physio-Pathological Basis of Advanced Nursing
• NU 578 Pharmacology Advanced Practice Nurses
• NU 518 Advanced Nursing Assessment

For each of the 3Ps courses to be approved for transfer credit, evidence must be provided to show that the courses completed were three (3) separate courses of at least three (3) semester credit hours or five (5) quarter hours each. For applicants that are unable to demonstrate completion of three separate courses for a minimum of three (3) credit hours each or five (5) quarter hours each, the courses will be added to the applicant’s curriculum plan for completion at the USA in order to receive a graduate degree or Post-Graduate Certificate. Courses taken in a Generalist Entry-to-Practice BSN or MSN program will not be approved for graduate transfer credit. 

All students who are admitted to the USA College of Nursing are personally responsible for understanding the requirements set forth by their individual state board of nursing for licensure or certifying body as an advanced practice nurse. Some states and certifying bodies require, and only accept, pathophysiology, pharmacology, or physical assessment courses taken within a certain timeframe. Applicants are responsible for checking with the state board of nursing for the state in which future practice is intended and the specialty certifying body to make sure that any courses transferred into a USA CON program meets the state’s requirements for licensure or the certifying body’s requirements for certification.

If a state board of nursing or a certifying body will not approve courses transferred into the USA CON after graduation or receipt of a Post-Graduate Certificate, based on the date completed or content contained therein, the graduate will be offered to register and complete these courses after graduation at the graduate’s expense. Courses may also be added to a current student’s curriculum plan upon written request to an advisor and subsequent approval by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. 

Verification of Clinical Hours (Students who have completed MSN or Post-Graduate Certificates ONLY)

Students who have completed their MSN degree or Post-Graduate Certificate and will complete the DNP at the University of South Alabama are required to submit the Verification of Specialty Hours form in order for the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to determine if additional clinical hours are needed for the DNP program.

The total number of clinical hours between the MSN degree and DNP degree must be at least 1000 hours to meet the accrediting requirement from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Please enter your name, University, and specialty area; then submit the form to the Dean or Graduate Program Director from the university where you completed your MSN or Post-Graduate certificate program. Have them complete the information regarding the number of clinical hours you completed in the MSN or Post-Graduate Certificate program and mail the original to the USA College of Nursing. They can also scan the signed document and email it to condnp@southalabama.edu.

Students who completed their MSN or Post-Graduate Certificate at the University of South Alabama should complete the same information and then scan and email it to condnp@southalabama.edu. We will complete the form and add to your file.

To ensure 1000 clinical hours are received for the completion of the DNP degree, a minimum of one (1) credit hour course could be required based on the need to complete additional Post-MSN or Post-Graduate Certificate clinical hours.

Form for Verification of Clinical Hours

Student ID and Student Email Address

The Office of Admissions will send you a separate acceptance letter from the University of South Alabama with information on your Student ID (JAG Number) and activating your Student Email (JagMail) Account. Upon receiving your acceptance letter from Admissions, please make sure you activate your JagMail account immediately. This is our means of communicating with you. Instructions on how to activate your JagMail email account will be provided in your acceptance letter from the Office of Admissions. Upon receipt of your letter of acceptance from the College of Nursing, please allow up to eight weeks to receive this separate acceptance letter from the Office of Admissions.

Financial Aid

You may apply for Financial Aid BEFORE you have receive your JAG number. If your employer does not offer tuition assistance or you are unable to pay for the program yourself, financial aid information can be found on the Financial Aid Web Page.  You must complete the FAFSA to determine student loan eligibility. 

Tuition and Fees for the Graduate Courses in the College of Nursing.

Nursing Scholarships

Nursing Scholarships offered by the University can be located at the Office of Scholarship Services. Go to Available Scholarships and search for “nursing” scholarships. To apply for these scholarships, you must submit an application through JagSpot. Scholarships offered by outside organizations can be found on the the CON Scholarship Web Page and applications must be submitted directly to the organization as instructed on the webpage.

Additionally, check with your local and state boards of nursing and health departments for scholarships and grants. You might also be able to find opportunities in some of the nursing professional organizations, if you are a member. If additional opportunities arise throughout the year, all active nursing students will receive an email with that information.

Curriculum Schedule

You will receive information regarding your curriculum schedule after you have submitted all required documentation with your Acceptance Packet, completed your Drug Screen, Background Check and Medical Document Manager, and after the review of all requests for transfer credit, if submitted, has been completed. Please save all questions regarding your curriculum schedule until this time. You will be able to register for classes after your curriculum schedule has been finalized, and on the first day of registration for new graduate students (see below).

