Smarter Clinical Placements with SCSU’s School of Nursing

At Southern Connecticut State University, the School of Nursing was managing scheduling, evaluations, and faculty coordination across multiple nursing tracks; traditional, accelerated, and part-time, largely through manual, paper-based processes. They later implemented another system to move away from paper, but it still wasn’t comprehensive enough to support their full range of clinical and accreditation needs. As accreditation expectations evolved and the AACN Essentials changed, it became clear they needed a more scalable, data-driven approach.

That’s when they turned to CORE ELMS. 

In this 30-minute session, hear from Kim Lacey, Director of Curriculum Development and Assessment at SCSU, as she shares the practical steps her team took to modernize clinical placements using CORE ELMS.  

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• How SCSU organizes placement data before the term starts, collecting faculty availability and student preferences early to avoid last-minute chaos 

• The way SmartMatch, CORE’s scheduling algorithm, automates placements while still giving staff full control. 

• What it looks like to cut hours of admin time each term, with a process that now scales across traditional, accelerated, and part-time nursing programs 

This session is ideal for program directors, clinical coordinators, and academic leaders who want to simplify scheduling while meeting accreditation and student experience goals.