Samuel Merritt University
Oakland, CA
Samuel Merritt University used its participation in the NCIN program to leverage a grant from the California Wellness Foundation to support students who need financial, academic, and mentorship support in the university’s traditional BSN program.
Grant Years:
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Degrees Conferred:
BSN and MSN
Scholarships Awarded:
75 Scholars:
Round 2: 2009 – 2010
Troy Almeida
Dana Benders
Vanessa Cornejo
Mike Figueroa
Chinazom Iwuoha
Marta Miranda
Afam ogbunwobodo
Mark Tarshis
Julius Wu
Stefanie Wu
Round 3: 2010 – 2011
David Echeverria
Leticia Farris
Anthony Fidel
Nicole Grant
John Le
Natasha Leland
Fred Mannara
Andrew Tarquinio
Andrea Velasquez
Ryan Vistro
Round 4: 2011 – 2012
Ismail Abdi
Marissa Alamillo
Viktoria Barrdahl
Simony Fleshman
Kelly Lyon
Onyemaechi Okoronkwo
Morgan Oliveira
Johana Padilla
Micki Stewart
Taylor Tanquary
Christel Teesy
Brittany Terrell
Minh Vu
Gregory Woods
Cebastien Zrphyr
Round 5: 2012 – 2013
Christiana Adimora
Araceli Arias
Serenity Cummings
Andrea Flowers
Abraham Jimenez
Natalie Luque
Holly Vinatieri
Scott White
Round 6: 2013 – 2014
Ronald Bayani
Gabriel Calvo
Carmen Craven
Jaberpreet Dhaliwal
Leticia James
Shante Myers
Karla Plascencia
Rene' Reyna-Tobar
Sara Zaia
Round 7: 2014 – 2015
Clifford Alexander
Sarah Chavez
Daryl Cheung
Camila Curtis-Contreras
David Gray
Osmary Hernandez
Vanessa Herrera
Michael Jung
Karina Kim
Danny Le
Eva Lee
Adrian Montano
Roya Rajabzadeh
Esteban Rodriguez
Lai Saechao
James Sandoval
Kristin Taniguchi
Carter Todd
Briana Williams
Helen Woldai
The school of nursing enhanced its peer mentoring work by hiring as tutors NCIN alumni who had passed the NCLEX exam. Many of them were having difficulty finding RN positions in a tight job market, and this effort provided them university jobs, as well as the opportunity to stay connected. The alumni also served as role models for those they tutored. Taking on these new roles helped increase the tutors’ confidence, and because they were employed by the university and working to pass on their nursing knowledge, they were more competitive candidates for jobs. Many are now getting jobs as nurses.
