The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) has awarded 76 nurse educator fellowships, totaling $760,000, for fiscal year 2024 across the state. The awarded fellowships will help retain well-qualified nursing faculty at institutions of higher education that award degrees that lead to registered nurse licensure. Retaining qualified nursing faculty will help ensure that nursing students are prepared to enter the workforce and fill a shortage in a critical area of the healthcare workforce. The number of grants awarded nearly doubled from the previous fiscal year due to increased funds in Governor JB Pritzker’s fiscal year 2024 budget supported by the General Assembly. Locally Illinois Valley Community College’s Cathy Lenkaitis will be a part of the awarded nurse educator fellowship.
“We are glad Governor JB Pritzker and the General Assembly continue to support the nurse educator fellowships through funding as they are an important strategy in the state’s higher education strategic plan to achieve a thriving Illinois,” said IBHE Executive Director Ginger Ostro. “The nurse educator fellows are crucial in helping meet the healthcare workforce needs in our state, and we are committed to continuing working with the institutions to close equity gaps.”
Fellowships were awarded to nurse educators with strong commitments to use fellowship funds to enhance their professional practice in their area of specialty and remain in higher education. Each fellowship is $10,000, and the funds are salary supplements that may be used for expenses related to professional development and continuing education to enhance the fellow’s practice as a nurse educator, as well as the fellow’s nursing program. This year’s fellows are focusing their fellowship funds on nursing simulation training and instructional development; diversity, equity, and inclusion training; development of new curricula, teaching methods, and research; earning professional certifications and advanced degrees; and attending professional conferences for nurse educators.