University of the Ozarks alumna Shannon (Carlisle) Huggins ’91 (pictured, left) and her family of Arlington, Texas, have created an endowed scholarship for pre-nursing students to honor the life and legacy of her mother, a long-time surgical and school nurse in Texas.
The Janeice Carlisle Pre-Nursing Scholarship was established with a $20,000 gift from the Huggins family. The University recently joined into a new academic partnership with the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith’s Carolyn McKelvey Moore School of Nursing for students interested in careers in nursing. Under the 2+2 articulation agreement, students complete the first two years of study at U of O and transfer all credit hours to UAFS for completion of the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN).
The pre-nursing track at Ozarks will begin in the Fall 2025 Semester.
Carlisle (pictured, right) graduated with a nursing degree from Texas Christian University in the early 1960s before embarking on a 30-plus-year career in nursing. In 1963, she married Richard Carlisle while teaching obstetrics in a nursing program in Lubbock, Texas. Carlisle spent numerous years as a surgical nurse and later concluded her career in the early 1990s as a school nurse with the Arlington Independent School District. She died in 2013 at the age of 74 due to the progression of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Huggins, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees who has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare administration, said the pre-nursing scholarship at Ozarks will help fill a void while also honoring her mother’s career in nursing.
“My mother started her career as a surgical nurse back when you saw them do everything,” Huggins said. “They worked in the OR, they did emergency room call, they made rounds with patients and they also worked in the physician’s office. I saw her in all facets of nursing and the dedication she had for the profession and that left a lasting impact on me. We also struggle in this country as far as having enough nurses and being able to support the ones we have. So, when Ozarks was developing this new 2+2 program, it made me think that this would be a good way to support future nurses and to honor my mother’s dedication and commitment to the profession.”
Carlisle was able to graduate from TCU with the assistance of student loans from the Presbyterian Church. Immediately following her graduation, she repaid the loans by spending two years working at a hospital on a Navajo reservation in Ganado, Ariz.
“Knowing that my mother had to take out loans to pay for her education, this endowment is another way that we can help pay that back for someone else,” Huggins said. “Maybe this scholarship can help alleviate some financial issues for some students pursuing a nursing education.”
Huggins, who is senior vice president for the Dallas-based Methodist Health System, said she was excited when she heard U of O was working on the nursing partnership with UAFS.
‘It’s a win for Ozarks and it’s a win for helping fill a nursing shortage,” Huggins said. “I think as far as what the education of the future looks like, we have to think about it differently than it has been in the past. These types of extension programs and partnerships are going to be so much more greatly needed in order to fill a lot of the gaps we have in our current system.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts a nine percent growth in nursing employment from 2020 to 2030, accounting for an estimated increase of 276,800 jobs in the field. The BLS suggests that about one in every eleven new jobs created will be in nursing.
“There are big nursing gaps everywhere, but you especially see it in rural healthcare,” Huggins said. “I think about that when I think about Ozarks. The University is in an ideal spot, both geographically and as an insititute of higher education, to help fill those gaps in healthcare.”
The Janeice Carlisle Pre-Nursing Scholarship will be awarded to those students who show a financial need. The first preference will be students from Johnson County, Arkansas, and the second preference will be students from Arkansas or Texas.
Huggins and her husband, Bryan, have been married for more than 30 years and have two sons, John and Daniel. The family was honored by the University with the Pay it Forward Champions Award in 2023. Shannon served two terms on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, including as president, before joining the University’s Board of Trustees in 2023.
Those interested in more information about the U of O pre-nursing program are encouraged to contact admission@ozarks.edu
Topics: Giving