After a successful fiscal year, the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) Business Development Office (BDO) will award four one-time $10,000 merit-based scholarships to DUSON students who will begin classes this fall. The scholarships will be awarded to students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Post-Graduate Certificate or DNP- Nurse Anesthesia programs.
The BDO was created in late 2015 to identify and facilitate partnership opportunities for the School of Nursing with private, public and academic organizations, as well as create revenue to expand scholarship support and program development.
Michael Evans, MEd, assistant dean for Communications, Marketing and Business Development for DUSON, said the goal of BDO is to advance the School’s mission. “One of the School’s focus areas is to prepare nursing leaders who will shape the future with a goal to ensure that nursing education is accessible to our students,” he said. “And a primary objective of the Business Development Office is to increase scholarships and other funding to help offset the cost of tuition. The BDO scholarships are a way for us to contribute to the success of our students.”
Evans shared that the scholarships wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of faculty and staff. “The personal support and commitment to the work of the BDO by some of our faculty and staff have been instrumental in the success we’ve enjoyed this year,” he said. “Not only will we award scholarships to four students, but we will also name this year’s scholarships in honor of those faculty and staff members whose entrepreneurial spirit, support of business development activities and success has helped make this office so successful.”
The honorees for this year’s merit scholarships are Charles “Chuck” Vacchiano, PhD, CRNA, FAAN, professor for the DNP-Nurse Anesthesia Program; Barbara Turner, PhD, RN, FAAN, Elizabeth P. Hanes Professor of Nursing and chair for the Health of Women, Children, & Families Division; Michael Relf, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, AACRN, CNE, FAAN, associate professor and associate dean for Global and Community Health Affairs; and Tina Leiter, director of Facility Operations.
Each of this year’s honorees worked on BDO-related projects that generated proceeds that helped contribute to the student scholarships. Vacchiano presented a tele-course to students at Florida State University-Panama City under a special partnership contract, Turner led the Population Care Coordinator Program and a special one-week intensive course for senior nurses from Shanghai Pudong Hospital in China, Relf developed a global health course for international scholars and ABSN students to come to DUSON for a two-week intensive course, and Leiter directed the rental of DUSON facilities to outside groups across the University and Health System.
The honorees names will be used for the current year’s scholarship, and new faculty or staff will be selected for subsequent year’s awards.
“We are pleased to recognize individuals who have contributed significantly to the success of the BDO with a 2017 scholarship in their name,” said David Bowersox, MBA, associate dean for Finance and Administration for DUSON. “A number of our faculty and staff have tapped into their entrepreneurial spirit and worked with the BDO to develop innovative projects and programs. We look for this initiative to be a nice source of support to DUSON and its students in the years to come.”
As for the scholarships, the existing merit scholarship selection process will be used to determine the recipients of the Business Development Office scholarships. The winners of the awards will be announced in the early fall.