Benefit Bank Gifts Boost UAFS Nursing Program
by February 22, 2013 4:00 pm 91 views
Benefit Bank of Fort Smith has given the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith two gifts totaling $300,000 aimed at addressing a nursing shortage in the state.
The largest gift — $250,000 — is for a professorship designed to provide a perpetual source of support outside the scope of the school’s regular budget. UAFS vice chancellor for university advancement Marta M. Loyd said the gift will be invested in an interest-bearing fund for which the principal remains intact, and the interest provides a perpetual source of annual income.
An additional $50,000 gift was made to fund a simulator to be used at the UAFS College of Health Sciences. It will halve the student-to-simulator ratio, a news release said.
“This gift will help the University increase the number of students accepted into the nursing program by 20 per year and provide the faculty necessary for the program,” UAFS chancellor Paul B. Beran said in the release.
Rod Coleman, who chairs Benefit Bank’s board of directors said it “prayerfully hope lives will be changed by our involvement.”
Carolyn Mosley, dean of the UAFS College of Health Sciences, said the school’s nursing program has a 100 percent employment rate. The gifts, she added, should help produce even more registered nurses.
“Arkansas currently ranks below the national average of registered nurses per 100,000 population,” Mosley said. “Of the six surrounding states, only two have lower percentages of nurses than Arkansas.
The nursing shortage is national and worldwide. Therefore, Arkansas nursing programs must educate a greater number of nurses to address the state’s current shortages.”