UofM Receives Collaborative Opportunity Grant to Improve Student Success

December 7, 2016 - The University of Memphis has been awarded a Collaborative Opportunity Grant (COG) from the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities (APLU) and Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU).

The grant is led by Dr. Richard Irwin, Dr. Richard Bloomer and Dr. Shirleatha Lee in collaboration with Dr. Niles Reddick and West Tennessee Healthcare. Titled "Enhancing Accessibility, Affordability and Attainment in Health Care Education Through Reinventing Curriculum Delivery," the grant addresses three key areas: rethinking financial aid, leveraging community assets, and engaging employers and workforce organizations. The funding opportunity is part of Collaborating for Change, an initiative implemented by USU and APLU and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

The UofM will receive a one-year award of $50,000. COG recipients are committed to implementing emerging innovations that transform campus practices, policies, programs and culture to improve student success.

The UofM proposal focuses on cross-training faculty and staff from the Loewenberg College of Nursing and the School of Health Studies to develop and implement adaptive learning courses, experiential learning and credit-by-exam options. The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning will be responsible for daily operations and will work with the Loewenberg College and the School of Health Studies. The internal team will work with West Tennessee Healthcare on marketing the program to employees.

"We are fortunate to have been afforded this opportunity to support faculty from multiple disciplines involved in expanding our portfolio of course design and delivery in an effort to increase student retention and success while strengthening the healthcare workforce," said Irwin.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact: Gabrielle Maxey
901.678.2135
gmaxey@memphis.edu