As of\u00a0January\u00a02026, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) received a gift of $1.5 million from the\u00a0University Medical Center of El Paso\u00a0(UMC) to help expand faculty\u00a0for UTEP\u2019s\u00a0nursing and health\u00a0sciences\u00a0programs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas is facing a national shortage of\u00a0healthcare\u00a0professionals.\u00a0According to Texas Tech Health El Paso\u2019s Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing,\u00a0Texas is projected to have a\u00a0shortage\u00a0of 60,000 nurses by 2030. The $1.5 million gift is to help ease this shortage, aiming for UTEP to graduate 400 nursing students and 45 occupational therapy (OT) students per year by 2028.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0the Dean of School of Nursing,\u00a0Leslie Robbins, Ph.D.,\u00a0over the next three years, UTEP is projected to hire six nursing faculty and three OT faculty in the health sciences. Nursing will have more class sections, moving from one to\u00a0possibly three, keeping a manageable number of students per class, including clinicals, which typically allow only a certain number of students per clinical section.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows us to deliver it [nursing program] to more students who want to be nurses,\u201d\u00a0Robbins\u00a0said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0expanding the people that we hire to help us by being able to account for more students. We will have more OTs in the community and more bachelor\u2019s RNs in the community.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
To increase enrollment in the nursing program and help alleviate the nursing shortage,\u00a0freshmen\u00a0do not need to apply to nursing school to become a nursing major. If students meet their milestones, they will be eligible to graduate with a BSN in\u00a0nursing.\u00a0UTEP\u00a0is the\u00a0only program in\u00a0El Paso\u00a0to offer that, but it needs more faculty to keep the program running.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything else you have ranking and scoring, and\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0competing for so many seats, we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have you do that,\u201d\u00a0Robbins said.\u00a0\u201cYou compete against yourself to make sure you keep meeting the standards, and having more faculty is allowing us to do that.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mia Alanis, a junior nursing student, believes that this expansion will improve the quality of education provided and offer more opportunities for nursing students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to know that the nursing program is getting bigger, I feel like it\u2019s going to give us more opportunities,\u201d Alanis said. \u201cI feel like this is always a big need for any major we have here; the more money we get in, the more students are able to join.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only will this expansion benefit nursing, but also occupational therapy.\u00a0The faculty increase is also set to improve teaching and enhance research opportunities, exposing students to innovative methods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William Roberts, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor in the department of occupational\u00a0therapy,\u00a0said UTEP\u2019s OT program is specifically designed to serve El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a unique opportunity for us to educate and to train future occupational therapists\u00a0who are from here,\u201d Roberts said.\u00a0\u201cAs we bring in more research\u00a0faculty, there will be more presence of faculty,\u00a0students\u00a0and community-based research that people will see. There are already ongoing efforts to increase awareness of our programs and increase philanthropy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The goals for this expedition are to promote long-term growth, increase community awareness and advocate for further funding; all aligning with El Paso\u2019s community health needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n