Dear Schools of Nursing Deans, Directors, and Chairs:
Welcome to the Thomas Edison State University School of Nursing's database of online-certified minority nurse educators.
In 2001, online education was a relatively new concept to nursing education. The Thomas Edison State University, College at the time, School of Nursing was offering, free of charge, a 20-week Certificate in Distance Education Program (CDEP) to outside faculty who were interested in learning a new teaching methodology and who would agree to teach one course per year for Thomas Edison State University. At that time, Minority educators, even with considerable effort, could not be found.
Although many nursing schools across the country have worked successfully to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of their student populations, there remains a shortage of minority nursing faculty to serve as role models to the increasingly diverse nursing student population. In 2008, twenty-six percent (26%) of undergraduate nursing students nationally belonged to minority groups, and this number is projected to increase in the next few years. However, less than thirteen percent (13%) of the nation's full time nursing educators are people of color, and to complicate matters, many of these minority educators are approaching retirement age and are widely dispersed geographically.
Due to the need for minority nurse educators that teach online and the high estimated cost of such dedicated resources, an application for federal funding was submitted to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the purpose of educating minority nurse faculty to teach online and subsequently shared with schools across the nation. In 2004, the Thomas Edison State University Minority Nurse Educator Program received funding over a three year period and was re-funded in 2008 for an additional three years. Currently, approximately 90 minority nurse educators are certified to teach online.
Although the grant is no longer offered, we have maintained the database. Please keep in mind that the purpose of this database is to share the scarce resource of minority nurse educators across the nation. We have kept this database active past the grant period.
We hope that you find this site useful, and return to it whenever you have a need for a minority nurse educator certified in Distance Education.
Thank you for your interest in the Thomas Edison State University School of Nursing's Minority Nurse Educator Database.
Sincerely,
Dr. Filomela A. Marshall, EdD, RN, CNE
Dean, W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing
Thomas Edison State University
Funding for this database was made possible (in part) by grant award D11HP05199 from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The views expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or the Health Resources and Services Administration: nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government.