The John A. Hartford Foundation is soliciting grant applications for the creation of up to
five new Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence.

Purpose: Nurses play a central role in caring for older adults, yet not only is there a shortage
of nurses in the United States, but even fewer nurses have specialized skills in geriatrics. The goal of this new initiative is to increase the number of high quality geriatric nursing faculty in order to ultimately prepare all nurses to care for our nation’s rapidly increasing aging population. This will be accomplished by supporting Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at schools of nursing whose central mission is preparing qualified geriatric master’s or doctorally trained nursing educators who will teach at all levels of academic nursing programs.

Funding Level: Up to five new Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence will each receive $1
million over a five-year grant period.

Required Match: To be considered, applications must demonstrate a 50% match ($500,000 over
five years) to the award which may be obtained from any combination of other funding sources
(e.g., the school of nursing, regional foundations, health systems) in order to inspire new
partnerships and contribute to the long-term viability of the center. Selected institutions would
be required to submit a plan for sustainability beyond the award.

Eligible Organizations: College or university-based nursing programs in the United States
designed to prepare trainees to become expert faculty in geriatric nursing.

Eligibility to serve as a Center Director: Nurse faculty with the skills, knowledge, and resources
necessary to carry out the proposed activities are invited to work with their institution to develop
an application for support.

Online Submission of Letter of Intent: December 4, 2006
Invitations for Full Proposal will be sent to Select Institutions: December 14, 2006
Full Proposals Due: March 30, 2007
Site Visits to Select Institutions: April through June 2007
Full Proposal and Site Visit Review: July 2007
John A. Hartford Foundation Trustee Review: December 8, 2007
Notification Date: December 11, 2007
Anticipated Start: January 1, 2008

Nurses play a critical role in caring for ill and/or frail older adults, as well as in promoting healthy
aging. Yet, in addition to a general shortage of nurses in the United States, even fewer nurses
have specialized skills in aging. Of the 2.56 million registered nurses in the United States, fewer
than 15,000 are certified gerontological nurses. And of the 111,000 advanced practice nurses,
only 3,500 are gerontological nurse practitioners or clinical specialists.

The dearth of qualified nursing faculty is a major barrier in addressing the nursing shortage.
Compounding this is an extremely limited supply of faculty expert in geriatric nursing to prepare
future nurses to care for older adults. The existing nursing faculty workforce is itself aging, eroding
the pool of candidates to replace those that retire, with the mean age of associate and assistant
professors at 52.1 and 48.5 years of age, respectively.

Without intervention, generalist nurses will not receive adequate basic training in geriatric care
and the number of gerontological nurses will be inadequate to care for the growing number of
older patients. Therefore, the purpose of these Centers is to markedly increase the number and
quality of nursing faculty prepared in geriatric nursing.

Ongoing Initiatives of the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Initiative (HGNI)

Launched in 1996, the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Initiative is confronting the challenges
associated with an aging population through an array of programs. With a $60 million investment
to date from the Hartford Foundation, the HGNI is preparing professional nurses to play leadership
roles in improving the health of older adults.

In partnership with the nation’s nursing schools and a variety of health care organizations and
systems, this dynamic, national initiative works in five areas:

• Shaping nursing practice to best meet the health care needs of older adults;
• Enhancing professional education to ensure all nurses are prepared to treat older adults;
• Promoting research needed to guide the care and promote the health of older adults;
• Developing leadership in academic and professional settings; and
• Demonstrating nursing’s commitment to enacting public policy that improves older Americans‘
  health care.

The work of the HGNI (www.HGNI.org) is accomplished through a number of projects
administered by the following national centers:

• The John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College
  of Nursing www.hartfordign.org
• The American Academy of Nursing: Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity
  www.geriatricnursing.org
• The five Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence
  
  Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing
  Director: Heather Young, PhD, GNP, FAAN: 2005-2011
  http://www.ohsu.edu/hartfordcgne/
  
  University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Nursing
  Director: Claudia Beverly, PhD, RN, FAAN: 2000-2011
  http://hartfordcenter.uams.edu/
  
  University of California San Francisco School of Nursing
  Director: Margaret Wallhagen, PhD, GNP, CS: 2006-2011
  http://nurseweb.ucsf.edu/www/hcgne.htm
  
  University of Iowa College of Nursing
  Director: Kathleen Buckwalter, PhD, RN, FAAN: 2006-2011
  http://www.nursing.uiowa.edu/hartford/index.htm
  
  University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
  Director: Neville Strumpf, PhD, RN, FAAN: 2000-2011
  http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/centers/hcgne/
  
  
• The American Association of Colleges of Nursing: Geriatric Nursing Education Project
  www.aacn.nche.edu/education/Hartford/index.htm

The chart below summarizes currently funded HGNI programs.

This new cohort of Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence will become part of the
Hartford Geriatric Nursing Initiative and will participate in an annual Leadership Conference and
other ongoing activities.

The John A. Hartford Foundation now seeks to support a broad range of academic institutions
and nurses by funding a second cohort of Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence. The main
goal of this new Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence Initiative will be to support the
development of Centers that focus on preparing expert geriatric nursing faculty. This
strategy is aimed to support the development of a large and diverse group of faculty, who, in
turn, will be competent to prepare the next generation of nurses to provide care for our rapidly
increasing aging population.

The Foundation invites colleges and schools of nursing to design the next generation of centers
focused on the preparation of expert geriatric nursing faculty. Institutions are challenged to define
and build upon their unique strengths to produce much needed geriatrics-expert faculty. The
approach here is intentionally not proscriptive, but aims to inspire creative, strategic thinking in
schools that are strongly committed to the field of geriatric nursing, including, but not limited to,
research-intensive schools or doctoral programs. Out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged, such
as virtual centers, consortia or academic partnerships with community colleges, the retraining of
existing faculty, or Web-based distance learning programs to reach underserved and rural areas.
The Hartford Foundation is interested in receiving applications from as many schools as possible
and ultimately wishes to fund a geographically diverse set of institutions across the United States.

