DALLAS, Sept. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iDesign today announced that it has been selected by Loma Linda University to provide design support for its online RN to BS program. The collaboration, which will not involve the sharing of any tuition revenues, draws upon iDesign's unique expertise in learner experience design through a fee-for-service model that affords university administrators ongoing control over academic quality, structure and cost.
"Loma Linda understands the potential for online modalities to create access and degree pathways for working nurses," said Dr. Marilyn Eggers, Associate Provost, Division of Extended Education. "iDesign's approach will provide us with deep expertise and the very best in learner experience design, while preserving academic integrity and long-term control over programmatic costs."
Loma Linda's collaboration with iDesign stems, in part, from the School of Nursing's commitment to reduce tuition and fees for its RN to BS program amid growing demand from hospital systems for skilled nurses. Although the Institute of Medicine and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing have set goals for hospitals to increase their BSN workforce to 80% by 2020, nurses often struggle to pursue more advanced credentials -- and higher wages -- due to high tuition costs, and the complexity of balancing face-to-face classes with demanding work schedules.
"Our instructional design team is inspired by the challenge of creating courses that respond to the unique challenges of working nurses," said Paxton Riter, Chief Executive Officer of iDesign. "We look forward to working with Loma Linda faculty and institutional leaders to learn more about their pedagogical approach, and demands of their student population, to develop technologically advanced courses that equip nurses with the tools they need to excel in their field."
For more information, please visit: https://home.llu.edu/
About Loma Linda University: Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day Adventist educational health-sciences institution with more than 4,500 students located in the Inland Empire of Southern California. Eight schools make up the University organization: Allied Health Professions, Behavioral Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Religion. More than 55 programs ranging from certificates of completion and associate in science degrees to doctor of philosophy and professional doctoral degrees are offered. Students from more than 80 countries around the world and virtually every state in the nation are represented in Loma Linda University's student body. For more information, please visit https://home.llu.edu/.
iDesign partners with colleges and universities to build, grow and support online and blended programs. We are passionate about helping faculty harness the potential of emerging technologies to design courses and degrees that make an impact, whether they are fully online, flipped, blended, adaptive, or competency-based. Our unbundled, fee-for-service model is rooted in a commitment to flexibility and institutional autonomy, while our analytics platform supports continuous improvement through rigorous measurement of student engagement and course quality. From statewide university systems to private colleges, our custom solutions pair instructional design with technologies to enable great teaching. To learn more, please visit www.idesignedu.org.