USF nursing students practices diagnosing breathing problems on a
programmable mannequin, under the watchful eye of there instructor.
The University of San Francisco’s School of Nursing has received one of
the largest funding grants in its history, a $750,000 gift from the
Helene Fuld Health Trust.
The New York-based Fuld Trust is the
largest private funder of nursing students and nursing education in the
country, with a highly selective grant application process. Nurse
training programs, colleges, and universities must be invited to apply.
Past winners include Johns Hopkins University and Yale University.
“This
is a very big grant for us,” said School of Nursing Dean Judith
Karshmer. The grant, to be paid out over three years, will be managed
as part of the School of Nursing’s long-term, interest-earning
endowment, providing a minimum of $100,000 a year for undergraduate,
need-based scholarships.
“It will help us recruit the best and
brightest students, regardless of their financial needs, and help us
ensure the future financial stability of baccalaureate students in the
School of Nursing,” Karshmer said.
By comparison, the largest
gift to the School of Nursing in recent history came in 2005, in the
form of a $1.4 million, three-year grant from the Gordon and Betty
Moore Foundation.
The School of Nursing has twice before
received grants from the Fuld Trust, $64,622 in 1993 for the nursing
skills lab, and $54,000 in 2000 for scholarships, according to Sally
Dalton, associate vice president of development. “(The size of this
year’s grant) is a real sign of the confidence that the Helene Fuld
Health Trust board of trustees has in Judy Karshmer’s leadership and
the direction in which the School of Nursing is going,” Dalton said.
Key
to winning the grant was the School of Nursing’s dedication to training
a diverse population to pursue careers as nurses, particularly
minorities and men, Karshmer said. More than half of USF’s nursing
students – 57 percent – are members of underrepresented minorities,
while a higher than expected number –14 percent – are male. The figures
mirror USF in general, which ranked as the 18th most ethnically diverse
college or university in the country for 2008, according to U.S. News
and World Report and The Princeton Review.
“High academic
ability and significant diversity among the student population has made
it possible to design and implement a curriculum that responds to
contemporary issues in nursing education, as well as demands of the
workplace,” Karshmer said.
The School of Nursing’s efforts to
expand nursing students’ opportunities for global immersion experiences
in Vietnam, Africa, and Belize were also a focus of the grant
application. As well, nursing students’ clinical work with senior
citizens and vulnerable populations were highlighted. Almost 85 percent
of bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) students take a course on death
and dying during their time at the school.
