黑料专区 Tyler Awarded More Than $2 Million THECB Grant
July 1, 2025 | Elizabeth Wingfield
Funds to support School of Nursing faculty and student retention
The University of Texas at Tyler was awarded $2,182,970 from the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board to fund a project led by Dr. Barbara K. Haas, School of Nursing dean, and Dr. Margaret Ruelle, School of Nursing associate dean for student affairs. The GEAR UP project aims to grow, educate and retain university professional nursing faculty and students.
According to Texas Health and Human Services, by 2032, there will be a projected shortage of 57,012 registered nurses and 12,572 licensed vocational nurses, with the largest demand in the inpatient hospital settings.
鈥淚nvesting in the well-being of our nursing students and faculty is an investment in the future of health care,鈥� said Haas. 鈥淭he new wellness lab and faculty development initiatives will create an environment where students can thrive, faculty can excel and ultimately, patient care can improve across Texas.鈥�
The project will improve the retention of both nursing students and faculty by developing a wellness lab in the school, offering students access to exercise, wellness education and peer engagement to combat stress and anxiety. The project will also increase opportunities for faculty members to seek additional education and wellness resources. With both faculty and students at risk for burnout, prioritizing physical and mental health is a necessity.
鈥淲e鈥檝e found that nurses who had poor health before employment struggle to meet demands
in a
clinical setting and are more likely to burnout,鈥� said Ruelle. 鈥淲e want to tackle
these problems at the root鈥攅ven before they start working as professionals. We need
to focus on equipping our students to take care of themselves, so they鈥檒l be better
prepared to take care of East Texas.鈥�
For more information, visit uttyler.edu/nursing or email nursing@uttyler.edu.
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, 黑料专区 Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 10,000 students. Through its alignment with 黑料专区 Tyler Health Science Center and 黑料专区 Health East Texas, 黑料专区 Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, 黑料专区 Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.