BRN education committee defers several noncompliant programs, approves new program openings and a USC teach‑out

The Board of Registered Nursing’s Education Licensing Committee met April 17 by Webex. Committee Chair Jovita Dominguez and members Dolores Trujillo and Tricia Winn heard public comment, reviewed multiple program compliance reports and voted on a slate of items including deferrals for several nursing programs with continuing noncompliance, initial approvals for new programs, an approved teach‑out for an advanced practice program and routine consent items.

The committee deferred formal action on a number of programs found to be in continuing noncompliance and required follow‑up reporting. After presentations from program representatives and the nursing education consultants (NECs), the committee recommended that Merritt College, Copper Mountain College, Fresno City College, Los Angeles City College, Fresno Pacific University and others return with scheduled progress reporting (typically quarterly to the assigned NEC) until documented corrective actions are verified. Committee members repeatedly cited elevated attrition or documentation and faculty‑time issues as reasons to keep closer oversight rather than imposing immediate sanctions.

Why it matters: the committee’s deferrals keep programs operating while requiring structured follow up, but they also preserve the committee’s ability to escalate to warning or revocation if schools fail to cure noncompliance. Several speakers in public comment from existing Sacramento‑area programs urged caution before new enrollments are approved because of clinical site and faculty shortages in Region 1.

Major actions and outcomes - Approved acceptance of the minutes from the Jan. 22, 2025 Education Licensing Committee meeting (motion carried; Jovita Dominguez, Dolores Trujillo, Tricia Winn recorded as voting yes). - Approved consent agenda item 4.1 (curriculum revisions, clinical facilities approvals and program progress reports) and item 4.2 (continuing approvals) after BRN staff review; motions carried unanimously. - Deferred taking final action and required quarterly reports to the assigned NEC for the following programs found in continuing noncompliance: Merritt College (associate degree nursing), Copper Mountain College (ADN), Fresno City College (ADN), Los Angeles City College (ADN) and Fresno Pacific University (BSN). Each of these items was presented with program executive summaries and NEC findings; the committee recommended return to ELC with scheduled progress reporting rather than immediate revocation. - Approved the University of Southern California family nurse practitioner master’s program request to teach out and close admissions, with a projected completion date reported in the materials (teach‑out accepted). - Approved program enrollment and pattern changes and initial approvals: University of San Diego (change to two‑cohort pattern, keeping annual total), Pepperdine University (initial approval), Saint Mary’s College (initial approval) and Westcliff University (modified enrollment pattern as requested); motions carried. - On a contested feasibility study, the committee voted to defer taking action on Arizona College’s feasibility study for a Rancho Cordova BSN campus to allow the program to present additional information and avoid forcing a full restart of the feasibility process. That deferral followed extensive public comment from regional programs that said Sacramento area clinical placements and faculty pools are already highly impacted. - Samuel Merritt University requested reconsideration of a prior denial for an enrollment increase in Sacramento; the committee voted to accept the request for reconsideration and defer action to permit the school to consider alternative options for future board consideration.

What committee members and staff said - Committee Chair Jovita Dominguez, President Dolores Trujillo and member Tricia Winn generally supported deferral plus structured reporting for programs that remain noncompliant rather than immediate punitive action, citing ongoing corrective steps (faculty hires, consultant contracts, grants) submitted by programs. - Lori Melby, the board’s executive officer, and Mary Anne McCarthy, supervising nursing education consultant, summarized specific outstanding noncompliance subsections for each program (for example, CCR references listed in the staff materials) and outlined the regulatory options available under California Code of Regulations (e.g., timelines and steps in CCR §14.23.2) including warning status with intent to revoke when appropriate. - Reza Pesuhhesh, BRN legal counsel, advised the committee that comments about active enforcement cases should be treated cautiously and described the evidentiary limits when hearings are pending before the Office of Administrative Hearings.

Public comment and community concerns Several directors and deans from Sacramento‑area institutions, plus community partners, urged the committee to weigh clinical‑placement capacity and faculty availability before accepting new programs or enrollment increases in Region 1. Specific concerns included very limited psychiatric and specialty clinical slots, competition for preceptors and the strain of adding more students on already impacted clinical sites. The committee cited a forthcoming BRN clinical facility approval/databank that staff said will provide more visibility into where students are placed and help staff verify reported placements.

Next steps and follow up Programs placed on the deferred‑with‑reporting track must supply the documentation the NECs require; the NECs will verify whether noncompliance items are cleared and then place programs on the consent agenda for board action when appropriate. The committee and staff emphasized that deferral preserves the committee’s statutory options to escalate if programs fail to meet their corrective timelines.

Ending note The committee repeatedly favored monitoring and verification through the NEC process and quarterly reporting over immediate sanctions for programs that have documented corrective steps in progress. Several contentious feasibility and site requests — particularly for Sacramento/Rancho Cordova — prompted requests from regional educators to prioritize workforce and clinical placement data in future decisions.