Scholarship Day

College of Nursing & Health Sciences scholarship awards 2025

Highest GPA

Undergraduate

BSN Traditional

• Jordan Lee Soufy
• Chelsea Martinez

RN-BS

• Jill Jennifer Wyman
• Jasmine Dupras
• Alyssa Quaintance

Graduate

MSN

• Allison Cotter

DNP

• Jill DeSa
• Rachel Carey

PhD

• Danielle DeGonge
• Emily Crossen

Poster winners

Undergraduate

1st place: Caeleigh Aubin, Hannah Caouette, Candice Darteh, "Biometric Technology Use to Reduce Identification Errors in Hospitalized Acute Care Settings"

2nd place: Jordan Soufy, Riley Tavares, Madison Razzino, "Eat, Sleep, Console: A Gentle Approach to Shorter Hospital Stays"

3rd place: Naomi Staples, Jiyoon Lee, Riley Rushton, Camden Faria, "Comparative Analysis of Early Ambulation with and without Pharmacologic Prophylaxis on the incidence of VTE in Postoperative Hip Surgery Patients"

Graduate

1st place: Nick DiGiovine, "Assault against nurses: Development of the Theory of Respect in Interpersonal Relations"

2nd place: YeoJeong Nam, "English Language Acculturation and Health Literacy Influences Self-Care Confidence in People with Heart Failure"

3rd place: Joann M. Condon, "A Transformative Theory for End-of-Life Education"

PhD students achieving candidacy

• Aaron Gendreau-Visco
• Ann Brum
• Michelle Pinto
• Michelle Schuster
• Nick DiGiovine
• YeoJeong Nam

Awards

Award for Distinguished Service: The student has made significant service contributions to the
college, sustained in one area or in multiple areas. Students must have demonstrated examples of
outstanding service to others and outstanding service within the University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth community.

• Mitch Messina
• Aaron Gendreau-Visco

Award for Student Leadership: Through their leadership skills and initiative, the student has
made a significant impact on the college. Award recipients are selected based on breadth and
depth of involvement and leadership in co-curricular activities, including membership and
leadership of university-sponsored student organizations, leadership in an employment role on
campus, involvement in professional, academic, and leadership experiences, and the overall
impact on campus life and learning for peers.

• Martin Dafov
• Natalie Porta 

Nursing Scholarship Day 2025 Brochure (PDF)

College of Nursing & Health Sciences scholarship awards 2024

Highest GPA

Undergraduate

BSN Traditional

• Maya Olivia Desmond
• Kayla McLaughlin 

RN-ABSN

• Amanda Towne

RN-BSN (Online)

• Sara Ann Fusaro
• Jocelyn Rivas

Graduate

MSN

• Stephanie Anne Gouldrup
• Kerri Anne Parsons
• Heather Marie Piekarz

DNP

• Jessica Ashley Leavitt
• Kathryn Stiff

PhD

• Karen Hunt

Poster winners 

Undergraduate category

1st place: Danielle Jones, "Using culturally relevant foods to combat food insecurity in the Hispanic community"

2nd place: Jocelyn Gagon, Juliana Galhardo, Kaitlyn Greenwell: "How do non-pharmacological interventions alleviate pain during needlesticks in the pediatric population?"

2nd place: Paige Bernier, Amanda Little, Abby Soares: "Personal protective equipment use by registered nurses in Southeastern Masschusetts"

3rd place: Chloe Naff, "Incentivizing Hepatitis, HIV, and STI screenings for a population receiving medications for opioid use disorder"

Graduate category

1st place: Michelle Pinto, "Simulation in mental health nursing education: A scoping review"

2nd place: Nicholas DiGiovine, "Interpersonal violence: A Concept Analysis of Nurse Assault"

3rd place: Yeo Jeong Nam, "A spirituality theory of heart failure self-care: Synthesizing situation-specific theory of heart failure self-care and self-transcendence theory"

PhD students achieving candidacy

• Nancy Ferreira Brown
• Emily Crosse
• Danielle Degonge
• Kerry Richardson

PhD students graduating

• Ouida Dowd
• Jillian Hatch
• Karen Hunt

Nursing Scholarship Day 2024 Brochure (PDF)

A Virtual Celebration of Student Scholarship on April 25, 2022

The College of Nursing & Health Sciences Scholarship Day is being held virtually on this web page.

You can view videos of the Chancellor's Welcome, a Message from Dean Kimberly Christopher, and student presentations here.

We are excited to present our students' research projects and celebrate their achievements.

Highest GPA’s

PhD

• Destiny Brady

DNP

• Hannah Barth

MS

• Elizabeth Bennett
• Kristina Hone
• Jessica Peckham
• Michelle Leger

Traditional Undergraduate

• Rebecca Dawicki
• Tessa Irving

ABS

• Celine Burns

RN-BS

• Amber Fitzgerald
• Kaitlyn Merriam
• Megan Chapman
• Angelina Howe

PhD Students who have Achieved Candidacy

• Fatima Alzyoud, RN
• Gerri-Lyn Boyden, RN
• Joyce Cadorette, RN
• Jillian Hatch, RN
• Karen Hunt, RN
• Rhonda Tierney, RN
• Michelle Whyte, RN

2022 Scholarship Day Brochure (PDF)

View research poster video presentations

We are proud to present our students' research poster video presentations on a range of topics in health care and nursing practice.

See research poster video presentations on YouTube.

College of Nursing & Health Sciences Nursing Scholarship Awards

2020-2021 Academic Year

Congratulations to all of the students in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences who were named scholarship recipients as part of our virtual Scholarship Day Celebration.

Highest GPAs of graduates in each program

PhD: Christine Bell

DNP: Jillian McMahon

MS:

• Mary Elizabeth Fountaine
• Kherri-Lynn Donnelly
• Brittany Lynn Medeiros
• Claire Ann Elizabeth Scaramella
• Kelley Ann Sears
• Jennifer Lyn Kelly

RN-BS: Rebekah Sylvia

BS: Amber DiBona

Scholarship Day Program 2021 (PDF)

All posters must be 36” x 48”. Presenters should provide their own trifold display board and clips.

The following site offers a template to assist you in preparing your own poster, as well as a service for purchasing a professionally prepared poster at a reasonable cost: 
https://www.lib.umassd.edu/photographics/postertemplate.

• Poster evaluation tool (PDF)
• Poster as an educational tool (PDF)
• Poster how-to guide (PDF)
• Creating effective poster presentations