Messenger - Vol. 3, No. 4, Page 12 Summer 1994 College of Nursing exceeds $1 million goal The University of Delaware's College of Nursing Scholarship Endowment Campaign has raised $1,040,258, exceeding its fund-raising goal of $1 million. "Our premise that the availability of scholarships would attract increased numbers of quality students into the nursing profession has been validated," Sherman L. Townsend of Dover, University trustee and co-chair of the campaign, said. "Since the inception of our fund-raising efforts in 1991, the enrollment of students in the College of Nursing has increased 31 percent. The number of freshmen this year is 108, compared to 62 last year. In the past year, 20 percent of the students offered admission to the College of Nursing were eligible for the University Honors Program." Betty Paulanka, dean of the College of Nursing, noted that the campaign received support from a wide range of individuals, including health care professionals, members of the medical and nursing professions, hospitals and corporations and businesses allied with health care such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware, DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals Group. Other members of the campaign steering committee are trustee Catherine Flickinger, co-chair, and alumnae Linda Harra, Jayne Huntington and Carol Sirkowski and Susan Noyes. The College of Nursing currently has an enrollment of 473 full-time and 22 part-time undergraduate bachelor's degree students and 109 part-time and 16 full-time students for the master's degree program. Both programs are fully accredited by the National League of Nursing. This year, the college implemented three new programs to meet the needs of the changing health care system: * The Family Nurse Practitioner Program of graduate study focuses on health promotion and prevention. This year's program is filled with an extensive waiting list for new admissions. * An Accelerated Second Degree Program for returning adult students with previous degrees started in January. Thirteen months of intensive study will allow 24 returning adult students to complete nursing degree requirements by the end of January 1995. The college currently has 90 adult students preparing to complete prerequisites for future accelerated degree classes. * Returning RN students from diploma and associate degree programs can now enter their own major-the Bachelor's Degree for Registered Nurses (BRN)-to earn their BSN degrees. This major eliminates the replication of course work required in the college's basic BSN program. It also allows students to complete course work in a video format offered in their homes or work sites, at times convenient to the students. The College of Nursing's partnership with the Division of Continuing Education and University Media Services continues to expand distance education alternatives for nursing degrees at both the baccalaureate and master's levels. Satellite and video delivery options now provide continuing education contact hours required for mandatory nursing relicensure. Money from the scholarship endowment fund will support a variety of students seeking nursing degrees.