School of Nursing case statement

SCHOOL OF NURSING

O

ur reputation for collaborative education, research, practice, and outreach makes Auburn’s School of Nursing a leader in preparing nurses for 21st century practice and redefining primary care delivery.

Because This is Auburn is a $1 billion campaign to propel our university forward through a renewed commitment to our students, a continued promise to our state, and a shared responsibility to the world.

With donors’ support of our $13.6 million campaign goal, the School of Nursing can increase interest in our academic endeavors and graduates through our vision for a new facility and enhanced support for our students, faculty, and programs. This campaign provides donors with a unique opportunity to create a legacy while investing in our school’s future. A new home for the School of Nursing — to be located in a newly established Health Sciences Sector on campus — will be more than just a larger, newer building. It’s a solution to growing our enrollment, which currently is capped by space limitations. It’s a solution to exposing our students to even greater hands‑on experiences and the latest in medical technologies. And it’s a solution to the need for us to have a more significant influence on alleviating nursing shortages within our state and nation.

TOTAL GOAL FOR THE SCHOOL OF NURSING:

$13.6 million

“To prepare the nursing workforce of the future, we must provide our students with a state-of-the-art facility designed and furnished with innovative learning environments that support simulation, problem-based learning, and clinical and translational research. Reaching our campaign goal undoubtedly will provide our faculty with the resources needed to transform student learning in the School of Nursing.”

— Gregg E. Newschwander, PhD, RN

Dean and Barbara S. Witt Professor, School of Nursing

PRIORITIES

for the School of Nursing

The healthcare industry is responding to national nursing shortages by calling for nursing schools to expand their capacity to train the next generation of entry-level nurses and primary care professionals.

Prospective students have responded to that call in droves, which for the School of Nursing has resulted in a 250-percent growth in undergraduate enrollment and a fivefold increase in graduate enrollment between 2010 and 2014.

That sharp growth has strained our instructional capacity in terms of both space and faculty-to-student ratios, which in turn has capped admission to many of our programs. Philanthropic support through this campaign will afford opportunities for more students to pursue a nursing career and the school to respond to nursing shortages by: • expanding the school’s instructional, research, and outreach capacity with the construction of a new gateway building as part of Auburn’s newly established Health Sciences Sector; • attracting the best and brightest nursing students in numbers that both satisfy prospective student interest and address workforce demand; • building a portfolio of programs that prepares nursing graduates to meet the primary care and chronic-illness management needs of the people of Alabama and beyond; and • recruiting and retaining nationally recognized faculty.

$4.8 MILLION

for a new facility for the School of Nursing

$2.9 MILLION

for annual and endowed undergraduate scholarships

2

NEW ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

to recruit and retain high-quality faculty

Students

$3,000,000

Faculty

$1,200,000

Programs $4,600,000

Facilities

$4,800,000

$100 THOUSAND

for annual and endowed graduate support

Facilities

Lem Morriso nD

rive

School of Nursing

EXPANSION AREA

Harrison School of Pharmacy

Health Sciences Sector Academic and Research Zone

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dfie

AREA ENT EM G A AN EXPANSION EM C AREA UR O RES

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Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), Auburn Campus

$4.8 million

Students

Faculty

Programs

By establishing annual and endowed need-based scholarships for undergraduate students, donors will help increase opportunities for first‑generation students to pursue careers in nursing and diversify our enrollment. In addition, annual and endowed merit-based scholarships will assist in attracting talented students for whom we compete with peer nursing schools and who will strengthen our student body. Fellowships and assistantships will allow our graduate students enrolled in either the nurse educator or primary care nurse practitioner tracks to pursue their degrees full time, thereby accelerating their entry into the workforce.

Faculty shortages across the country limit our capacity to enroll more students at a time when the need for nursing graduates continues to grow. Named, endowed professorships for nursing faculty will assist Auburn in attracting and retaining superior faculty. Start-up support for new faculty members will provide them with the necessary funds to begin their research efforts promptly.

