The Michele August-Brady Memorial Fund

The Fab MAB Pass-It-On Award 

Cash Award:

$1200

In Memorium:

Michele M. August-Brady, PhD, RN was an associate professor at Moravian University, where she was a vibrant member of the faculty since the fall of 2000. She was one of the first former St. Luke’s School of Nursing diploma program faculty members to make the transition to Moravian University. In the nursing program’s earliest days, she served as the Program Coordinator; as such, she had a substantial role in developing the fledgling curriculum that later served as a model for integrating professional curricular learning objectives within the context of a liberal arts education. After stepping down as Nursing Program Coordinator in 2003, Michele continued to ably serve in a leadership capacity both within the department and the greater college community. In particular, Michele served as chairperson of the LinC committee, interim chairperson for CAT, was an active member of APC, ASC, the former College Assessment Committee (now CASL), and the former Continuing and Graduate Studies Council (now the Comenius Council), to name a few.

Prior to joining the ranks of academics, Michele worked for many years as a critical care nurse and a nursing supervisor. She was recognized and respected for leveraging that “real-world” experience into her pedagogy. She was a subject matter expert in critical care and medical/surgical nursing, as well as in principles of leadership and in research design. She taught across all of the nursing curricula, including the traditional undergraduate program, the degree completion program for registered nurses (e.g., the RN-to-BSN program), and the master’s program. At the undergraduate level, she taught first-year students and second semester seniors, alike. Her ability to connect with students, keep them engaged and excited to learn, and to challenge them without overwhelming them, was remarkable. She was the only nursing faculty member to receive the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (in 2012), and received the Nursing Department Daisy Award for Excellence in Teaching in both 2011 and 2014.

Michele received her doctor of philosophy from Widener University, her master’s of science in nursing from DeSales University, her bachelor’s of science in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and her diploma in nursing from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She was passionate about disseminating methods of best teaching/pedagogical practices and about improving nursing care in underdeveloped parts of the globe. As such, these areas were the foci of her scholarship. She traveled to Honduras, Mozambique, and Croatia, lecturing and consulting with nurse colleagues and other health care providers in these nations. She published articles about these experiences, as well as articles that revolved around teaching and learning relationships in journals that included the Journal of Nursing Education, Journal of Professional Nursing, Nursing Forum, and Journal of Advanced Nursing. She was invited to contribute a chapter to the textbook Nursing Education: Foundations for Practice Excellence, which received an American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award. She was a proud and active member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and was invited to present papers and posters at several Sigma Theta Tau International conferences.

Overview:

This service outreach award will be given annually to fund a project that is aimed at diminishing health disparities among at-risk individuals or populations, living within the local Lehigh Valley community, the United States, or a developing nation. Funds may be used to defray costs of travel or resources incurred by either a student (e.g., could be in the form of a scholarship) or faculty member (e.g., could be used to buy supplies). The aim of this award is not only to diminish health disparities among those “underdogs” that are at-risk because of health disparities, but to enrich and further the professional viewpoint of those who receive the award. The selection committee will be composed of someone designated by Dr. Michele August-Brady’s immediate family, the Chairperson of the Moravian University Department of Nursing, and one other Department of Nursing Faculty Member, appointed at the discretion of Dr. August-Brady’s family and upon the recommendation of the Department of Nursing Chairperson. Call for proposals will be made annually at the start of the academic year, with the deadline for applications by December 1. Award selection will be made by December 15th, with disbursement of funds available for the following spring semester. Awardees will be recognized by the Department of Nursing on an annual basis during the Celebration of Nursing (i.e., the Pinning Ceremony), held each May.

Criteria for Award:

In order to be a candidate to receive funds, applicants must:

  • Be either a student enrolled in one of the nursing programs, and be in good academic standing according to the Department of Nursing academic progression policy, or be a group that represents a nursing department program, that must include at a minimum one student enrolled in one of the programs and this student must be in good academic standing
  • Submit the following materials to Dr. Dawn Goodolf (goodolfd@moravian.edu) by the designated deadline:
    • Copies of most recent transcripts (for student applicants only; may be unofficial)
    • A proposal for use of funds (no more than 2500 words in total), that identifies the broad aim of the project, the targeted “underdogs,” the timeline, a budget, and a statement how the funds will be used to improve health disparities and foster personal professional growth.
  • Acknowledge that, if selected for the award, the awardee will:
    • Prepare after-action written and oral reports that describe how the funds were used to meet the aim(s) of the project, and how the awardee’s outlook, practice, and/or leadership skillset were changed as a result of the award. The oral report may consist of a presentation to the campus community or the Upsilon Alpha chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, for instance. The written report may consist of developing a formal paper, program brochure, or web page, for instance, that could be shared with future prospective awardees.