Dr. Paula Meek, professor and senior associate dean for research and scholarship at UNM’s College of Nuring, sees the PhD program as a necessity to the College not only for research, but to also bring more faculty members aboard at the CON.

“You hear a lot about the nursing shortage, but one of the biggest deficits on the academic side is the shortage in nurse faculty,” says Meek. “We want to expand our academic programs so we can bring in more nursing students, but we cannot support the increase in students without hiring more professors with PhDs.”