Additionally, research support for current faculty will increase their productivity and grant funding applications, assist with their publishing success, and enhance the school’s reputation.

$3.0 million

$1.2 million

Engaging top undergraduate students in research will complement our use of evidence-based practice and better prepare students for graduate study. Increasing our outreach and research efforts will support ongoing student clinical learning initiatives around the globe.

Support of student leadership activities will prepare students for leadership positions and increase Auburn’s visibility nationally.

Gifts to fund faculty outreach efforts will support projects that benefit the community, translate teaching and research into practical outcomes, and provide students with hands-on opportunities to hone their nursing skills.

$4.6 million

S Donahue Drive

As one of the first additions to Auburn’s new Health Sciences Sector at the corner of South Donahue Drive and Lem Morrison Drive, a new nursing school building is among the provost’s top-five facilities priorities. This new building will more than quadruple the school’s current 11,700 square feet of space in Miller Hall, thereby significantly increasing the availability of much-needed space for classrooms, lecture halls, simulation labs, and research initiatives. When completed, the school will have ample space to increase enrollment while expanding opportunities for our students to learn in a highly technical, dynamic, and interdisciplinary environment. Increasing our enrollment is paramount to providing stability not only to an industry plagued by bedside, primary care, and outpatient staffing shortages, but also to boosting our graduate program enrollment.

Because our undergraduate programs serve as feeders to our graduate programs, increasing our undergraduate admissions capacity will have a rippling effect on our school’s impact on meeting the primary care and chronic-illness management needs of the people of Alabama and beyond.

Your gift to Auburn has

REAL IMPACT

“The generous donations that [create scholarships] have provided other nursing students and me with opportunities we may not have had without them.”

I came to Auburn University with the dream of obtaining my bachelor’s degree in nursing and becoming a nurse practitioner. I am now in my last semester of my graduate studies, through which I will complete a master’s degree for primary care nurse practitioner. Throughout my time in Auburn’s School of Nursing — as both an undergraduate and graduate student — I have been fortunate to receive scholarships. The generous donations that created these have provided other nursing students and me with opportunities we may not have had without them. Each scholarship award was exciting to receive, especially being able to write Coach Pat Dye a thank-you note as a recipient of the Blue Jean Ball Scholarship. This also meant that I was able to meet Coach Dye and support efforts to create more scholarship opportunities for other nursing students by helping with the Blue Jean Ball. I cannot express to you how important the School of Nursing is to me and how many opportunities I have been blessed with through AUSON — all of which I can attribute to generous donors who made them possible. Thank you for your gifts to AUSON’s student scholarship fund. It means more to us than you will know. War Eagle!

— Lauren Bryan Smith ’12

Master’s student, Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, and graduate teaching assistant

For East Alabama Medical Center, our charitable giving to the School of Nursing makes good business sense. We know that support of student scholarships, faculty professorships, and the school’s new building translates into an investment in the region’s, state’s, and nation’s healthcare infrastructure — and our future nursing workforce.

“We know that support…translates into an investment in the region’s, state’s, and nation’s healthcare infrastructure — and our future nursing workforce.”

Today’s nursing professionals are a crucial element of any healthcare network. Auburn’s nursing students are known for their professionalism, compassion, and critical thinking. In addition to current students in clinical practice, you’ll find many Auburn nursing alumni on our nursing staff and in key hospital leadership positions. We see the positive outcomes of our giving through their service to our patients as well as through partnerships with the school’s faculty conducting research and providing community outreach.

We are proud to partner with the faculty, staff, and leadership of the School of Nursing in providing a top-notch learning experience for students committing their careers to improving healthcare delivery and serving others.

— Terry Andrus, President and CEO East Alabama Medical Center, Opelika, Ala.

Auburn University School of Nursing 118 Miller Hall, Auburn, Alabama 36849 (334) 844-7390 | supportnurses@auburn.edu www.auburn.edu/nursing B E C AU S E@AU B U R N . E D U | B E C AU S E . AU B U R N . E D U Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.