UT Tyler Student Named Fulbright Scholar

TYLER — A doctoral nursing student at The University of Texas at Tyler, Joan Edwards of Kingwood, has been named a Fulbright Scholar. The Fulbright Award, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, is a career-enhancing scholarship intended to foster international research and collaboration. Established in 1946 through the efforts of U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, the program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries through educational exchanges. It is considered one of the most prestigious award programs worldwide. �The doctoral program at UT Tyler and the knowledge I am acquiring has made a tremendous impact on what I�ll be able to accomplish with the Fulbright Award,� said Edwards.

With the award, Edwards will spend the 2011 � 12 academic year in Indonesia, where she will work with faculty at five colleges of nursing on the island of Java. The project�s objective is to raise baccalaureate nursing education standards to correspond with the 2009 World Health Organization Global Standards for Initial Education of Professional Nurses and Midwives. The project stems from 2010 meetings Edwards and her academic adviser, Dr. Beth Mastel-Smith, had with Indonesian faculty and a representative from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, supported in part by UT Tyler.

�Faculty in Indonesia expressed the desire to improve their curriculum and sought guidance in how to achieve higher standards,� said Mastel-Smith, who was instrumental in assisting Edwards achieve this honor.

Edwards will graduate in 2012 with a Ph.D. in nursing. She is a faculty member at Texas Woman�s University � Houston, where she serves as director of the Center for Global Nursing Scholarship for all three TWU campuses.