Dunham Nursing Scholarships Awarded for the Second Year

In an awards ceremony and orientation on January 15, 2011 at Waubonsee Community College (WCC), a collaborative of area health care partners, represented by WCC and Alden of Waterford, Aurora University, Dreyer Medical Clinic, Kane County Health Department, Provena Mercy Medical Center, Rush-Copley Foundation, Rush-Copley Medical Center, and VNA of Fox Valley, awarded Dunham Nursing Scholarships to eight new and forty-six returning nursing students currently attending Waubonsee Community College and Aurora University. This was the second year of awards from a $750,000 grant from the Dunham Fund to implement a nursing scholarship program to advance nursing in the Aurora area. The intent of the Dunham Fund Board of Advisors was to provide the resources to create a scholarship program that would build a high-performing, diverse workforce of nurses within the Dunham Fund's service area.
 
Nursing Scholarship award recipients met the following criteria:

• Residency in the greater Aurora area as defined by the Dunham Fund for one year prior to application and/or employment in a full-time or part-time capacity by a greater Aurora area employer within the Dunham Fund service area for a period of one year prior to application.
• Citizenship of the United States or lawful permanent alien residency.
• Ability to demonstrate a satisfactory employment record and submission of the most recent performance evaluation.
• Enrollment in, acceptance by, or registration for admission in a nursing education program at Waubonsee Community College or Aurora University.
• 50% or more of a nursing education program to complete.
• Willingness to participate in a Dunham Scholars volunteer healthcare project that benefits the greater Aurora area community during the two-year scholarship program and
• Willingness to work in the greater Aurora area, for two years (full-time) or 4,000 hours following graduation.

Students accepted into the Nursing Scholarship Program during the first year of the two-year grant period were not required to reapply for the scholarship for 2011 as long as they remained in good academic standing. However, students continuing their education at a higher level were required to submit a new application to the program.
 
The nursing scholarships fund up to 90 percent of tuition for an associate degree in nursing at Waubonsee Community College and up to 75 percent for a baccalaureate or graduate degree in nursing at Aurora University.

This program continues to help the Dunham Fund to realize its intent to respond to the increasing need for quality nursing education and to invest in the future of quality healthcare in its service area. "This program is a symbol of collaboration, resulting in more nurses for our community," said Stewart Beach, Chair of the Dunham Fund Board of Advisors, at the awards ceremony. He thanked the scholarship recipients for selecting nursing as their chosen profession.

The collaborative selected scholarship recipients representative of the diverse population of the greater Aurora community. The primary goal of the Dunham Nursing Scholarship Program is to equip nursing graduates with critical thinking skills and to enhance their ability to identify patient needs to prevent complications and provide high-quality outcomes in diverse healthcare environments.

Of the fifty-four scholarship recipients for 2011, twenty-nine are enrolled at Aurora University for RN to BSN, BSN, and MSN degrees and twenty-five are students at WCC seeking Associates in Nursing degrees. More than half of the recipients already work at community health care institutions, including several of the collaborative organizations. Sixteen of the students are bilingual. 

New 2011 Dunham Nursing Scholars - First row (Left to Right): Jessica Svec (WCC), Rosanick Bustamante (WCC), Courtney Buttrum (WCC); Second row (Left to Right): Veronica Butts (WCC), Jennifer Blodgett (AU), Stewart Beach (DF Chairman), Michael Morcos (DF Vice-Chairman), Tina Dace (WCC), Gina Panozzo (AU); Not pictured: Lisa Hernandez (AU)