DARTMOUTH – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Nursing has received a $1.8 million grant to diversify the regional nursing workforce over the next four years from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, UMass Dartmouth announced Monday.
Dr. Barbara Weatherford will lead a team from UMass Dartmouth and Bristol Community College to assess the admissions process of each campus to recruit a pool of students reflective of the surrounding area’s demography.
In their work, the team will focus on New Bedford, owing to the changing demographics of that city, in an effort to recruit in a manner more reflective the city’s shifting population and support students in their studies. As a part of the project, the admissions processes at each school will be developed more holistically to ensure that “talented students from diverse backgrounds are identified, recruited and supported.”
“This grant award recognizes a critical challenge in the community and the ability of UMass Dartmouth, as a tier one public research university, to confront that challenge through research, teaching and engagement,” UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert Johnson said. “This effort to diversify the nursing workforce in the region…will be strengthened by the collaboration with our colleagues at Bristol Community College.”
The work that will be done with the help of grant funding follows previous steps UMass Dartmouth has taken to be inclusive in recruitment and admissions. The University currently runs an Upward Bound program targeting middle and high school students as well as its Diversity Nursing Scholars program which supports diverse and disadvantaged students interested in nursing.
Over $500,000 in funding from the grant will be used as financial aid for local students interested in pursuing nursing as a career.
Kyle Borowski is a PBN contributing writer.
