The Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at UC Irvine is diversifying the landscape of nursing education by forging connections with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This school’s initiative, funded by a University of California Office of the President (UCOP), aims to recruit underrepresented students and guide them towards PhD degrees in nursing.
E. Alison Holman, the nursing school’s associate dean of academic personnel and director of the UC Irvine-HBCU Summer Research Program in Nursing, was a longtime mentor to disadvantaged students when she helped create the program. “As a Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience (DECADE) mentor, my job was to help facilitate the application and success of underrepresented students in the graduate program,” she explained. “In my last year as DECADE mentor, I learned about a UCOP program designed to build a pipeline for HBCU students. African American nurses are underrepresented as leaders in nursing research.”
This realization spurred Holman and her colleagues to create opportunities for HBCU students, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and support in fostering an atmosphere conducive to encouraging students to pursue advanced nursing degrees. “We provide skills around self-care,” she added, “because PhD programs are notoriously challenging.”
Two cohorts have been recruited into the summer program, which launched in 2023 with five students from institutions like North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT), Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), and North Carolina Central University (NCCU). “We spoke to faculty at all the HBCUs we’re affiliated with,” Holman explained. “It was largely by word of mouth.”
As the program prepares for its next cohort in June 2025, Holman is planning a trip to North Carolina to meet students and faculty in person. The hope is that more students from HBCUs will take the plunge into advanced nursing education, inspired by the mentorship and opportunities provided by the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing.
“The grant gives us money to pay for the transportation of each student, along with housing and a stipend for living in California,” Holman explained. Each student participates in an eight-week intensive research program and benefits from working with four mentors guiding them on their research project. “After the eight weeks they go back to final year of nursing school, and during that final year, we meet with them online more or less monthly, to help give them support and guidance on how to apply to PhD programs.”
Cherish Wylie, a senior nursing student at NCAT, is one of the future nurses who completed the program this summer. She said had always aspired to work in the medical field but found her true calling in nursing after caring for her grandfather. “Seeing the impact that I could have on my family made me realize this was the path for me,” Wylie recalled. “The summer program highlighted where I am supposed to be, and I decided that getting my PhD is something I want to do.”
Wylie said that while she was at first nervous about the program’s intensive approach, she quickly felt supported within the program’s structure, which centers around mentorship. “My mentor organized community health fairs, and we even got to visit Disneyland and the Getty Museum,” she shared, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “It was a perfect blend of hard work and fun.” As she prepares for graduation in May 2025, Wylie said she is eager to continue her education and is already looking towards her PhD aspirations.
Jeremy Davis, a fellow participant from North Carolina Central University, echoed Wylie’s enthusiasm. He said he was intrigued by the research aspects of the program. “I didn’t anticipate the level of involvement I would have in research,” he said. “I formed a small cohort with the other students and developed my project on AI’s application in mental health facilities.”
Davis’s project aimed to explore the use of AI in behavioral health settings, a topic he was passionate about due to his experience as a Certified Nursing Assistant in a state mental hospital in North Carolina. “I wanted to look into how AI could assist in detecting agitation in dementia patients,” he explained. “During my presentation, I emphasized the importance of ensuring AI tools are used ethically and effectively.”His experiences during the program solidified his desire to pursue a PhD. “Being involved in research and seeing the impact it can have, I realized I want to be both a floor nurse and a researcher,” Davis said. “UC Irvine really made us feel valued,” he added. “You can sense they want us there. It’s about building a future where we can all contribute to meaningful change in healthcare.”