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GIFT TO LAUNCH NURSING SCHOOL ON NEW TCC CAMPUS
Beazley Foundation’s $1.4 million gift is the largest
in TCC’s history
NORFOLK,
VA – (Aug. 8, 2005) – The largest gift ever made to Tidewater
Community College will help establish the Beazley School of Nursing
on the new Portsmouth Campus, TCC President Deborah M. DiCroce
and Beazley Foundation President Judge Richard S. Bray announced
today. A $1.4 million gift was awarded to the TCC Educational
Foundation by the Beazley Foundation at its July 25 Board of Trustees
meeting.
“The Beazley
Foundation's tremendous gift to TCC - the people's college of
South Hampton Roads - will effectively extend our mutual goals
of public service a thousand fold,” says President DiCroce. “The
foundation's generosity continues its deeply rooted support of
TCC's critical mission, while strategically meeting the pressing
needs of healthcare in our region.”
TCC was
created in 1968 after the Beazley Foundation, based in Portsmouth
, donated the 520 acres where the Portsmouth campus is now located
and made a supporting $1 million gift to the Virginia Community
College System to launch a community college in the Tidewater
area.
TCC has
announced plans to build a new Portsmouth campus in the city's
redeveloping Victory Crossing area. Slated to open in the 2008-09
school year, the $50 million campus will now include The Beazley
School of Nursing, which will be housed in state-of-the-art facilities.
The Beazley Foundation's
$1.4 million gift will enable TCC to evolve its nursing program
into a national benchmark program by:
• Increasing
the number of graduates over the next five years from 48 CNAs
to 80, from 30 LPNs to 60, and from 77 RNs to 150, addressing
a critical shortage projected to worsen in the coming years.
• Developing
a career ladder that allows students to advance from certified
nursing assistant (CNA) to licensed practical nurse (LPN) to
RN with an associate degree in nursing and beyond.
• Integrating
the LPN program at Portsmouth Public Schools, currently conducted
at the Cradock Career & Technology Center , into the TCC
nursing curriculum, while preserving the opportunity for Portsmouth
students to continue in the program.
• Bringing
more state-of-the-art technology, such as human patient simulators
and “smart” classrooms, into the nursing curriculum;
• Adding
full-time faculty members to the program.
• Forging
partnerships with Eastern Virginia Medical School and other
Hampton Roads healthcare providers.
The Beazley
Foundation was established in 1948 with funds provided by Fred
W. Beazley and his family, of Portsmouth . “Education and human
services generally constitute the mission of the Foundation,”
said Judge Bray. “Quality healthcare is essential to our community
and competent, well-trained nursing professionals are indispensable
to satisfy this need. The Foundation's gift will strengthen and
enhance the TCC nursing programs, substantially benefiting the
entire region.”
The total
budget for the nursing school is $6.1 million. TCC's operating
funds will contribute $4.3 million over the next five years, with
the remaining funds provided by other donations.
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Laurie White |
Media Relations |
757-822-1085 |
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Tidewater Community College
is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth
of Virginia, enrolling more than 36,000 students annually. The 37th
largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC
ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges. Founded
in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the
college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake,
Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne
and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district
in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth
and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-four
percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university
in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC. For more information,
visit www.tcc.edu
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