ENGAGE
The Encouraging Nurse Guidance and Governance for Equity (ENGAGE) grant is a federally funded (HRSA) program through to increase nursing workforce diversity through better understanding the effect of students’ background, goals, lifestyle, and social support on their level of persistence and post-graduation outcomes. Holistic admissions, faculty training to support culturally diverse students, and over $700,000 in student financial support are among the many student-centered initiatives in this grant.
Meet the ENGAGE team:
Dr. Penny Weismuller, Project Director: Responsible for the overall supervision of the grant activities, including the provision of funds and reporting. Dr. Weismuller ensures that the grant activities meet the aforementioned goals and objectives of this HRSA Workforce Diversity Grant and are transparent, and "on target" through active communication with faculty, staff, students, administration, and HRSA.
Dr. Stephanie Vaughn, Transition and Program Integration Coordinator: Responsible for the transition from EMBRACE to ENGAGE to ensure ongoing student support resources; these resources are evaluated through quality improvement processes to determine efficacy of current interventions and to identify the need for additional support.
Dr. Sharrica Miller, Student Diversity, Engagement, and Support Coordinator: Responsible for the leading and implementing initiatives to create a more diverse and inclusive environment for the students, faculty, and staff in the SON
Dr. Kristina Fortes, Data, Recruitment, and Scholarship Coordinator: Responsible for data collection, management, evaluation and scholarship coordination; she also is integral to the holistic admissions process.
Dr. Hannah Fraley, Faculty Support for Retention and Success Coordinator: Responsible for leading and implementing innovative faculty support initiatives to assist faculty with curriculum development and the creation of effective teaching and testing strategies for diverse students.
Dr. Jutara Srivali-Teal, Nurse Coach: Responsible for the implementation of individual and group strategies to reduce anxiety, stress, and promote life balance among nursing students.
Dr. Kathleen Preston, Data Evaluation Coordinator: Responsible for data management, analysis, and interpretation; will also assist in the dissemination of data that highlight project outcomes, including supporting the conceptualized model that serves as a framework for ENGAGE.
Academic Writing Coach: Responsible for the Writing Center and the volunteer tutors; uses multimodal tutoring strategies to address diverse learning needs in the development of students' writing skills. Position is currently vacant.
ENGAGE Objectives:
1. Create new diversity student recruitment strategies with input from a newly formed SON community based group, Community Partners for Social Equity.
2. Employ an integrated approach to student support interventions( e.g. mentoring, nurse coaching, writing assistance, peer tutoring, varied class experiences) to reduce stressors in the diverse student community that can impact their academic success.
3. Hire and retain diverse faculty through bias free recruitment and mentorship/support for faculty success in the tenure journey.
4. Distribute $770, 000 in financial aid to three hundred nursing student particpants who meet HRSA eligibility requirments and have financial needs.