NewsNotes
University Awarded $780,000+ in Grant Funding Gannon received more than $780,000 in grants in recent months, funding that benefits several different programs and departments to enhance the University’s educational atmosphere. National Science Foundation Awards $600K Grant
Grant Helps Patient Simulation Center
For the first time, Gannon was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $600,000. The five-year grant, “Scholars of Excellence in Engineering and Computer Science,” will provide scholarship support for both undergraduate and graduate students in these fields. “These funds are particularly important in light of the fact that nearly two-thirds of our students in those academic disciplines have a significant financial need,” President Garibaldi said. Scholarships will be awarded starting in the 2009-10 Academic Year.
In March 2008, Gannon unveiled plans to create a state-ofthe-art, 5,800 square foot Patient Simulation Center training facility for students in the health professions and sciences. In August, the University received a grant that will allow it to make the Center even more high-tech. The grant, for $68,780 from the Dr. and Mrs. Arthur William Phillips Charitable Trust of Oil City, Pa., will fund the creation of a Pediatric Simulation Theater within the Patient Simulation Center to help students receive training related to infant trauma. The Simulation Center is located on the courtyard level of the new Robert H. Morosky Academic Center and is expected to open this year.
Grants Encourage Future Nurses Two grants from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation will benefit the Villa Maria School of Nursing. The Graduate Nursing Education Grant, in the amount of $31,000 for the 2008-09 Academic Year, helps fund graduate nursing students who are pursuing an education to teach. The Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students was also received in the amount of $10,310. It is intended to encourage additional students to earn a degree in nursing, but target those students who may come from a background unfavorable to pursuing such an education. In addition, Gannon was the recipient of a $25,000 grant from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield that will benefit the nursing program and its focus on community-based care.
Grant Aids in Keeping the P.R.O.M.I.S.E. Gannon received some important assistance in its efforts to correct students’ perceptions about alcohol and unsafe behaviors. The University was awarded an $11,500 grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for the 2008-09 Academic Year, which it is using to continue last year’s Social Norms Marketing Campaign. The campaign highlights the consequences of underage and high-risk drinking and emphasizes personal responsibility by encouraging students to take the P.R.O.M.I.S.E. (Promoting Responsible Ongoing Management in Social Environments) Pledge to make healthy and respectful decisions.
Grant to Benefit Mature Women Students
4
Gannon was one of only 28 colleges and universities to receive a $35,000 grant from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, allowing the University to continue offering Newcombe Scholarships for Mature Women Students during the 2008-09 Academic Year. Since 1998, the Newcombe Foundation has awarded Gannon a total of $232,000 in grants, benefiting more than 85 mature women students at Gannon. The current grant represents an increase of $5,000 over the foundation’s award given last year. The majority of the grant is being used for direct scholarship aid, while $5,000 is designated as a challenge to continue to build the Newcombe Endowed Scholarship Fund at Gannon. The Newcombe Foundation will match, up to $5,000, any funds that Gannon raises through May.
Tom Wilfrid (right), executive director of the Newcombe Foundation, and his wife, Diane, met with President Garibaldi during a visit to campus in October.