October 23, 2023
Empire State University Receives $100,000 Grant from the Dyson Foundation
Funding Will Create Scholarships for Nursing Educators and Nursing Students in the Mid-Hudson Valley
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — October 23, 2023 – Empire State University’s School of Nursing and Allied Health has received a $100,000 grant from the Dyson Foundation that will create the Nurse and Healthcare Educator Scholarship for students living in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley.
The scholarship will be awarded beginning in the fall of 2024 and given to eligible students who reside in the Dyson Foundation’s service area, which encompasses Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, and Ulster counties.
The new scholarship, which was obtained by the university’s Office for Advancement, addresses the need for nurses and nurse educators in the community. According to a report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), U.S. nursing schools turned away qualified applications from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2021 citing nursing educator shortages as a top reason.
By supporting the training of more nurses and nursing educators, the grant aims to help the region reduce health disparities, improve health equity, and promote well-being for the entire community. Research shows that the presence of nurses with bachelor’s degrees in the hospital setting is linked to better community health outcomes. Conversely, shortages in nursing staffs have been associated with higher patient mortality rates.
SUNY Empire’s School of Nursing and Allied Health offers several tracks for advanced practice nursing with a focus on nursing education: a fully online MS degree in nursing education for registered nurses; a new RN to Master of Science in Nursing program; and an advanced certificate in nursing education, which is ideal for nurses with an MSN degree in another specialty such as nurse practitioner, administrator, informaticist, or midwifery who wish to become a nurse educator.
The grant expands on the Dyson Foundation’s ongoing support of students enrolled in the School of Nursing and Allied Health. Since 2008, SUNY Empire has offered the Dyson Foundation in Nursing Scholarship, which has successfully graduated 32 RN to BSN students and currently has seven active enrollments. Eighty-two percent of these students continue to live and work in the Dyson Foundation service area after graduating.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Dyson Foundation for their investment in our students and their academic and career success,” SUNY Empire President Lisa Vollendorf, Ph.D. said. “This grant provides educational access and strengthens the wellbeing of the communities in which our students live and work across New York state. The positive impact of the Dyson Foundation’s generosity will be felt on multiple levels.”
“The Dyson Foundation has been a wonderful partner to SUNY Empire and our nursing students,” said Kim Stote, Ph.D., MPH, dean of the School of Allied Health and Nursing. “Their support will enable our students to pursue their dreams of working in the nursing profession, enhance the education of our future nurses, and strengthen our healthcare systems.”