Kramer School of Nursing officials recently announced a new scholarship called “The Kramer Way Scholarship.”
The scholarship was made possible through an anonymous donor. It will provide $400,000 for 10 new students working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and $90,000 for six new students working toward a Master of Science in Nursing.The money will be distributed throughout a two-year period starting in Fall 2019.
To be considered for the scholarship, applicants must submit a 500-word essay that shows evidence of “The Kramer Way,” provide two references and possess a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.
Linda Cook, associate dean of the nursing school, said the nursing staff defines The Kramer Way as caring, kindness and respect.
“Several years ago, many of us realized that we were working in a fairly unique situation, very different from other schools of nursing,” Cook said. “The person who is now our dean jokingly called it The Kramer Way, and the name stuck. As a faculty, we set out to figure out what that really meant.”
All the faculty and staff wrote down five words that spoke to them about what The Kramer Way really meant, Cook said.
“When we entered all the words from the faculty and staff, what we found was that the three words that popped up the most often were caring, kindness and respect,” she said.
Cook said scholarship recipients will need to understand the school’s values.
“It’s a way to make a really productive environment for learning,” Cook said. “What we want to attract are students who are cognizant of the caring, kindness and respect in their lives and how they’re living it. We think that’s going to translate very well into the environment here.”
Decisions on scholarship recipients will be made by the Kramer deans with input from faculty and program specialists. Preference will be given to Oklahoma students.
Cook said the scholarship will hopefully attract more nursing students.
“It’s going to mean an increase in numbers for us,” Cook said. “With the downturn in the economy in recent years, our numbers have dropped off some, and we’re hoping that this will see a return.”
Kelly Pan, nursing senior, said the scholarship could increase the number of freshmen in the nursing program.
“It will increase how many people we get as freshmen because right now, a lot of nursing students transfer in from other schools,” Pan said. “People will be more enticed to come here for their prerequisites and not just as an upperclassman.”
The application for the scholarship is available at okcu.edu/nursing/kramer-way-scholarship. Applicants must submit the required materials by June 30 to be considered for the fall semester.
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