FSU, FAMU to add doctoral degrees in 'hot,' in-demand fields beginning fall 2023
New doctoral degrees at both Florida State and Florida A&M universities will be offered starting fall 2023 following the Board of Governors’ approval Wednesday.
While a Ph.D. in material sciences and engineering will be offered at FAMU through the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, a research-based Ph.D. in nursing will be offered at FSU’s College of Nursing.
“Material science and engineering is a hot topic in industry and research, and we are thrilled to welcome our newest doctoral students from FAMU into the program soon,” FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Dean Suvranu De said.
The joint college between FSU and FAMU is the only shared school of engineering in the nation, but while FSU currently has the doctoral degree in place through the joint college, this will be the first time FAMU offers the counterpart program for its students.
The new engineering degree will prepare graduates for occupations such as materials engineers or scientists, architectural managers, engineering managers and postsecondary faculty.
The college expects to have about four students in the doctoral program per year within the first four years of it being implemented, with the tuition rate being about $405 per credit hour for resident students and $1,022 per credit hour for nonresident students.
Other FAMU news:
FAMU President Larry Robinson announces immediate plans to restructure his leadership team
What's next for FAMU leadership? Robinson outlines hiring plans, hints at capital campaign
During the Board of Governors' Wednesday meeting at the University of South Florida in Tampa, they also approved a research-based doctoral degree in nursing that FSU’s College of Nursing will introduce. While the college already offers a practice-based doctorate degree in nursing, the focus on research will be a first for the college.
“For years, we’ve had a focus on practitioner education, and we have not developed the kind of research infrastructure that we needed to have this program,” said James Whyte, a professor and Ph.D. program director at FSU's College of Nursing.
"But being in the state’s capital and being in north Florida where health disparities are such a big deal, this is something that was long overdue,” he added.
Students in the program will be trained to conduct research to improve the nursing practice and contribute scholarship to the field — specifically on health disparities across different populations, such as HIV/AIDS prevention in adult and underrepresented youth.
Related news: FSU awarded grant for 'mystery shopper' research to reduce HIV infections in young adults
Upon obtaining the degree, graduates will also be qualified to teach in research-based and practice-based programs as a result of graduating with the degree.
In Florida, the job growth for nurse educators is anticipated to increase by about 23% over the next eight years with nearly 400 job openings every year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“More Ph.D. prepared nurse scientists can be nurse educators, so we will have more faculty available to train and expand our programs to provide more nurses for the state of Florida and nationally,” FSU College of Nursing Professor and Dean Jing Wang said.
Besides the degree that will be added, other initiatives of the College of Nursing are the recent hires of world-renowned research faculty members Lisa Hightow-Weidman and Kathryn Muessig, who both recently created the Institute on Digital Health and Innovation at the college to build a connection between digital innovation and health care.
The two digital health experts will also make contributions to the research-based doctoral program once it starts.
“Providing more efficient care and providing care for a larger number of patients requires new approaches and new knowledge for us to do it, and that’s what research can do,” Wang said.
The college expects to accept six students into the new degree program during the first year at a tuition rate of about $444 per credit hour for resident students and $1,075 per credit hour for nonresident students.
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU, FAMU to add new nursing, engineering doctoral degrees in 2023
