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http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2006/12/16/news/local/iq_3733219.txt

Rebel NVC nursing students win right to walk with graduates

By CRISTINA DE LEON-MENJIVAR, Register Staff Writer
After weeks of battling Napa Valley College, two nursing students have emerged victorious.Ashley McManus and Christeta Amoren-Gonzalez, second-year nursing students, were able to walk in graduation ceremonies Friday afternoon, weeks after they hired a lawyer to challenge the college's decision to dismiss them from the nursing program.

The students said the school's requirement that they pass a specific exam in addition to passing their classes was unfair. Instead of going to court, the college agreed on a settlement that allowed McManus and Amoren-Gonzalez to walk with their classmates, even though they still need to finish make-up work to complete the program. Assuming the students complete the work, they will receive their degrees in May."I'm feeling awesome, and we're very excited," McManus said just several hours before the graduation. "They teach you in school to be advocates for your patients, In this case you also have to be advocates for yourselves."

McManus and Amoren-Gonzalez originally filed a grievance with the college regarding the nursing department's use of a test called the Assessment Technologies Institute exam. NVC policy held that if students did not score at or above the 50th percentile nationally on the exam, they would fail a required class and be disqualified from the nursing program, even if they passed the rest of their courses.McManus and Amoren-Gonzalez's scores did not meet the requirement. They were given a failing grade in the class and ultimately were dismissed from the nursing program.

In protest, Amoren-Gonzalez and McManus hired San Francisco attorney Michael Sorgen to argue the school was not allowed to make the test a graduation requirement.The same debate is occurring in other nursing programs across the nation. Some colleges and universities in states such as Florida and Illinois are using assessment tools as a graduation requirement.According to the state chancellor's office, the college does not have permission to use the assessment tool to disqualify students.The college is negotiating how to incorporate the ATI into the curriculum.

College administrators are expected to recommend that the nursing department use the test, but only as part of a student's final grade in a course.Thursday evening, the students signed the settlement agreement, but it has not yet been signed by the college. A paralegal from Sorgen's office said that college officials indicated that they would sign the agreement.The college also has agreed to pay approximately $7,500 of the students' legal fees.Under the agreement, the students will make up missed classes in January and receive their degrees in May.The agreement applies only to McManus and Amoren-Gonzalez, although Sorgen indicated that there are others who failed a course because of the ATI.

College administrators could not be reached for this story.