Meet the Projects Strengthening Oregon's Nurse Faculty
Ten Locally-Led Solutions. One Shared Goal.
Through the RENEW initiative, the Oregon Center for Nursing made $3 million in grant funding available to eligible public nursing education programs. Just over $2.6 million was awarded in grants to ten public nursing education programs across the state. Each project was designed and led locally to strengthen nurse educator recruitment and retention—from piloting mentorship programs to reimagining workload models.
These ten efforts reflect Oregon’s diverse needs, geographies, and institutional strengths, but they share a commitment to building a more sustainable future for nurse education. Explore each project below to learn what’s happening, where, and how much funding is supporting the work.
Awarded programs will share results and lessons learned, contributing to statewide insights and long-term system strengthening.
Increasing Recruitment and Retention of Nursing Faculty
Implement a multi-component plan (teaching readiness, structured orientation/mentorship, community building, professional development, workload optimization, and outreach) to attract and retain new faculty amid high turnover and cost pressures.
Location: Bend, OR
Award Amount: $351,571
Reframing Recruiting and Retention for New Nursing Faculty: Nursing Educator Supported Transitions
Build a faculty pipeline via a support program for BSN-to-teaching/MSN advancement, enhanced recruitment tactics, and healthcare partner collaboration to sustain staffing growth.
Location: Salem, OR
Award Amount: $277,273
SUSTAIN-Nurse: Strengthening Understanding, Support, Training, & Advancement for Institutional Nurse Educators
Pilot workload-sharing, structured mentorship/onboarding, and embedded instructional development modules to reduce burnout and improve faculty retention.
Location: Oregon City, OR
Award Amount: $164,721
Workload Optimization: Reducing Faculty Overload
Add a bachelor’s-prepared RN to support simulation/skills labs and community clinical outreach, relieving hundreds of overload hours so faculty can focus on teaching.
Location: Astoria, OR
Award Amount: $110,000
Advancing Faculty Retention with Targeted Simulation Training and Infrastructure
Invest in simulation training, release time, and technical/technology supports to reduce workload, build simulation teaching capacity, and curb faculty burnout.
Location: The Dalles, OR
Award Amount: $92,547
Cultivating Connectedness for Faculty Retention through Intentional Team Building
Use team-building and wellness retreats to strengthen interpersonal bonds, morale, and a supportive culture that improves faculty retention.
Location: Lebanon, OR
Award Amount: $17,226
Transforming Faculty Development: The Power of the 3 Rs - Recruitment, Role Transition, and Resources
Statewide effort combining tailored recruitment strategies, a nurse faculty residency, mentoring, resource toolkits, and workload optimization to improve faculty recruitment and retention across campuses.
Location: Portland, OR and regional campuses in Ashland, Monmouth, Klamath Falls, and La Grande.
Award Amount: $751,819
Bridging Practice and Education: Clinical Faculty Retention Initiative
Create comprehensive onboarding, role-specific training, and mentorship structures to better integrate and retain part-time clinical faculty transitioning from practice into teaching.
Location: Grants Pass, OR
Award Amount: $270,181
Enhancing TVCC Nursing Program Through Strategic Recruiting and Faculty Support
Hire a full-time Recruiting Specialist to build healthcare partnerships, bridge-to-teaching pathways, and mentor supports that strengthen rural faculty recruitment and retention.
Location: Ontario, OR
Award Amount: $310,292
RENEW Grant: Student Support & Retention Coordinator
Establish a dedicated coordinator to take on non-academic student advising/mentorship tasks now overloading faculty, improving workload, satisfaction, and student and faculty retention.
Location: Roseburg, OR
Award Amount: $280,600
Learning Together, Elevating Impact
RENEW is more than a grant program—it’s a collaborative strategy to reshape the future of Oregon’s nursing education system. As these ten projects progress, their outcomes will generate practical insights, tested ideas, and scalable models for improving nurse educator retention.
Project teams will report on challenges, strategies, and results—building a shared knowledge base to inform future investments, institutional change, and policy development.
Stay tuned as we publish findings through webinars, write-ups, and Workforce Insights.