SALISBURY, MD—A team of faculty from Salisbury University’s School of Nursing received a $149,998 planning grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Nurse Support Program-II to develop and pilot a program to expand the preparation of experienced nurses for clinical teaching positions in Maryland’s nursing programs.
Drs. Lisa Seldomridge, Judy Jarosinski and Tina Reid are project directors for the Maryland Advanced Faculty Academy and Mentorship Initiative (MA-FAMI), a one-year project to develop an advanced curriculum for registered nurses who have bachelor’s or master’s degrees and are interested in part-time clinical teaching. Drs. Nicole Hall and Kayna Freda also are assisting.
The Advanced Academy builds on the very successful Eastern Shore Faculty Academy and Mentoring Initiative (ES-FAMI), a hybrid educational program that began in 2011 as a collaboration between SU, Chesapeake College, Wor-Wic Community College, Atlantic General Hospital, Peninsula Regional Medical Center and the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health System. In 2018, the program expanded to Central Maryland in conjunction with Towson University and, this year, to Western Maryland in partnership with Alleghany College; Frostburg State University; Hood College; and the University System of Maryland, Hagerstown.
The Advanced Academy will provide participants with additional background in curriculum design, assessment and evaluation, and teaching and learning strategies, enabling them to meet the educational needs of nursing students locally and across Maryland.
Since its inception, there have been some 150 graduates of the ES-FAMI, and 66 percent of them have taken teaching positions within the state. Since recruiting and retaining highly qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds to teach in clinical settings is especially challenging, the MA-FAMI project will continue to focus on the development of a multicultural, multiethnic adjunct workforce. With improved readiness for clinical teaching responsibilities, retention in faculty roles is more likely and expansion of enrollments in Maryland nursing programs is possible, Seldomridge said.
The project was among “the most highly recommended” of the 17 proposals funded by MHEC and the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission.
This is the ninth NSP II grant that Seldomridge and SU’s nursing faculty have received for a combined total of some $8.53 million. The goal of the NSP II program is to increase the number of nurses in Maryland by focusing on their education.
SU’s School of Nursing is part of its newly created College of Health and Human Services. For more information about the ES-FAMI, visit https://www.salisbury.edu/academic-offices/health-and-human-services/nursing/esfami-academy/index.aspx
