Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
The School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst received a three-year, $892,559 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for programs to increase the number of nurses from minority and disadvantaged communities. The grant will fund the university’s program called “Achieving Diversity: A Comprehensive Approach to Nursing Workforce Diversity.” Funds will be used to recruit minority students into nursing and for programs to increase retention rates.
The Pediatric Urban Health Program at Emory University in Atlanta received a $500,000 grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation to fund the start-up of three health centers in schools in underserved urban areas. Dr. Veda Johnson, associate professor of pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine and executive director of the Pediatric Urban Health Program, stated, “School based health centers are a holistic approach to caring for underserved children in the context of everything that affects their lives. It’s a community-based system of care for at-risk youth that is tailored to address the unique needs of their respective communities.”
Xavier University, the historically Black educational institution in New Orleans, received a $249,992 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation to support its new program in public health. The funds will be used to hire a field placement coordinator who will be responsible for securing internships for students.
Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara, San Diego State University, George Washington University, and the University of Ghana are participating in a three-year, $993,000 grant program funded by the Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Researchers will use satellite images to examine land use and urban sprawl in Ghana.
Southern University, the historically Black educational institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received a $120,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service for the creation of an outdoor classroom for urban forestry students in a ravine that runs alongside the campus.
David Nevins, founder and president of Nevins Real Estate Management, has made a $1.1 million donation to the Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University. The gift will be earmarked to promoting diversity in the college’s student body. Nevins is a 1969 graduate of Penn State and holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Historically Black North Carolina Central University in Durham received a five-year, $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research on removing pathogens and organic pollutants from water when ships, particularly oil tankers, dump ballast water.
Texas Woman’s University in Denton received a four-year, $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for programs to increase the number of minority students in the field of nursing. For graduate students, $100,000 will be available for scholarships each year with the remainder of the grant money allocated to scholarships for minority undergraduate students in nursing.
Historically Black Virginia Union University in Richmond received a five-year, $1.75 million grant from the National Science Foundation for student recruitment and retention programs in STEM fields. Some of the money will be used to establish a summer institute in STEM fields for high school students.
