Dear DNE Students:
Welcome to our new and innovative Doctor of Nursing Education (DNE) program! We are so pleased to work with you as you build competencies at the highest level of nursing education.
Our DNE program has been informed by 15 states, national, and international standards of excellence, including the NLN Core Competencies for Nurse Educators (Halstead, 2019). You will see that it has been designed collaboratively with instructional design experts in the OSU Office of Technology and Digital Information (ODTI), including the use of Quality Matters™ standards of excellence in higher education. Core threads in the program include:
- EBP and Wellness courses, such as DNE 8115 Wellness & Resilience in Nursing Education & Professional Development
- Nurse Educator Essentials courses, such as DNE 8537 Assessment & Evaluation in Nursing Education & Professional Development
- Curriculum, Innovation, and Quality Improvement courses, such as DNE 8441 Innovation in Nursing Education and Professional Development
- Toolbox courses, such as DNE 8462 Publication and Grant Writing in Nursing Education
- Track-specific courses, such as DNE 8442 Leading, Mentoring & Collaborative Partnerships in NPD; and DNE 8522 Design Thinking in Nursing Education
Clearly, you have a passion for nursing education in academia or practice and are here with us to blaze a trail. We understand as that same passion has driven us for the past five years–to conduct a national needs assessment study about terminal degree preferences for nurses (King et al., 2020), build this innovative program based on the results, and see it through various levels of approval. We will use the same tenacity and creativity to dream big with you and help you to achieve what others may think is improbable to impossible. Throughout the DNE program, you will receive the proper balance of challenge and support and we will be with you every step of the way as you reach your aspirational goals.
We look forward to seeing the results of your final projects, solving some pressing and intractable problems in nursing education, and assisting you in disseminating this information. We are wholly confident you will make a meaningful, significant, and positive impact in nursing education.
Most sincerely,
Tara Spalla King, PhD, RN
Director of DNE Program
Associate Clinical Professor
Tara O’Brien, PhD, RN, CNE
Co-Director of DNE Program
Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing/National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE)
Center for Healthy Aging, Self-Management and Complex Care
Assistant Professor
Meet your DNE Program Directors, Dr. Tara Spalla King and Dr. Tara O’Brien.
Next Steps
In order to be adequately prepared to begin the DNE program this spring, please review the information on the site thoroughly. The site is designed to provide you with important information you need to know as a new doctoral student in the College of Nursing.
Use this New Student Checklist to ensure you have completed the necessary requirements prior to the start of the program.
If you were admitted as a Graduate Intra-University Transfer, your acceptance will not be reflected on BuckeyeLink and you will be unable to register for classes or access Beacon until you have been reactivated by the Graduate School. This process can take up to four weeks from the acceptance deadline. If you still cannot enroll after that time, please reach out to your Graduate Program Manager.
If you have any questions about the information contained in this site, please email Douglas Hettich, the DNE Program Manager, at hettich.3@osu.edu for assistance.
Meet Your Office of Student Affairs and Success Program Manager: Douglas Hettich
Autumn 2025 DNE Orientation
This online Orientation for new DNE students for the Autumn 2025 class will be held on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. The event will be held online via Zoon and will run from 9:30am EST to approximately 1:00pm EST. All students are expected to attend. So please mark your calendar. As more details about the event become available, you will find them here: Upcoming Events | DNE (osu.edu).
Please take a moment to review the academic calendar, which you can find here. It’s a helpful resource with important dates for all university students, including the first day of classes, registration deadlines, the final exam schedule, and more!