State University of New York Downstate Medical Center

The college of nursing takes enormous pride in the diversity of its student body, faculty, and staff and is committed to recruiting and retaining a culturally diverse student population in both its undergraduate and graduate programs. To that end, SUNY integrated a “scholars as mentors” program into its Pre-Orientation Immersion Program. NCIN scholars helped incoming nursing students transition into the accelerated nursing program. SUNY Downstate Medical Center administrators have been key to the success of the program. The college of nursing received “High Needs Program” grant funds from SUNY Central that have supported hiring additional faculty to support program expansion.