UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 15, Page 1
December 16, 1993
Nursing college campaign exceeds $1 million goal

     The University of Delaware's College of Nursing Scholarship Endowment
Campaign has exceeded its fund-raising goal of $1 million, University
President David P. Roselle announced Dec. 14.
     "I am pleased to announce that, to date, $1,040,258 has been raised to
support scholarships in our College of Nursing," Roselle said. "This
endowment will play a key role in the future of the college, providing us
with the ability to attract top-notch students to our program. The
endowment fund will provide permanent financial resources to serve
generations of nursing students."
     "Our premise that the availability of scholarships would attract
increased numbers of quality students into the nursing profession has been
validated," Sherman L. Townsend of Dover, University trustee and co-chair
of the campaign, said. "Since the inception of our fund-raising efforts in
1991, the enrollment of students in the College of Nursing has increased 31
percent. The number of freshmen this year is 108, compared to 62 last year.
In the past year, 20 percent of the students offered admission to the
College of Nursing were eligible for the University Honors Program."
     Betty Paulanka, dean of the College of Nursing, noted that the
campaign has received support from a wide range of individuals. "In
addition to contributions from our alumni and faculty, we received
invaluable support from health care professionals, members of the medical
and nursing professions, hospitals and corporations and businesses allied
with health care. We are proud that Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware,
DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals Group were among
our major contributors. This support is further indication of the high
value the health care community places on our College of Nursing and on our
graduates."
     Other members of the campaign steering committee are trustee Catherine
Flickinger, co-chair, and alumnae Linda Harra, Jayne Huntington and Carol
Sirkowski and Susan Noyes.
     The College of Nursing currently has an enrollment of 473 full-time
and 22 part-time undergraduate bachelor's degree students and 109 part-time
and 16 full-time students for the master's degree program. Both programs
are fully accredited by the National League of Nursing.
     The college is expanding in size and services to meet consumer demands
for highly qualified nurses prepared to work in a variety of settings,
Paulanka said. This year, the college implemented three new programs to
meet the needs of the changing health care system:

        * The Family Nurse Practitioner Program of graduate study focuses
          on health promotion and prevention. This year's program is filled
          with an extensive waiting list for new admissions.
        * An Accelerated Second Degree Program for returning adult students
          with previous degrees will start in January. Thirteen months of
          intensive study will allow 24 returning adult students to
          complete nursing degree requirements by the end of January 1995.
          The college currently has 90 adult students preparing to complete
          prerequisites for future accelerated degree classes.
        * Returning RN students from diploma and associate degree programs
          can now enter their own major-the Bachelor's Degree for
          Registered Nurses (BRN)-to earn their BSN degrees. This major
          eliminates the replication of course work required in the
          college's basic BSN program. It also allows students to complete
          course work in a video format offered in their homes or work
          sites, at times convenient to the students.

     The College of Nursing's partnership with the Division of Continuing
Education and University Media Services continues to expand distance
education alternatives for nursing degrees at both the baccalaureate and
master's levels. Satellite and video delivery options now provide
continuing education contact hours required for mandatory nursing
relicensure.
     Money from the scholarship endowment fund will support a variety of
students seeking nursing degrees.