Have You Met Rutgers-Newark?

For doctoral student Nanette Sulik, teaching is all in the family. A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Scholar at Rutgers College of Nursing in Newark, Sulik has held the position of clinical faculty at Rutgers School of Nursing in Camden since 1998, and her passion for teaching has left an indelible mark on her children. Of her four sons, three either are teachers or are pursuing degrees toward that goal: one son is pursuing a doctoral degree in developmental psychology; another received a degree in music education from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers-New Brunswick and now teaches in the Camden public school district; and a third aspires to be a foreign language teacher. The jury is still out on Sulik’s third youngest son, who currently is enrolled in the engineering program at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

As a RWJF Scholar, Sulik receives a $50,000 annual stipend from RWJF as well as funds for tuition, fees, a laptop, books and other direct costs of the doctoral program. Sulik  credits Joanne Robinson, dean and professor of Rutgers School of Nursing in Camden, for encouraging her to further her education and pursue the RWJF scholarship.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to earn a doctoral degree at Rutgers-Newark as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar,” comments Sulik. “The degree will enhance the teaching opportunities presently available to me. I will be able to develop course curriculum and teach at the graduate level.”

For a possible dissertation topic, Sulik has a particular interest in the connection between health and physical activity, especially partner dancing. She and her husband, Frank, have been married for 30 years, and for the last 20 years have enjoyed social dancing (ballroom and swing) one to three nights per week. Although Sulik has been a swing dance instructor for the past few years, she is much too busy to watch “Dancing with the Stars.” Her more than four-hour roundtrip commute from her home in Westmont, New Jersey, to classes in Newark, New Jersey, and her doctoral coursework account for a great deal of her time nowadays.

Sulik received her associate’s degree in nursing from Hahnemann University, now Drexel University, in 1986. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from La Salle University in 1987 and 1990, respectively. She holds a school nurse certification and specializes in community health nursing.