​​​​​Baltimore, MD – (October 5, 2018) – Maryland Higher Education Commission Secretary Dr. James D. Fielder called the recent Nursing Faculty Job Fair, hosted by the Nurse Support Program II (NSP II), a great success.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) and members of the Nurse Support Program II (NSP II) recently hosted its second Maryland Community College and University Nursing Faculty Job Fair, this time at the Charles I. Ecker Business Training Center, at Howard Community College.

Nursing representatives from Maryland academic institutions were available to give real-time information on nursing and those attending were able to learn valuable information about the Nurse Faculty Role and the Hal and Jo Cohen Graduate Nursing Faculty Scholarship Service.

“It is critical that we address the demands on our nursing faculty, and hosting fairs like this introduces options to our nurses and opportunities to our faculty,” Secretary Fielder said.​ "I applaud the Nursing Support Program II team for bringing Maryland nurses and faculty together as they work toward their goal of increasing the number of nurses in Maryland with a baccalaureate degree.”

Sixty nurses looking for faculty positions were able to chat with representatives from MHEC, Anne Arundel Community College, Carroll Community College, College of Southern Maryland, Community College of Baltimore City, Howard Community College, Salisbury University, University of Maryland School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Stevenson University, Frederick Community College and Prince Georges Community College.

While 13 percent of nurses hold a graduate degree, less than 1 percent have a doctoral degree. Nurses with doctorates are needed to teach future generations of nurses and to conduct research that becomes the basis for improvements in nursing science and practice. Research is showing a critical need for an increase in highly educated nurses and an improved education system to address the nursing shortage expected to impact the state by 2025 through implementation of the following goals:

• Increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020;
• Double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020;
• Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning; and
• Build an infrastructure for the collection and analysis of inter-professional data.

For more information, go to https://mhec.maryland.gov/institutions_training/Pages/grants/nspii.aspx​