IBHE Increases Number Of Nursing School Grants And Nurse Educator Fellowships Awarded

Government and Politics

January 14, 2023

Awards and fellowships will help meet healthcare workforce needs in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) has awarded 11 nursing school grants, totaling $750,000, and 40 nurse educator fellowships, totaling $400,000, for fiscal year 2023 across the state. The grants awarded to institutions of higher education will help increase the number of registered professional nurses with high-quality postsecondary credentials to meet the demands of the Illinois economy, and the awarded fellowships will help retain well-qualified nursing faculty at institutions of higher education that award degrees that lead to a registered nurse licensure. Compared to the previous year, seven more grants and 20 more fellowships were awarded thanks to an increase in funds in Governor J.B. Pritzker’s FY23 budget supported by the General Assembly.

“Nurses are on the front lines of every public health issue our state faces, and the past three years have only reinforced how absolutely vital and lifesaving their work is,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I’m proud that the Illinois Board of Higher Education is making it easier for health professionals to enter the field by combatting equity gaps in enrollment and training. These important steps increase health care access throughout the state so that all Illinoisans can receive the top-level care they deserve.”

“These nursing grants and fellowships help us make progress toward the equity and growth goals set out in A Thriving Illinois, the state’s strategic plan for higher education,” said IBHE Executive Director Ginger Ostro. “We are committed to keep working to close equity gaps and meet the demands of the healthcare workforce in Illinois. We applaud the commitment of the nurse educators to prepare the next generation of nurses from diverse backgrounds and are pleased to partner with the nursing programs in implementing innovative practices to close equity gaps.”

Nursing school grants will be used to enhance institution programs and efforts to close equity gaps in their nursing programs. Funds may be used for hiring additional nursing faculty and staff, developing and expanding instructional programs and modalities, expanding academic support services, improving classroom and lab spaces, and purchasing equipment and instructional materials, and more.

Fellowships were awarded to nurse educators with strong commitments to use fellowship funds to enhance their professional practice in their area of specialty as well as remain in higher education. Additionally, fellows’ institutions have shown success in reducing equity gaps in nursing student enrollment and graduation. Each fellowship is $10,000, and the funds are salary supplements that may be used for expenses related to professional development and continuing education to enhance the fellow’s practice as a nurse educator, as well as the fellow's nursing program.

Below are lists of nursing school grant recipient institutions and nurse educator fellowship recipients.

FY23 NURSING SCHOOL GRANT AWARDS
Institution	Amount Awarded	Proposed Use of Funds	Degree Offered
Carl Sandburg College	$97,990	Improve training opportunities for up to 55 AAS Nursing students designed to ease transition from the classroom into in-demand nursing occupations through hands-on simulation and training to meet regional occupational demand.	ADN
Dominican University	$89,463	Improve student understanding of caring for diverse patient populations utilizing simulators, providing life saving measures using Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) technology, and recognize the positive impact that diverse nurses have on communities through purchase of CPR training for students and faculty, and Simulation Center equipment.	BSN
Harper College	$97,990	Further support students' academic progression to and through ADN to RN-BSN, and seeks to build on the previous successful strategies and respond to new needs resulting from the Nursing program assessment, the direction of the College's Strategic Plan, and specifically the College-wide goal of closing equity gaps by 20% by 2024 through hiring of Transition Coordinator and tutors, translation of program materials to Spanish, and providing scholarships to students in need of additional financial assistance.	ADN
Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, District 529	$66,642	Bridge the gap for rural community students and improve student exposure to specialized clinical placements through the purchase of AV equipment to facilitate simulation use (Simulation iQ Mobile System).	ADN
Kaskaskia College	$59,525	Improve student access to a wider range of patient scenarios through the purchase of high-fidelity Nursing Anne Simulators (manikins) that are light-skin, dark-skin, and newborn.	ADN
Loyola University	$100,000	Enhance clinical learning experiences, provide active learning experiences not readily accessible (e.g., rural settings), and incorporate how social determinants of health may affect health outcomes as offered by the Collaboration, Resources, Access, and Equity (CARE) Center for Student Success through addition of Virtual Reality (VR) resources.	BSN
McHenry County College	$22,310	Improve students' cultural competency, contribute to the retention of nursing students of color, and ultimately result in better patient outcomes through purchase and installation of a male training mannequin in a dark skin tone.	ADN
Moraine Valley Community College	$33,950	Improve the preparation and confidence of nursing students through expanded use of Sim manikins and virtual reality simulations across more nursing courses; support related faculty professional development to adapt curriculum, including membership to the Keith RN website and reinstatement of the UbiSim software license.	ADN
Northern Illinois University	$66,515	Improve supports for historically underserved and academically at-risk students by pairing students with faculty mentors in targeted courses, providing nursing students with peers who provide success tutoring and coaching, and implementing an assessment of barriers and facilitators of academic success.	BSN
Saint Xavier University	$15,615	Support the access and success of nursing students with disabilities by providing professional development for faculty on appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities and ensuring awareness of Center for Accessibility Resources on campus.	BSN
University of St. Francis	$100,000	Address equity gaps in enrollment and course completion for students, of which approximately half are African American, Latinx, low-income, first-generation, from rural communities, working adults, and/or students with disabilities through purchase of additional Simulation and Skills lab equipment and enhancement of academic and behavioral resources, remediation, and professional development.	BSN
Total	$750,000

Fiscal Year 2023 Nurse Educator Fellows:

Fellow	Institution Name
Tracey Stilley	Aurora University
Malina Campos	Ambria College of Nursing
Andrea Kilroy	Ambria College of Nursing
Matt Yau	Chamberlain University
Maricruz Diaz-Boylan	City College of Chicago (Malcolm X)
Talargie Tafesse	City College of Chicago (Malcolm X)
Anne Kowalczyk	DePaul University
Richard Clapp	Eastern Illinois University
Jacy Ghast	Eastern Illinois University
Margaret Le Moyne	Elgin Community College
Laury Westbury	Elmhurst University
Dameron Beverly	Heartland Community College
Julie Carr	Heartland Community College
Theresa Adelman-Mullally	Illinois State University
Teresa Novy	Illinois State University
Megan Rappleyea	Illinois State University
Sherry Haley	Kishwaukee College
Katie King	Lakeview College of Nursing
Leslie Catalano	Lincoln Land Community College
Bridgette Hudson	Lincoln Land Community College
Amy Kiefer	Loyola University
Yeyin Yi	Loyola University
Julie Auton	Millikin University
Gail Fyke	Millikin University
James Travis Whisman	Millikin University
Leslie Moyar	Moraine Valley Community College
Meredith Watkins	Morton College
Stephanie Uhr	Northern Illinois University
Reem Azhari	Oak Point University
Monique Reed	Rush University
Ife Muyiwa-Ojo	Saint John's College of Nursing
Judith Dollins	Shawnee Community College
Kelli Whittington	Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Myjal Garner	Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Elizabeth Alvarez	Southwestern Illinois College
Cynthia Winfield	Southwestern Illinois College
Lorna Scoggins	University of Illinois at Chicago
Amanda Sperry	University of Illinois at Chicago
Kathryn Vanderzwan	University of Illinois at Chicago
Courtney Pritchard	University of St. Francis

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