Support the School of Nursing

Leaders in Research, Education, and Practice

The School of Nursing is the leading nursing education and research institution in Wisconsin. Its faculty and graduates are working to improve human health throughout the state, across the nation, and around the world. The mission of the school is to develop leaders for the profession and society—making discoveries, enhancing systems, and improving health through research, education, and practice. And with the help and support of alumni and donors, the School of Nursing can continue to be a model for the state and the nation.

Thank you for considering the UW School of Nursing in your giving plans. If you would like to learn more, please connect with us.

Contact Scott Fletcher Contact Alison Lazar

Giving Opportunities

“With nursing, you get to meet so many different people and learn their stories. You can help to make the world a better place—you can create a lasting impact.”
Emily Hanna, BSN '19

Giving at the School of Nursing

Create a Legacy at the School of Nursing

The Bowers Fellow is the newest giving level within the Bunge Society, which recognizes generous supporters of the School of Nursing. Those who include the School of Nursing in their estate plans and complete the necessary documentation with the UW Foundation will be inducted into the Bunge Society as a Bowers Fellow.

Endowments Empower Faculty and Students at the School of Nursing
Donor support enables retention of the excellent faculty at the School of Nursing through endowed chairs and named professorships.
Class of 1971 Celebrates 50 Years
This fall, the School of Nursing honored the nursing Class of 1971 as they celebrated the 50th anniversary from graduation and established a legacy gift: the Class of 1971 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Student Support Fund
Remembering Nancy Kaufman ’71 (1949-2021)
Nancy Foreman Kaufman ’71 lived and breathed the Wisconsin Idea. She dedicated her life to the service of others and demonstrated impeccable leadership through her numerous personal and professional endeavors.
Building A Legacy
In 2021, the Bowers Fellow was established in recognition of the legacy Dr. Barbara Bowers has created as a nurse educator, researcher, and philanthropist. We asked Dr. Bowers to tell us about her experience adding the School of Nursing to her estate plans.
More stories about giving at the School of Nursing

Where Your Gift Will Have the Most Impact

Doctoral Student Support Fund

As Baby Boomers age, the demand for nurses grows. The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing recognizes the increasing demand for our graduates and wants to answer the call. Yet to prepare more nurses, we need more nursing faculty—nurses who have earned either a PhD or DNP (doctor of nursing practice).

To attract promising students who will become nurse leaders in research and advanced practice, we must provide financial support to offset the costs of graduate education. Your support helps us to attract the best PhD and DNP students who will, in turn, prepare the next generation of nurses.

Enable the most promising students to pursue doctorate-level nursing education.

Second-Career Nursing Scholarships

Nursing students who already possess a bachelor’s degree are typically ineligible for traditional federal student aid. This can be an insurmountable barrier that prevents some students from pursuing a nursing degree at all. Other students must maintain their current careers during their studies in order to fund their education. Many do so while juggling the demands of raising children or caring for other relatives. These competing responsibilities make a rigorous program even tougher.

Your support of second-career scholarships makes nursing education more viable for students who cannot obtain traditional federal financial aid. These scholarships enable second-career students to pursue their education full time (or close to it) and with fewer demands on their time and attention. With financial assistance, students can also complete their studies and enter the nursing workforce more quickly.

Give second-career students a more direct path to the nursing profession.

Professorships and Chairs

Professorships and chairs enable the School of Nursing to attract and retain high-quality faculty who not only improve health care and advance the profession through their research, but also prepare the next generation of nurses through education and mentorship. Just as the nation is experiencing a nursing shortage, higher education is grappling with a nursing faculty shortage. Doctorate-prepared nurse scientists have a choice in where to house their research. Professorships and chairs help the School of Nursing to attract the best in the field to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Help the School recruit and retain the best Nursing faculty.

Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (CIPE)

Healthcare is a team effort. The majority of nurses work in collaboration with physicians, pharmacists, therapists, and social service providers. When members of these healthcare teams understand each provider’s role and work in concert, they deliver better care.

CIPE is a partnership between UW–Madison’s School of Nursing, School of Medicine and Public Health, and School of Pharmacy, in collaboration with schools and colleges across campus. The center will work to improve the team-based care process and to better prepare health-professions students for collaborative practice on interprofessional healthcare teams.

Prepare future healthcare providers to work together as teams to deliver better care.

Accelerated Undergraduate Nursing Program

We are developing an accelerated undergraduate nursing program to serve students who already hold a bachelor’s degree in a different discipline. This program expedites baccalaureate nursing education by eliminating UW–Madison undergraduate admissions and electives requirements. This program increases total BSN enrollment and shortens the path to practice, both of which directly address nursing workforce shortages.

Help to launch a program that will contribute more bachelor’s prepared nurses to the Wisconsin workforce.

Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning Fund

We are creating an endowment to sustain our investment in our state-of-the-art active learning environments, enabling us to keep our educational spaces and simulation facilities current. This allows us to continue offering relevant and realistic learning experiences to our students in our effort to prepare then for practice in the ever-changing and challenging healthcare industry. When new nurses find familiar setting and experiences as they enter practice, they contribute to healthcare teams more quickly and confidently. This fund will also support ongoing faculty development to ensure that our educators can leverage current technology in their teaching, learning, and research.

Help new nurses to enter the workforce with competence and confidence in their skills.

Katharyn A. May Nursing Innovation Fund

Through research, nurse scientists identify ways to improve health and advance the nursing practice. However, the path from discovery to implementation is one that takes, on average, seventeen years.

This fund will provide resources to facilitate, support, and expedite the process of turning discoveries into innovations that can be integrated into existing healthcare delivery systems. It will provide financial support for translation and implementation efforts not covered by traditional research funding sources. This includes business plan and business model development, bridge funding to sustain projects between grants and self-sufficiency, and start-up funding for pilot projects.

Improve healthcare by integrating research discoveries into practice.

Center for Aging Research and Education Fund

The Center for Aging Research and Education (CARE) works with healthcare professionals, care providers, and community organizations to improve the quality of life for older adults. CARE develops and disseminates best practices for the care of older adults. It also facilitates innovative research and teaching strategies and develops relevant and accessible resources for care providers and practicing nurses, such as an online residency program for nurses who are new to long-term care.

Improve the lives of older adults and the people who care for them.

eSchoolCare

School nurses practice independently, but they don’t have to practice in isolation. eSchoolCare is a digital tool that connects school nurses with expertise from the School of Nursing and the American Family Children’s Hospital. With modules on asthma, diabetes, severe allergies, cancer, epilepsy, and mental health disorders, eSchoolCare provides school nurses with health plan templates, videos on medication administration, and links to professional development opportunities.

This tool supports nurses in their efforts to keep students healthy and ready to learn. Research shows that student health is directly linked to attendance and performance. Our goal is to expand eSchoolCare nationwide to give school nurses an invaluable resource to manage student health and improve educational outcomes for children with chronic conditions.

Help children to learn by giving school nurses tools to keep them healthy.

“I got to see health care from the perspective of a patient before I ever became a professional. And I realized I wanted to be a nurse because the nurses knew exactly what I needed. I didn’t even have to ask. … The nurse was concerned about my overall well-being, and that was the service I wanted to provide.” Uchenna Jones ’02, ’09