After three hours of testimony and a full hour of parliamentary wrangling and debate, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents Thursday approved two PhD programs for nurses—one at UW–Madison and the other at UWM.

February 2004 marks the 20^th year anniversary of the UW Board of Regents’ decision to approve two doctoral nursing programs in Wisconsin. Judging from records of the time, neither program was an easy sell–much less two of them. But on February 9, 1984, the regents approved PhD programs at both UW–Madison and at UW-Milwaukee.

Gale Barber, assistant dean for graduate studies, remembers the controversy that erupted at that time. "The board was opposed, at the start," she recalls, "to two PhD programs within the state of Wisconsin."

Eleven years earlier, the regents had given UW–Madison the go-ahead to plan a PhD program in nursing, and in January 1981, the School of Nursing got permission from the Graduate School to allow a few students to take an interdisciplinary joint degree program in nursing and psychology. But the proposal to establish two PhD programs set off some contentious discussion in Madison and around the state. On one side was UW System administration and the governor, who opposed the proposal; on the other, the chancellor, nursing faculty and nursing constituencies throughout the state who zealously supported the two programs.

The topic unearthed social issues. Because nursing was seen as an overwhelmingly female practice; proponents of the new programs saw the regents’ approval as a “professed commitment” to increasing opportunities for women and an act of discrimination among women if the proposals were denied.

The scarcity of resources fueled discussions about financing one campus over the other or funding the programs through internal reallocations at each campus—robbing Peter to pay Paul, as it were. UW–Madison supporters argued that a flagship school needed nurses with PhDs in research specific to the profession and in practice. UW–Milwaukee proponents saw their program as broader in scope of delivery. Both schools, however, took a unified posture in stating that, if either doctoral program were not put in place, they stood to lose highly qualified faculty at both UW–Milwaukee and Madison.

In the end, the regents spurned UW administration's advice and gave final approval, by a vote of 11-3, to both programs. UW–Madison School of Nursing proposed an experimental joint nursing and psychology doctorate while UW–Milwaukee proposed a PhD nursing program (health care of the elderly, child rearing, families and health problems of the young and middle-aged). Both proved viable programs to meet an increasing demand for doctorally prepared nurses.

Today, both programs are thriving, reports Barber. The UW–Madison PhD program is no longer a joint degree in nursing and psychology, but a PhD in nursing. Its thrust remains research, but also focuses on preparing nurse leaders in education.

Currently, 37 students are enrolled in the PhD program; more than 50 nurses have graduated from the program at UW–Madison since its inception. Ninety percent of the graduates have taken faculty positions at academic institutions throughout the world; three of the original students in the program—Susan Heidrich, Mary Keller and Sandra Ward—now teach and conduct research at UW–Madison. Barber reports that many nursing dissertations have been visionary at the time of their creation, including topics such as genetic research done on Down syndrome. Today’s students have traveled from as far away as Iceland and Malawi, Africa, to attend the School of Nursing for a doctorate.

In Barber’s estimation, programs on both campuses are thriving. “We each see we have a niche,” Barber adds.