Armstrong State University Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies Donna Brooks, Ph.D., is the recipient of a four-year U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program Grant valued at $5.2 million. The program provides grants to universities who use the funding for scholarships for students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and are enrolled in health professions programs.

“We are very excited to continue to offer the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program to the community,” said Brooks. “The funding is used to attract students from underrepresented minority groups who want to major in health professions. This helps a student complete a degree from start to finish.”

Brooks, along with Armstrong professors and co-investigators Sara Plaspohl, Dr.P.H., and Douglas Masini, Ed.D., designed the grant specifically for eligible students seeking a Master of Public Health or a B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science at the university’s Waters College of Health Professions. Each degree program was awarded $650,000 per year for four years, totaling $5.2 million.

Since 2009, Brooks has secured close to $8 million in similar federal funding. The program is expected to continue seamlessly after Armstrong’s consolidation with Georgia Southern University in 2018. Under the comprehensive university, the Armstrong Campus in Savannah will serve as college headquarters for the health professions academics and degree programs.

The Waters College of Health Professions graduates more undergraduate health professionals than any university in Georgia, offering a range of academic programs that prepare students for careers in nursing, public health, health administration and the allied health professions.

A new $22 million state-of-the-art educational facility, which will house an interprofessional environment that encourages a team-oriented approach to healthcare education, is currently under construction. The 63,000-square-foot building is expected to welcome students in spring 2019.