To whom it may concern,

The students of Rasmussen University Class of Winter 2023 are submitting this formal letter of complaint to address our concerns about the changes to testing in our core class of NUR2356: Multidimensional Care I and what this means for us as we advance in the program. We, the students, have spoken to each other, our professors, advisors, and deans to attempt to resolve these issues, and none have provided sufficient answers to our concerns. Therefore, we felt we had no choice but to escalate the issue ourselves in the form of this letter. Our complaints are as follows:

1.              The transition to Test Bank-style exams for MDC1 has impacted many of our grades to the point of being at risk of failing or failing outright.

a.               We recognize that prior cohorts did not have as significant of difficulties with these exams as our cohort, leading to them performing altogether better than ours.

b.              We attempted to gather statistical data about pass rates in MDC1 for cohorts that took the class before our own, however despite repeated requests, one with Professor Patricia Dolloff recorded on Teams 2/24/2023 and another in conversation with Associate Dean Dawn McLaughlin on 2/25/2023, we were repeatedly denied this information. 

c.               We take significant issue with the sheer number of questions in the test bank, which is reportedly between 500-600, and the minutiae of what many questions demand from the student. We feel that this combination of issues creates a virtually impossible exam, where any one sentence in any of the textbooks may have a corresponding question requiring the exact memorization of that sentence to answer it successfully. We feel this is inappropriate for the following reasons:

                                                  i.        The three textbooks we use in class have a combined page count of over 3000. We have not been given accurate guidance on reducing the reading requirements or focusing our time on relevant information. Most questions seem to be based on Medical-Surgical Nursing by Workman, D.I.M.L. However, there are exam questions from the two other books. This creates a sense of uncertainty for students where we need to extensively read all three textbooks in detail to meet the exam's demands. This is not feasible or conducive to any established test-taking psychology or philosophy.

                                                ii.        Our instructor cannot meet the demands of 500-600 questions. She can also not find an underlying logic that will allow her to guide us to success on most of those questions.

                                              iii.                    Many students have incorporated many strategies in preparing for both exams. Despite many students taking notes, hosting regular study sessions, and quizzing each other based on material from the books, the overwhelming majority are still not finding success when taking the tests.

                                               iv.       We, as students, find many of these questions divisive and unfair. Various students with Professor Dolloff have addressed a detailed count of these questions.   

                                                v.        We as students also recognize a degree of unpreparedness on the part of the exam bank transition itself, noting several typos in questions and the lack of preparatory instruction material given to our instructor before the start of the quarter.

2.              The Fundamentals A.T.I. exam taken 3/1/2023 had last-minute changes brought up by a Dean to our instructor the day of the exam, such as the absence of NextGen style A.T.I. questions and a lower time limit than what was established previously. 

a.               Upon taking the exam, students found that there were, in fact, NextGen-style questions, yet the time limit given to students was still reduced. 

b.              We note that these changes and the lack of accuracy of the statements given further demonstrate to students the unpreparedness of this class's testing changes and may have potentially affected some students' A.T.I. exam scores.

3.              Rasmussen University Class of Winter 2023 has been unfairly limited in options due to these changes.

a.               Due to the policies of Rasmussen University, failing or dropping a course has a ripple effect on future decisions students can make while in the program.

b.              Many students face a frustrating decision: either we can drop the class before this quarter's drop/add deadline of 3/3/2023 or stay in the type and risk failing due to our exam average.

c.               We as students feel this is unfair due to the timing of the change in the testing process and how many of us are experiencing success in every aspect of the class except the exams.

To address our concerns, we as a class offer what we believe are appropriate and necessary steps to feel accommodated by the university. They are as follows:

1.              A 'grace fail' for students who decided to risk their one fail in the program and continue with the class.

a.               'Grace fail' shall be defined as if a student fails NUR2356 during the Jan-March 2023 quarter due to their exam average, the fail shall be expunged from the student's record and allows the student to start over with MDC1 as if it had never happened.

2.               A 'grace drop' for students who decided to drop the class

a.               'Grace drop' shall be defined as if a student drops NUR2356 during the Jan-March 2023 quarter; the drop shall be expunged from the student's record, allowing the student to start over with MDC1 as if it had never happened.

b.              We highlight that many students feel this option was necessary given that the university did not indicate any internal measures they were employed to address the issue before the drop/add deadline date of 3/3/2023 despite numerous requests for that information to be public for students.

c.               We note that a curve for the exam average would allow many students to pass. However, this action by the university does not address the decision this set of students had to make and, therefore, is unsatisfactory.

3.              Retaking clinicians should not be necessary for those who fail/drop the class, given the specific nature of why these students failed/dropped the class.

a.               We recognize that some students could not complete their clinical hours due to the unfortunate scheduling of some clinical days after the drop/add deadline of 3/3/2023. We request that students that drop beforehand are only required to complete clinical hours in the next quarter to meet those missed due to having dropped late into the Jan-March 2023 quarter.

4.              Financial reparations for the tuition cost of the class

a.               Full cost reimbursement for the class's tuition would be the optimal outcome for most students.

b.              If this is not possible, a channel where students may address their financial concerns on a case-by-case basis with the university should be instated – allowing students who are planning their academic calendar alongside their finances to have an informed path forward in the program given the financial cost of this class and its clinical.

We recognize the difficulty in evolving a nursing education program to specific standards. All students signing this letter believe that progress in nursing education is necessary for preparing students for the changing demands of the nursing profession. However, we also recognize the disappointment, hopelessness, anger, and fear of participating in a program that does not acknowledge its faults. A repeated theme seen by us students from Rasmussen University is that of silence – silence towards students who express our concerns, silence when we ask what will be done, and silence when we cry out that we are giving the program all that we have, and it is still not enough. While most of us are in the very beginning of our program, many of us have doubts about our future with Rasmussen – specifically, whether a university that conducts business this way is worth our time, money, and passion and our success in nursing. We see this formal letter as the end of the silence, and we, at this moment, let it be known to those reading that we do not accept silence as an answer. We accept nothing less than addressing our concerns and the reparative work that comes with them. 

Please recognize that the changes made in the university's testing process may not have the intended effect. While Rasmussen works to correct further and optimize its test bank, many students feel the silence means we are being left behind. We hope this is not the case and the university assists us now. We have voiced our concerns in the spirit of open and effective communication. We request that the university responds to our suggestions on addressing the issue by Friday, April 7th, 2023, the end of the first week of the April quarter of classes. 

Respectfully,

Rasmussen University Nursing, Ocala, Class of December 2023