Florida International University (FIU) College of Nursing & Health Sciences (CNHS) and Florida Memorial University will strike an historic accord targeted at increasing diversity in the nursing workforce.

These two leading South Florida minority-serving institutions will finalize an agreement at the 2008 Minority Health Disparities Summit in Tampa to partner on programs – including a dual-degree Bachelor of Science in Biology & Nursing degree – for honors students at Florida Memorial University. This academic collaboration represents the inaugural project of the Florida Alliance for Health Professions Diversity (FAHPD) – an alliance of 12 institutions, including Florida state and private universities and stakeholder organizations, formed in 2007 to help develop higher education partnerships specifically to foster diversity in the health professions.

“At FIU, we have always prided ourselves in our strong commitment to diversity and the need to infuse every facet of our nursing education curriculum with cultural competence and sensitivity,” said Divina Grossman, PhD, RN, ARNP, FAAN – Dean of FIU CNHS. “This is an exciting time for students and faculty at both universities. Together, we are embarking on a project that will not only impact the ethnic make-up of our health care system, but undoubtedly increase the quality of care provided to the minority populations that are underserved by the current system. Increasing the number of nurses from underrepresented minority groups is a key strategy for addressing health disparities,” she continued.

“This collaboration between FIU and Florida Memorial University is a perfect inaugural project for the FAHPD,” said Dr. Rose Mary Stiffin, Ph.D., Florida Memorial’s Dean of the School of Health & Natural Sciences. “The fact that we are talking about a partnership between a top Hispanic-serving institution and an historically black university illustrates and solidifies the union of Dr. Louis Sullivan and the Sullivan Commission to make diversity in the health care industry a top priority,” said Dean Stiffin.