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Twenty years ago this fall, 13 nurses — a “Who’s Who” list of nursing intellects in the upper Midwest — gathered as a cohort to pursue a doctoral degree in nursing, the first to be offered in the Rushmore State. 

Today, South ŕŁŕŁÖ±˛ĄĐă State University remains the only institution in the state to offer the research-focused Doctorate of Philosophy in nursing. 

“SDSU provides a personalized educational opportunity for the working nurse as they pursue a Ph.D. in nursing. Our online Ph.D. program is flexible with faculty who are interested in student success as they grow as nurse scientists,” according to College of Nursing Dean Mary Anne Krogh. 

Since that first meeting on Sept. 16, 2005, at the Health Science Center at USDSU (now Sioux Falls Center) in Sioux Falls, 49 students have earned their doctorates. Two more are slated to complete the degree in August with 16 students currently in the program and another five starting in the fall.
Tom Stenvig, who retired in 2024 after heading the SDSU nursing Ph.D. program for seven years, said retention has been an attribute for the program. 

“We only had two all-but-dissertation,” meaning students completed the coursework but not their dissertation. “Nationally, it’s much higher.” 

First class an elite crop 

So why is the SDSU program so strong? Part of the answer can be found in the program’s roots. 

“We cherry picked,” said Roberta Olson, who was dean when the Ph.D. program began. That group of 13 was comprised of chief executive officers, vice presidents, department heads, professors, instructors and nurse practitioners from Minnesota, South ŕŁŕŁÖ±˛ĄĐă, North ŕŁŕŁÖ±˛ĄĐă and Iowa. 

The list included Diana Berkland, vice president and chief nurse executive at Sioux Valley Hospital and University Medical Center (now Sanford); Barbara Condon, chair of nursing at Briar Cliff College; Linda Burdette, chair of nursing at Presentation College and later a nursing leader on the SDSU faculty; and Jan Haugen-Rodgers, vice president of women’s and children’s health at Sioux Valley Hospital and University Medical Center. 

Sandra Bunkers, head of graduate nursing at the time the Ph.D. program began, said then, “It’s quite a group of individuals. I’m hoping they will expand their current positions to become researchers when they are finished with the program because a Ph.D. is a research degree to create researchers who will keep developing the knowledge base of nursing.” 

Growing a knowledge base 

That concept of perpetuating knowledge has remained a focus of the program, Stenvig said. 

“If you’re going to have a successful Ph.D. program, the faculty need to be able to mentor students in developing their own research skills. If you don’t know how to do that yourself and recognize the pitfalls and problems, you’re not going to be successful in creating a Ph.D. graduate with a research focus. 

“Every researcher needs to be teacher, and every teacher at the Ph.D. level needs to be a researcher. They go hand in hand. That’s where the mentoring comes in. You’re always thinking about the next generation,” Stenvig said. 

A change in attitudes 

After 20 years, it is statistically accurate to say the program is teaching a new generation of students. 

Twenty years ago, there was a significant group of nurses who had earned their master’s degrees and found success in the field or in academia, but there was little opportunity to earn a doctoral degree. It wasn’t too many years before 2005 that a Ph.D. in nursing was considered unnecessary. 

However, that view was changing within the nursing profession and particularly within its accrediting bodies. 

Olson said, “We needed to have doctorally prepared nurses in our faculty. Our strategic plan called for more faculty to do research …. Health care institutions also needed doctorally prepared nurses. They said if they had nurses prepared at that level, it would increase their ability to understand research done at that level.” 

Doctoral additions slow 

SDSU's pharmacy program opted for a six-year Doctorate of Pharmacy in 1998, but doctoral education in other health programs was slow in following. However, the winds of change were blowing in the right direction. Olson noted that following the creation of SDSU’s Ph.D. program, approval for a Doctorate of Nursing Practice came in 2009, and at the University of South ŕŁŕŁÖ±˛ĄĐă doctoral preparation was required for physical therapy and occupational therapy. 

