Editing Herzing Issues: Faculty Instruction and Curriculum Design (section)

=== HU-161: Cohort-level faculty instability and unclear faculty-change communication during 2026 Summer C16: another student's NSG 523 Medical Surgical Nursing I and NSG 525 Clinical II sections lost the same instructor (Dr. Jennings) mid-session, with piecemeal notices and a Clinical II announcement closed for comments while inviting questions ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| High
! Status
| CONFIRMED for the documented facts (two faculty-change notifications, the closed-for-comments marking, and the student-group messages). This is cohort-wide evidence from another student's sections; the reason for the departures is not stated and is not characterized here.
|-
! Issue type
| Faculty Sufficiency and Continuity of Instruction, with Student-Facing Communication Gap (cohort-wide evidence)
! Date added
| 2026-06-06
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | MSN-DE Program Chair (Dr. Raywattie Prashad); Dean of Prelicensure Nursing (Dr. Stephanie Black RN DNP); faculty affairs and program communications
|}
'''Finding.''' According to the tracker, two Canvas Faculty Change Notifications for the 2026 Summer C16 term, both signed by MSN-DE Program Chair Dr. Prashad, document that Dr. Jennings stepped away mid session from NSG 523 Medical Surgical Nursing I and from NSG 525 Clinical II. For Med-Surg, the Program Chair stated she would cover the course in the interim; for Clinical II, the notification stated Dr. Tressler would cover the section. This entry is cohort wide, program level evidence from another student's sections (7C) and did not involve the documenting student's instructor; the documenting student is enrolled in NSG 523 and NSG 525 this term in a different section (see {{HU|HU-159}}), noted only as context. The reason for the departures is not stated; students speculated a possible family or personal-health reason, and this entry does not characterize the reason.

'''Evidence.''' Med-Surg notification (NSG523-7C): the instructor stepped away from the course this session and the Program Chair covered in the interim. Clinical II notification (NSG525-7C): the instructor stepped away and Dr. Tressler covered the section, though the announcement was marked closed for comments. Nursing '27 student group chat (June 5, 2026): a student noted that two of her instructors had left so far that semester, on only week five, and expressed uncertainty about whether the same instructor had also left Clinical II until another student confirmed it. Source Group: Canvas Faculty Change Notification for Medical Surgical Nursing (NSG523-7C), 2026 Summer C16, and Canvas Faculty Change Notification for Clinical II (NSG525-7C), 2026 Summer C16, both signed by Dr. Raywattie Prashad; Nursing '27 student group chat messages dated June 5, 2026; screenshots captured June 6, 2026, provided by the reporting student as cohort-wide evidence.

'''Reported statement.''' <blockquote>Dr. Jennings had to step away from the course this session. I will be covering the course in the interim.</blockquote> (Faculty Change Notification, NSG 523-7C, 2026.) <blockquote>Dr. Tressler will be covering this section for course work.</blockquote> and <blockquote>This topic is closed for comments.</blockquote> (Faculty Change Notification, NSG 525-7C, 2026.) According to the tracker, a student in the Nursing '27 group chat said that made two of her instructors who had left so far that semester and that the cohort was only on week five, and another student clarified that Dr. Prashad's email had mentioned only Med-Surg, before another student confirmed the instructor had stepped away from Clinical II as well.

'''Standards.''' Faculty sufficiency and continuity: accreditation expects sufficient qualified faculty to achieve program outcomes and maintain continuity of instruction (Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, 2023; the tracker references ACEN Standard 5 for faculty sufficiency, to be confirmed against the current ACEN Standards and Criteria). Clear and consistent communication of course and faculty information (ACEN, 2023; the tracker references ACEN Standard 4 for communication of requirements). HLC Criterion 3.C: the institution has the faculty and staff needed for effective, high quality programs. HLC Criterion 2.A: integrity in communications, applied fairly and transparently. Federal administrative capability and notice: 34 CFR §668.14. This entry documents continuity, staffing, and communication concerns and does not allege wrongdoing by any departing instructor; the reason for the departures is not stated. Cross-reference {{HU|HU-160}} (NSG 525 Clinical II documentation, the documenting student's section 7E), {{HU|HU-158}} (decision maker availability), {{HU|HU-126}} (communication of deadlines), {{HU|HU-090}} (petition non-response).

'''Impact.''' Mid session instructor changes in required prelicensure courses can disrupt continuity of instruction, grading consistency, and clinical supervision, especially when one instructor was covering multiple courses and the Program Chair had to step in. Unclear, piecemeal notices about which courses were affected and who would cover each left students uncertain about who their instructor would be during an active term, and inviting questions while closing the comment thread left students without a clear channel to resolve that uncertainty. Students in the cohort expressed anxiety about the program's stability and their ability to finish. As cohort wide evidence, this supports a broader pattern of faculty instability and communication gaps in the program; it is not logged as direct impact on the documenting student.

'''Notes.''' Recommended verification: the total number of faculty changes in the cohort this term and whether a pattern exists across terms; whether a single consolidated notice clarified all of the instructor's affected courses and their coverage, and whether an open channel for questions was provided after the announcement was closed; and the reason for the departures, which is not provided and is not assumed here. This is cohort wide evidence from another student's sections (NSG523-7C, NSG525-7C); it did not involve the documenting student's instructor, and the documenting student's enrollment in these courses, in a different section, is noted only as context. Recommended follow up: preserve the two notifications and the chat as exhibits; if a pattern of faculty turnover is corroborated across the cohort or across terms, develop it with dates and counts. Cross-references: {{HU|HU-090}}, {{HU|HU-126}}, {{HU|HU-158}}, {{HU|HU-160}}. Canvas announcements and group chat messages are treated as personal communications for citation purposes and are not included in a reference list.