July 20, 2023 – Mass General Brigham and UMass Boston’s Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences today announced an expanded collaboration to enhance the college’s Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing program.
With a $20 million investment—$10 million from Mass General Brigham and $10 million from UMass Boston—the goal is to recruit and retain nursing students from underrepresented communities as they start their clinical rotations.
UMass Boston will provide financial support for the students recruited from the traditional and accelerated nursing programs to participate in the Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing program. These students will then be eligible for employment by the Mass General Brigham system hospitals, creating a workforce development pipeline from classroom to career. The additional funding will also support the creation of a behavioral health equity certificate for program participants. Over five years, 400 students will be recruited to complete the program.
The Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing is a health equity partnership founded by UMass Boston and Mass General Brigham in 2008 to support diversity, practice preparedness, and behavioral health competency. It has provided hands-on hospital experience and career opportunities to 135 graduate and undergraduate nursing students. Participating students achieved a 100 percent certification rate and a 92 percent placement rate at Mass General Brigham hospitals.
In 2021, Robert J. and Donna Manning donated $50 million to increase access and opportunity across the five-campus university system. The gift – $15 million of which was directed to the UMass Boston School of Nursing – is the largest of any kind in the university’s history.
This significant expansion of the Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing program was inspired by the Mannings’ gift. The Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences is the fastest-growing college at UMass Boston and offers the only four-year public programs in nursing and exercise and health sciences in the Greater Boston area.