It seemed as though it took approval of the Ph.D. in nursing by the South ŕŁŕŁÖ±˛ĄĐă Board of Regents to advance the concept of South ŕŁŕŁÖ±˛ĄĐă offering terminal degrees in those health fields. 

In fact, it took over a year for the idea of a Ph.D. in nursing to gain traction in the regents’ office. Olson submitted the request for the new program in 2003. She wasn’t called to testify before the regents until August 2004. The regents didn’t vote to approve the program until December 2004. 

But Stenvig said, “In 2005, the stars were in alignment and here we go. We had the qualified faculty that could teach the courses.” 

Olson said seven of her faculty had doctorates, and there were four faculty enrolled at a doctoral program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who would finish in the next 18 months. 

The core group formulating the Ph.D. in nursing were Olson, who had worked with a grad program at the University of Kansas; Stenvig, Bunkers, Nancy Fahrenwald, a leader in faculty research at the time and a future dean; Janet Lord, head of undergraduate nursing; and West River faculty Barbara Hobbs, Mary Lou Mylant and Kay Foland as well as Tish Smyer, coordinator of the RN Upward Mobility Option; and Marge Hegge, a 44-year faculty member. 

Olson said, “All of us had Ph.D.s  from different institutions.” 

Stenvig added, “I think the multiple perspectives were important for what needed to be included in the curriculum.” 

HRSA grant vital program’s strong start 

Another key piece was a three-year $753,622 grant the college received from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to start up the doctoral program. “We got it right from the get-go with the HRSA grant,” Stenvig said. 

Bunkers said, “The HRSA grant gave the College of Nursing the ability to hire consultants who were experienced in doctoral education. They traveled to Brookings and Sioux Falls and consulted with the dean, myself as graduate department head and project director of the Ph.D. program, and also consulted with the Ph.D. faculty on course development and other issues relevant to a Ph.D. education.” 

Stenvig said, “We discussed our approaches, and they helped us fine-tune things. At that time, SDSU was not research intensive. We had to figure out a way to get students started with research dissertations.” 

That meant setting up research courses that could be applied to a future project. “Students had to do something before beginning the research that would support their dissertation. Something to get their feet wet in a research activity that would apply to their dissertation work,” Stenvig said. 

Bunkers also noted that the federal grant provided funding for Ph.D. faculty to travel to national graduate education meetings to learn about the latest trends in doctoral education. â€śThis was very important in creating a relevant and current Ph.D. program,” she said. 

Bunkers added, “The HRSA grant also provided funding for some faculty salaries and scholarly time to engage in important faculty research.” 

Becomes fully online in 2023-24 

In 2005, the program was built around an executive weekend format. Once a month, the cohort would gather in Sioux Falls for classes and discussion. Students worked independently the other weeks. Olson said having in-person gatherings was crucial in the early years. 

“You have a cohort that works together and has support for each other. The program is stressful. With the demands of a Ph.D., you need encouragement from the others,” Olson said. 

The program went fully online in 2023-24, allowing people from outside the region to join. Another change has been “involving students in research from the day we start,” Stenvig said. The final product — the dissertation — now is three publishable papers rather than a five-chapter book, and rather than a comprehensive written exam, students assemble a portfolio with concrete, self-development projects that support their journey as a scholar, he said. 

In today’s online world, students have many options in enrolling in a Ph.D. program. 

Stenvig stands behind SDSU’s program for “the mentoring we provide for students. We begin advising from day one, and the portfolio that I mentioned. That results in very tangible experiences that they would not get at another program.” 

Dean Krogh adds, “In addition to standardized courses that all students take, we also allow for electives that will meet the students' research needs.”
 
Editor’s note: In the next newsletter, the program’s first graduate, Barbara Condon, and its 50th graduate, Abby Seydel, will be profiled.