02-04-2024 EDU - Flipbook - Page 6
6 The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, February 4, 2024
Salisbury's nursing program, which has seen an expansion in enrollment, is aiming to help address the nursing shortage.
Fulfilling a need
Graduate programs address shortages in nursing and teaching
By Carol Sorgen, Contributing Writer
C
hances are, from personal experience, we all know how important
nurses are when it comes to caring
for us and our loved ones. However,
the nationwide faculty shortage –
created by budget constraints, an aging faculty
and job competition – is having an impact on
the number of students being accepted into
nursing programs, just when the need for professional registered nurses is on the rise.
Nationally, the American Association of
Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is working to
address this issue by securing federal funding
for faculty development programs, collecting data on faculty vacancy rates, identifying
strategies to address the shortage, and focusing media attention on the need both for more
nurses and more nursing faculty.
In Maryland, Salisbury University’s school
of nursing is part of this effort through its
Faculty Academy and Mentorship Initiative
of Maryland (FAMI-MD), which prepares
experienced registered nurses who hold a
bachelor’s degree or higher for new roles as
clinical nursing faculty. So far, the program
has paid major dividends. At a time when
many nursing applications are being declined
due to nurse educator shortages, the SU school
of nursing is expanding enrollment.
Nurses who participate in FAMI-MD complete a six-week long academy, consisting
of online instruction with synchronous sessions via video conference. Two curricula are
offered: an introductory academy that provides a foundation for new educators, and
an advanced academy that explores learning
theories, learning strategies, assessment and
evaluation, and professional advancement.
“The need for nurses continues to grow,”
says Lisa Seldomridge, Ph.D., professor of
nursing and interim dean of SU’s college of
health and human services. “At the moment,
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“This program is helping us produce the
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from the program. “As nurses and nurse educators, we love what we do and want to light
the fire in as many people as we can.”
Training Special Educators at
Coppin State University
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office
of Special Education recently announced the
award of $35 million to 34 schools across
the country to support and train educators
to improve overall reading, math and social
emotional outcomes for school-age children
with disabilities.
Among the grantees is Baltimore’s Coppin
State University, which was awarded $1 million
to help children with disabilities in Maryland,
including children of color and those who
are multilingual. Coppin’s Project POSE
(Preparing Outstanding Special Educators)
will train and support nearly two dozen aspiring educators as they earn all certifications
and credentials needed to teach students with
disabilities in grades 1-8 in Maryland.
Assistant Professors Nicole Anthony,
Ph.D., and Anita Weisburger, Ph.D., of
Coppin’s school of education will lead Project
POSE, working with the National Center on
Intensive Intervention to strengthen the existing special education curriculum to include
additional evidence-based and best practices
critical to the development of all school-aged
children with disabilities.
Anthony explains that the biggest challenge in not having enough qualified special
educators nationwide is that the individual
needs of students can’t be met.
“More than 50 percent of students statewide are students of color,” she says, pointing
out that 76 percent of Maryland’s educators
are white females. That’s especially true in
Maryland’s Wicomico County on the Eastern
Shore, which has the largest gap in the state
between the percentages of students of color
and teachers of color.
“There is a mismatch of color and ethnicity in our schools,” says Anthony, noting that
Black students are disproportionately identified with emotional and behavioral problems,
leading to suspensions, expulsions and arrests.
According to the Hechinger Report, a
nonprofit, independent news organization
focused on inequality and innovation in education, studies have found that Black and
Latino children who have a teacher of the
same race have fewer suspensions and higher
test scores.
Aspiring educators who complete the
degree program will graduate with a Bachelor
of Science degree in special education. The
students will also engage in professional development opportunities, diverse field experiences and mentorship.
The first cohort of 10 future educators
Workforce needs,
continued on page 7
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