Please do not register for courses based on the sample curriculum schedules listed on the USA College of Nursing website. You will receive a personalized schedule which you are to follow to complete your program. Failure to follow your personalized schedule will result in you dropping all courses and re-registering which may have financial implications.

Registration

Students in the DNP program follow the same Academic Year Progression as the rest of the University. Please refer to the University’s Academic Calendar for the first day of Registration and the first day of classes:

USA Academic Calendar

You may register for your courses using PAWS. Please note that:

1. As a DNP student, you are guaranteed a spot in a class every semester so long as you follow your approved curriculum schedule.
2. You must register at the time designated by the College of Nursing. This registration period will differ from the Time Ticket given you in PAWS through the University.
3. If you wait until the first week of classes to register, you will be delayed up to 48 hours before you have access to your online class and you are not guaranteed a seat in the courses on your curriculum schedule.

Registration Walkthrough

We attached a registration walkthrough to help our first-time students:

Registration Walkthrough

Registration Errors

Occasionally, students will experience an error during registration. If this happens to you, please copy and paste the error message into an email and send it to the DNP Office at condnp@southalabama.edu for assistance. The error message contains the information required to “fix” the problem on our end. Do not call the Registrar’s Office. We will resolve any registration problems you might experience.

Booklist

The University of South Alabama Bookstore can provide you with all your textbook needs, whether you want to purchase or rent. New editions of textbooks are issued several times per year, so wait until the books are posted for the semester in which you will take the course to ensure you receive the latest edition of textbooks.

USA Bookstore

Computer Requirements

Complete computer specifications for the University of South Alabama online classes are provided here:

System Requirements

First day of class

Online classes are available the first day of the semester and no earlier. Please access your courses on the first day of class, and regularly thereafter. Do not wait until the DNP Orientation Webinar to access your courses. You will login here:

USA Online

New Graduate Student Orientation

Students accepted into the DNP programs will attend the New Student Orientation. A New Student Virtual Orientation Site (VOS) is completely online and provides modules in a USAonline project site to orient you to our online program.

Summer 2024 Orientation: Opens April 24, 2024 and Closes May 29, 2024

Fall 2024 Orientation: Opens July 15, 2024 and Closes August 20, 2024

You should complete all modules during this time in order to be prepared to start your courses.

DNP Project Planning and Residency Orientation

Students accepted in the DNP programs often have many questions and concerns about the scholarly project that is the culmination of doctoral studies. In an effort to help students be fully prepared to design and implement the project, the College of Nursing has developed a new orientation process for DNP students. The orientation will take place the semester before students begin the Project Planning and Development course and will include a Sakai VOS site and a half day webinar with faculty. The Sakai VOS course will include a review of important concepts required to successfully design and implement a scholarly project. The half day Webinar will review the DNP scholarly project timeline, discuss the phenomenon of interest, review how to find evidence-based literature in the library, and include a segment on professional writing for the DNP scholar. Students will also have a breakout session to hear from the track coordinator regarding scholarly projects that are track specific.

The DNP Project Planning and Residency VOS and Webinar are not mandatory at this time; however, are highly recommended to assist students successfully design and implement the DNP scholarly project. The Webinar will be recorded and placed in the DNP VOS site once completed.

The DNP Project Planning and Residency Orientation contains two parts that are both online.

Part 1: A DNP Project Planning and Residency Virtual Orientation Site (VOS) provides modules in a USAonline project site. The dates of the VOS will be announced. You will need to complete all modules during this time in order to receive access to information for the DNP Project Planning and Residency Orientation Webinar.

Part 2: The dates for the DNP Project Planning and Residency Orientation Webinar will be announced.

Official Transcripts

Official transcripts from EVERY college and university you have ever attended should have been sent to NursingCAS during the admission process. If you failed to send any transcript to their office, please note your admission file will be incomplete and you will not be eligible to register if these transcripts are not sent to the Graduate Admissions Office.

Students who graduated with ANY degree AFTER submitting your Primary Application in NursingCAS are required to have an official degree-conferred transcript sent directly from that University to our USA Graduate Admissions Office BEFORE classes start. The mailing address is 2500 Meisler Hall, 390 Alumni Circle, Mobile, AL 36688-0002.

Graduate Inter-Professional Student Data Survey

Graduate Inter-Professional Student Data Survey

It is time for us to complete an annual report to the federal government on the students enrolled in our program. In order to meet the federal reporting requirements, we need you to respond to each of the three (3) questions in this survey. This is a requirement for admission and must be completed by the Acceptance Packet Deadline.

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