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2020 Strategic Plan Goal 6 Outcomes
Ensure the financial strength and growth is sufficient to meet the needs of the university.
Pandemic-Impacted Students Aided by Student Emergency Fund
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While FNU’s low tuition rates compare favorably to other institutions, any advanced education is costly. As graduate students seeking advanced degrees, FNU students are frequently working full-time jobs and raising families while they continue their education. Even in the best of times, the mental, physical, and financial toll can be significant. Add in a global pandemic, and it can be simply overwhelming.
In the past, the FNU Student Emergency Fund has assisted students dealing with hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, personal health emergencies, or other misfortunes that would otherwise threaten their ability to continue their education. Understandably, the pandemic impacted the lives of many of our students during 2020. FNU faculty members remain closely connected with their students and encourage those under stress to apply for assistance.
“I am fighting back tears as I write this,” one Emergency Fund recipient wrote. “Tears of shock, relief, but most of all gratitude. I had thought about asking for help thousands of times, but never would because I felt like I wasn’t ‘struggling enough’ to qualify. It wasn’t until my RCF (Regional Clinical Faculty) encouraged me to take the chance by assuring me that this fund was in place to help any student that the pandemic has caused significant financial strain, no matter how big or small. Now because of her and all of you, my burden will be a little easier to bear. The words thank you feel so measly, but they’re all I have. Thank you for standing by this baby practitioner as she takes it one day at a time. I pledge to pay it forward. Blessings and love to you always.”
Recognizing the demand for assistance would be great and that so many FNU students were supplying vital health care in their communities during the pandemic, the FNU advancement team sent letters in April 2020 to alumni and other supporters requesting assistance for the Student Emergency Fund. By July, 57 donors had combined to give $73,962 to the Student Emergency Fund.
As the support flew in, so did the requests for assistance as the full impact of the pandemic began to take hold on so many of us. “I am 31 weeks pregnant with twins and was recently told I cannot work in my clinic due to COVID-19,” wrote one applicant. Another wrote: “2020 has been very difficult for everyone including myself and many unexpected things happen in life in addition to the pandemic. I truly appreciate any financial assistance during these hardships that help me reach my goal of graduation.”
The impact of the pandemic was felt quickly. In the week of April 6 alone, there were 27 applications for assistance, 19 of which were approved. As the virus spread and the cases rose, so did the need for help. From the spring through fall terms, there were a total of 141 Student Emergency Fund requests, 103 of which were approved. The total amount dispersed from the Fund during those three terms was $120,693, with the average aid per student totaling approximately $1,172.
“The support for the Student Emergency Fund is always meaningful, but it was even more so in 2020,” said FNU Chief Advancement Officer Angela Bailey, MA, CFRE. “With so many hospitals and clinics being overwhelmed by the pandemic, it was vital that we were able to support our students and allow them not only to continue their course work but also continue to provide essential care to their communities.”
The Student Emergency Fund is not a scholarship to cover tuition or the routine costs of attending FNU such as participating in classes or taking exams. These grants are given only to meet significant loss due to true emergencies
Angela Bailey
such as fire, natural disaster, catastrophic medical injuries, and/or illness. All gifts made to this fund are given directly to students. In administering the Student Emergency Fund, FNU requests documentation from each applicant. All requests are evaluated and approved by a faculty committee before being dispersed.
Pandemic Shines Spotlight on the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife
In 2019, before the COVID-19 Pandemic had gripped the world, the World Health Organization declared 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. FNU proudly joined the movement to help raise awareness of the vital and increasing impact of nurses and midwives on our nation’s healthcare system. The FNU advancement and marketing teams began 2020 with plans to share monthly stories of FNU graduates serving their communities as nurse practitioners or certified nurse-midwives. We particularly intended to focus on those serving in rural and underserved communities, highlighting the growing role of these practitioners and the increasing frequency in which they serve as primary care providers in their communities.
The execution of these coordinated initiatives between FNU’s advancement and marketing departments, however, became somewhat easier because of the pandemic.
“We were intent on demonstrating the importance of nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives, the quality of care they provide, and the need to have them at the decision-making table regarding national healthcare policy and direction,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone. “Little did we know then that the COVID-19 Pandemic would sweep the globe and, in the process, bring all those points to light. All you have to do to understand the importance of the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife is look around you.”
Even before the pandemic, the role of nurse practitioners was growing rapidly, particularly in the rural and underserved populations that are at the heart of FNU’s mission. A study published in June 2018 found that nurse practitioners “constituted 25.2 percent of providers in rural and 23.0 percent in nonrural practices, compared to 17.6 percent and 15.9 percent, respectively, in 2008.*” The same study concluded that “the use of nurse practitioners in primary care is one way to address growing patient demand and improve care delivery.” The American Association of Nurse Practitioners estimated that 270,000 nurse practitioners were licensed to practice in the United States in 2018, marking a significant increase over the country’s approximately 120,000 nurse practitioners in 2007.
“By raising awareness of the impact of our graduates in communities large and small across the country, we help people understand the importance of supporting our students as they pursue their advanced practice degrees,” said FNU Chief Advancement Officer Angela Bailey, MA, CFRE. “On average, despite our comparatively low tuition rates, our students graduate with nearly $60,000 in student loan debt. Through awareness, fundraising efforts, and scholarships, we are committed to helping alleviate that burden. We want our graduates to be able to fully focus on being essential healthcare providers in their communities.”
* Barnes H, Richards M, McHugh M, Marsolf G, Rural and Nonrural Primary Care Physician Practices Increasingly Rely on Nurse Practitioners, Health Affairs, June 2018, https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1158
To make a donation to support FNU and its students, please visit frontier.edu/giveonline or contact Chief Advancement Officer Angela Bailey at 859-251-4573 or angela.bailey@frontier.edu.
