Oakland University's School of Nursing recently was awarded a $15,000 grant from The Promise of Nursing for Michigan Nursing School Grant Program administered by the Foundation of the National Student Nurses' Association, which is managed by the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan.

Grants from this program were awarded to address the critical nursing shortage in Michigan. The grant to OU's School of Nursing was awarded for support for the development of a curriculum to increase the number of faculty qualified to teach undergraduate nursing classes.

"This grant will allow us to increase the number of practicing RNs who can become faculty members," said Linda Thompson, dean of the School of Nursing. "Currently, there is a nursing faculty shortage that will only increase as faculty members retire. The majority of RNs in the community are associate degree graduates who have been practicing as nurses for more than 10 years. Our goal is to create a smooth pathway for nurses to become nursing faculty members by developing the RN to BSN/MSN in nursing education program."

The Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, founded in 1984, is a permanent community endowment built by gifts from hundreds of individuals and organizations committed to the future of southeast Michigan. The foundation works to improve the quality of life in southeast Michigan by supporting a variety of activities benefiting education, arts and culture, health, human services, community development and civic affairs.

Governed by a board of 47 community leaders, the foundation makes grants to outstanding charitable projects in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, St. Clair, Livingston and Washtenaw counties. The foundation has assets of more than $334 million and, since its inception, has distributed more than $156 million in 18,420 grants to nonprofit organizations.