Blue and white Cal State University San Marcos balloons, Crash the Cougar mascot, and three local radio stations beckoned Temecula residents to the free open house event on Saturday.
Cal State University San Marcos nursing students (from l.) Jazmyne Dickens, Fayth Vuong and Shannon Coffey. (Ashley Ludwig/SWRNN)
Staff, students, and educators welcomed prospective students, opening their doors and classrooms to discuss the variety of extended learning programs available at this high tech university.
“We are expecting 350 students in the fall of 2012,” Associate Dean Sarah Villarreal said.
From nursing to business and expanded programs, CSUSM offers state-of-the-art classrooms and “can grow to 500 students before they outgrow this location,” Villarreal said.
Accelerated Bachelor of Science, nursing students and cohort members Shannon Coffey, Jazmyne Dickens and Fayth Vuong demonstrated on the life-like intensive care simulation mannequins they use for training purposes as they discussed their accelerated two-year program.
“We’ve completed our general education requirements, and from now on, it’s nothing but nursing,” Dickens said. “Every class is designed toward our passing the board exams.”
“After commuting to Temecula for a year, I relocated,” Coffey said. “The (accelerated Nursing) program is intense, but very rewarding.”
Fellow accelerated program student Jazmyne Dickens agreed.
“This is the first year we’ve done clinical hours, at real hospitals, working with real nurses and doctors,” Dickens said.
CSUSM educator and OB specialist Allison Mondragon elaborated on the outreach opportunities, showing the simulation mannequins available to the students in mock-hospital rooms. The two-way mirrored control center where varieties of methods to keep students on their toes are initiated, recorded, and later reviewed.
“We are able to control ‘Floyd’s’ breathing, heart rate, pulse by remote, and then watch the simulation scenarios play out,” Mondragon said.
A two-way mirrored control center monitors and keeps students on their toes.
Students and educators agreed that the goal for students is to learn by doing.
The nursing program broadens from the high-tech classrooms with remote web linking to the San Marcos campus to on-site hands-on instruction at such locations as Rancho Springs, Kaiser Riverside, and Palomar Hospital in San Diego County.
Among the degree programs offered are: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Masters in Business Administration, Masters in Nursing, and Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology, and RN to Bachelor and Master of Science in Nursing.
Spring 2012 courses include certificates, extended learning for ages 55 and older, and performance Jazz.
For more information about the CSUSM Temecula campus or specific programs offered at this campus, email Temecula@csusm.edu or call 951-676-9254.
Ashley Ludwig is a freelance writer and regular contributor to SWRNN.
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