Nursing recognizes U.S. veterans at Commencement with patriotic honor cords

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Desiree Yamamoto, (808) 956-2904
Marketing Manager, Nursing
Posted: May 20, 2015

UHM Master's degree veterans with cords.
UHM Master's degree veterans with cords.
UHM undergraduate degree veterans with cords.
UHM undergraduate degree veterans with cords.

UH Mānoa Nursing, through the School’s federal grant – Achieving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing: A Veterans' Initiative Program – has provided UH Mānoa veterans with a symbolic red, white and blue honor cord worn at the 104th Annual Commencement Exercises held on Saturday, May 16, 2015.  The veterans honor cords represent the sacrifice, service and commitment to excellence that all student veterans share.

This is the first semester that UH Mānoa Nursing has provided patriotic honor cords to graduating veterans to recognize and support all veterans throughout the UH Mānoa campus.

The Achieving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing: A Veterans' Initiative Program is a three-year, $342,472 federal HRSA grant.  Launched in spring 2015, the grant assists U.S. veterans with military medical experience to receive credit for their training, decreasing the time to graduation and a nursing degree. The program also provides academic and social support services to veterans and dependants, and facilitates new enrollment and academic progression.

Said Dr. Debra Mark, program director and a U.S. veteran, “One of the exciting outcomes of this grant is the synergy created across campus and the UH system with and for student veterans. Collaborating with UH Mānoa Nursing faculty, UH Mānoa’s Office of Veteran Services Support, the ROTC Command, and the Schools of Nursing at Kapi‘olani Community College, Kaua‘i Community College and Maui College has increased our collective capacity to support student veterans and facilitate their enrollment, retention and academic progression."

Added Nursing Dean Mary G. Boland, “The nation will continue to have demand for highly skilled workers in health care, and we are fortunate to have the most highly trained military in the world. In alignment with the Obama Administration, this grant is one of nine federal grants funded this year specifically for Hawai‘i veterans who wish to build upon their military training and experience. Our program seeks to enroll veterans, give them credit for their military experience, and provide them with the support they need to complete their Bachelor’s degrees in nursing. The School is committed to serving our veterans by helping them successfully transition to the civilian workforce while leveraging their extensive skillset to build a stronger, more diverse, nursing workforce.”

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant no. UF1HP26981. For inquiries about the Achieving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing: A Veterans' Initiative Program at UH Mānoa Nursing, please contact Dr. Debra Mark, program director, at (808) 956-5297 or at debramar@hawaii.edu. Visit the program online at www.nursing.hawaii.edu/vetstonurses.

About UH Mānoa Nursing

UH Mānoa Nursing, the Nursing Capitol of the Pacific, is the leader in nursing education and research in Hawai‘i with outreach to Asia and the Pacific Basin. We support the mission of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa: to provide an innovative, caring and multicultural environment in which faculty, students and staff work together to generate and transmit knowledge, wisdom, and values to promote quality of life and health for present and future generations. The school offers the BS, master’s, and doctoral programs. To reflect Hawai‘i's unique cultural diversity and heritage, UH Mānoa Nursing is committed to increasing the representation of Native Hawaiian and other underserved people in all nursing programs. Visit us at www.nursing.hawaii.edu.

For more information, visit: http://www.nursing.hawaii.edu/vetstonurses