Program Beginnings : School of Health Sciences : Simmons College

Overview and History

The curriculum for the Certificate in Diversity Management program has been designed by members of the Diversity Leadership Council of the American Hospital Association, a group of highly respected practitioners with many years of expertise in the management of diversity and disparities in health care. To view the curriculum calendar, click the link with that title in the right-hand margin of this page.

In 2004, the Simmons Health Care Administration Program became one of four educational institutions designing curriculum- based on the NCHL competencies. (all references to the NCHL competencies, including definitions, levels and so on, are derived from the NCHL "Competency Integration in Health Management Education," March, 2006.) Based on this experience, program faculty have determined that three NCHL competencies would provide the overarching framework for the program content and process design:

Community orientation: the ability to align one's own and the organizations' priorities with the needs and values of the community, including its cultural and ethnocentric values and to move health forward in line with population-based wellness needs and national health agenda.
Strategic orientation: the ability to consider the business, demographic, ethnocultural, political and regulatory implications of decisions and develop strategies that continually improve the long-term success and viability of the organization.
Change leadership: the ability to energize stakeholders and sustain their commitment to changes in approaches, processes and strategies.

Faculty also specified three foundation competencies the program would emphasize by means of the specific content and processes:

Organizational awareness: the ability to understand and learn the formal and informal decision-making structures and power relationships in an organization or industry (e.g. stakeholders, suppliers). This includes the ability to identify who the real decision makers are and the individual who can influence them, and to predict how new events will affect individuals and groups within the organization.
Impact and influence: the ability to persuade and convince others (individual or groups) to support a point of view, position, or recommendation.
Accountability: the ability to hold people accountable to standards of performance or ensure compliance using the power of one's position or force of personality appropriately and effectively, with the long-term good of the organization in mind.

Topics addressed in the curriculum include:

Historical Perspective on Diversity, Disparities, and Cultural Relevance
Demographics and Community Orientation
Leadership and Change
Diversity Communication and Language
Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Issues
21st Century Health Care
Project Management, Team Leadership, Negotiation
Talent Development and Mentoring
Recruitment, Retention

Diversity/Disparity Action Plan

One of the key elements of this unique program is each participant's completion of a Diversity/Disparity Action Plan, a roadmap for the substantial change needed to address disparity and diversity issues in each participant's institution and community. This plan provides the context for the program modules; serves as the major integrating activity during the program; gives evidence of participants' progress; and is a deliverable of value to the home institution.

The Blended Learning Experience at Simmons

The School of Health Sciences at Simmons began offering fully online courses in 2001. Since that time, the Department of Online Teaching and Learning has designed and developed more than 30 fully online and blended courses in the areas of Nursing, Physical Therapy, Nutrition, Health Professions Education and Health Care Administration.

In 2007, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation chose Simmons for their Sloan Program in Asynchronous Learning, Anytime, Anywhere, Online Award to show that a college can offer high-quality blended classes and still maintain the close student/faculty relationships that are such a part of the college experience. This program aims to "make high quality learning, education and training, available anytime and anywhere, for those motivated to seek it" (see http://www.sloan.org). The $225,000 grant has helped to establish blended learning programs at Simmons, including our blended Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Based on our experience with fully online and blended learning, we have developed a program through which all online instructors complete training in teaching online to ensure the effective delivery of blended instruction that is both interactive and challenging. All instructors for the Diversity Management program collaborate in the design of their courses with an instructional designer and an instructional technologist with experience in the design and implementation of blended courses related to health care.

Participants in the Diversity Management Program will complete a two-week online orientation to prepare them to learn efficiently and effectively in the online environment. This orientation class will introduce them to the roles and responsibilities of instructors and learners in the online environment, prepare them for proficiency in using Simmons eLearning, and introduce them to their learning cohort.