News

Grant will fund scholarships for five Ph.D. students at Rutgers College of Nursing, to stem New Jersey’s nurse faculty shortage

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the College of Nursing at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey a four–year grant for almost $1.8 million to prepare future nurse faculty members. The grant is the second phase of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s multi-million dollar “New Jersey Nursing Initiative.”

The initiative’s central component is a faculty preparation program that includes grants to schools of nursing around the state, and support for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Jersey Nursing Scholars. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Ph.D. scholars will each receive a $50,000 annual stipend, enabling them to study full time for the four years that are needed to earn their Ph.D. degrees. The grant will also pay for scholars’ tuition, fees, laptops, books, and other direct costs of the program.

In 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranked Rutgers College of Nursing in the top 20% and has consistently ranked Rutgers Newark as the most diverse public university in the United States. Half the students in the first cohort admitted to Rutgers Ph.D. program in nursing for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “New Jersey Nursing Initiative” have minority backgrounds.

“We are honored to be recognized and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their generous support of five Ph.D. scholars who will be committed to secure a nursing faculty position in the state of New Jersey upon completion of their Ph.D. program.” William L Holzemer, Dean and Professor.

The grant is part of Rutgers University’s $1 billion fundraising campaign, Our Rutgers Our Future , which is the most ambitious and comprehensive campaign in university history.

More information about the “New Jersey Nursing Initiative” and nursing in New Jersey is available at www.njni.org.

About the College of Nursing at Rutgers University
Rutgers University has been involved in the education of nurses since the early 1940s when the Newark and Camden campuses offered courses in public health nursing. The nursing program at the Newark campus was established in 1952. In 1955, the School of Nursing became the College of Nursing. In that same year, the graduate program in psychiatric/mental health nursing was initiated becoming the first master’s program in clinical nursing in the United States, and probably in the world. This was followed in the late 1970s by an array of additional clinical options for advanced practice nurses. In 1989, the Ph.D. program in nursing began, the first in the state of New Jersey, followed by the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2007. The College’s educational programs are fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measureable and timely change. For nearly 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

• Contact Name: Eleni C. Mavrogeorgis, Larry Cowen
• Contact Phone: 973/353-1876, 973/353-5588
• Contact Email: emavro@rutgers.edu, cowen@rutgers.edu