Scholarly mission. Fostering scholarship in research, theory, and practice

After the publication of Ernest Boyer's book on Scholarship Reconsidered in 1990, campuses across the nation began debating how scholarship is recognized and rewarded. The current system mainly recognizes and rewards faculty for their scholarly achievements in research. However, Boyer's book has called attention to the need for a paradigm for evaluating scholarship that better articulates with the world of an academician. According to Boyer (1990), it is time to recognize the full range of faculty talent that includes research as well as three other equally important areas of scholarship: teaching, integration, and application (practice). The emergence of nursing science as an independent academic discipline valued by society and health consumers parallels the professional and social demands to assume full responsibility for nursing decisions, actions, and outcomes. The scholarly mission of VUSN is based on the values shared by the faculty that excellence and innovation in preserving and advancing the science, art, philosophy, and history of nursing is accomplished through the components of theory, research, and practice. The faculty believe the interrelatedness of the three components forms the basis for the development of scholarliness in both its students and faculty.