A new scholarship — providing tuition, fees and a living stipend — is available for students in northeast Nebraska who are interested in a nursing career. The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Excellence Scholarship is designed to develop nurses who want to teach nursing.
“There are not enough nurse educators to teach the next generation of students and provide critical care to patients across Nebraska. This scholarship is the first use of a community fund designed to remedy that,” said Ruth Macnamara, Ph.D., associate professor and assistant dean of the UNMC College of Nursing Northern Division, located on the Northeast Community College Campus in Norfolk.
The scholarship would provide UNMC tuition, fees and a living stipend for up to two years and may be extended. It is contingent upon maintaining a GPA of 3.5 and is available to residents of one of the north region counties.
The counties include: Antelope, Boone, Boyd, Brown, Burt, Cedar, Cherry, Colfax, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Dodge, Holt, KeyaPaha, Knox, Madison, Nance, Pierce, Platte Rock, Stanton, Thurston, Wayne and Wheeler.
Funding for the scholarship is provided by the Nursing Fund for Excellence, which was established to provide greater student assistance and state-of-the-art equipment. Faith Regional Health Services is a major contributor to the fund, along with hospitals, health agencies and individuals in north and northeast Nebraska.
“The college continues to be impressed with the support it receives from northeast Nebraskans for the new nursing program in the area. This scholarship is the initial step in giving back to the community. More use of the funds will follow during the year prior to the opening of the nursing program and building,” Dr. Macnamara said.
The facility, named the J. Paul and Eleanor McIntosh College of Nursing, is scheduled to open in 2010 and will house nursing programs of UNMC and Northeast Community College. A unique public-private partnership made the project possible. Private donations of $11.9 million funded the project and operating expenses will be provided by the state of Nebraska, Northeast Community College (NECC) and federal funds generated by NECC.
Scholarship applications for the 2009-2010 academic school year can be submitted now. Applications for other academic school years will be accepted on a continual basis. The application will be available soon on UNMC’s College of Nursing website at www.unmc.edu/nursing.
For more information, contact: Dr. Ruth Macnamara, Assistant Dean, Northern Division, UNMC College of Nursing, 985330 Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE, 68198-5330. Phone: 402-253-5515. Email: rmacnamara@unmc.edu
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $100 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 3,200 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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