August 24, 2005
FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, FL— Nova Southeastern University (NSU), Barry University, Broward Community College and Indian River Community College will benefit from a $1.28 million state grant which will support advanced nursing education and qualify more nurses to teach at the university level.
The SUCCEED Florida Grant Program addresses both the critical shortage of nurses and the immediate need for nurses with credentials to become faculty, said Dr. Fred Lippman, Chancellor of NSU's Health Professions Division.
“The grant will provide full scholarships for faculty seeking advanced degrees to continue teaching and for nurses seeking to become nursing faculty,” Lippman said.
All nursing faculty are required to have at least a Masters of Nursing by 2009 in order to teach in Florida. Current Broward Community College and Indian River Community College nursing faculty seeking the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing will be among the first recipients of the award.
“The collaboration between these private and public institutions of higher education is a wonderful example of taxpayer dollars being leveraged to enhance the quality of healthcare and education in our state,” said NSU President Ray Ferrero, Jr., J.D.
The SUCCEED Florida Grant program, created by the 2005 Florida Legislature, is awarding $21 million in grants to public and private colleges and universities to support new or expanding programs in nursing education and teacher certification, and to plan and implement career academies.
In a survey conducted by the Florida Center for Nursing in Fall 2004, more than 6,200 qualified nursing school students were turned away from programs for lack of space in classrooms. When nursing program administrators were asked to identify barriers to expansion a shortage of qualified faculty, insufficient faculty funded positions and insufficient clinical sites were listed as the leading barriers to growth.