A successful Center will focus on preparing expert geriatric nursing faculty committed to longterm
careers in teaching. It will build upon existing strengths to create or strengthen programs in
geriatric nursing within master’s and doctoral level programs, with the specific goal of preparing
expert geriatric nursing faculty. The vision is that all schools of nursing will have on faculty nurses
who are experts in geriatric nursing.

It is expected that Center funding will allow for new or expanded activities designed to prepare
geriatric nursing faculty. Funding existing geriatric nursing programs without demonstrating
an increase in faculty production beyond what currently exists will not be considered
adequate for a Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence application.

Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of health care
training, research and service system innovations that will ensure the well-being and vitality of
older adults. Its overall goal is to increase the nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable
care to its rapidly increasing older population. Today, the Foundation is America’s leading
philanthropy with a sustained interest in aging and health.

Through its grantmaking, the John A. Hartford Foundation seeks specifically to:

• Enhance and expand the training of doctors, nurses, social workers and other health
  professionals who care for elders, and
• Promote innovations in the integration and delivery of services for all older people.

Funding of the new Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence will be part of the Hartford Geriatric
Nursing Initiative. To date, the Foundation has invested over $60 million to strengthen geriatric
nursing.

Funds Available
Invited applicants may request up to $1 million in direct and indirect costs over five years, or
$200,000 in total for each of the five years. The total grant amount includes the 10% indirect
costs permitted by the Foundation.

Eligible Institutions

You may submit an application if your college or school of nursing has all of the following
characteristics:

• Is a public or private institution, and
• Is part of a college or university, and
• Is located within the United States.

Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply.

Eligible Individuals
Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the activities
proposed is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support.

Match Requirement
A 50% match (or $500,000 over five years) is required. Matching funds can be obtained from the
applying institution, local or national foundations, community-based agencies, health systems, etc.
This criteria is intended to serve as a catalyst for creative partnerships and to contribute to the longterm
sustainability of the Center. Evidence of matching funds and a plan for sustainability is required
at the time of the grant application. Indirects will not be considered as a contribution to the match.

There are two stages in the competitive application process:

(1) Completion of an online Letter of Intent form with a brief proposal (see guidelines below) due on December 4, 2006, and
(2) If invited, submission of a full proposal and budget reflecting the required match.

The Hartford Foundation will not provide individual critiques of submitted proposals.

Letter of Intent Submission Information
Further instructions for submitting the online Letter of Intent form can be found at
www.jhartfound.org/cgne_cfp. Prospective applicants will be asked to provide specific information
on a Web-based form and a 1,500 word narrative that outlines an overview of the proposal.
Required information follows:

• Name of applying institution
• Name, address, phone number and e-mail address of the proposed Center Director
• Matching Funds
• A brief summary of the proposed Center which includes:
  • Who will direct the Center and what are the director’s credentials?
  • Who will be faculty in the Center?
  • What level geriatric nursing faculty will the school be preparing (e.g., master’s, doctoral)?
  • What are the measurable goals and objectives of the Center?
  • How will the applicant build upon existing programs to increase the number and quality
    of faculty in geriatric nursing?
  • What is innovative about the proposed Center?
  • How will the Center sustain activities post-Hartford funding?

The Letters of Intent are due December 4, 2006, and will be accepted only online.

For those sites invited, a full proposal no longer than 20 pages will be due to the Foundation in
hard copy by March 30, 2007. All proposals should explicitly detail measurable goals and outcomes
for the grant period (use estimates if necessary). Proposals should be single-sided, paginated, and
double-spaced in 12-point Arial font.

Application Format:

Table of Contents
Executive Summary (1 page)
Project Description (19 pages)

• Demographic Need
  • Numerically detail the need for this Center in your area at this time
• Background
  • Previous accomplishments in preparing geriatric nursing faculty
  • Existing programs and activities that support the proposed activities
  • Faculty in geriatric nursing who will be involved in the Center
• Goals and objectives of the proposed Center
  • Use measurable goals and objectives to produce geriatric nursing faculty
  • Detail how this builds upon existing programs to increase preparation of faculty in aging
• Methods for meeting the objectives
  • What will be done?
  • Who will do it?
  • Where will it be done?
  • How will it be done?
  • How will you know it has been effective?
• Organizational Needs Assessment
  • Identify key areas of strength within your institution which will support the preparation
    of nursing faculty in geriatrics (e.g.,existing track record in preparing nurses for work
    with the elderly)
  • Specify barriers which may hinder progress towards this goal (e.g., lack of interest from
    institutional leadership)
  • Offer specific opportunities for advancing faculty preparation based on the strengths
    above and potential strategies for leverage
  • Identify possible threats to your short- and long-term success in growing the number
    and quality of academic geriatrics nursing faculty, as well as potential strategies for
    overcoming them
• Evaluation
  • Enumerate benchmarks that will be used to ensure progress is made towards goals
  • Outline plans for the ongoing assessment of your Center
• Sustainability
  • Include match information describing new partnerships
  • Provide evidence of current and future resources
• Administration
  • Provide an organizational chart depicting the components of the proposed Center
    as well as where the Center rests within the parent institution
  • Project Management
  • Budget (with match)
• Letters of support from Institution
  • Including a letter from the Dean or Director of the Institution, specifically detailing
    their support
• CVs of principal investigator and key personnel
• Submission of Academic Catalog

If invited, three copies of the unbound full proposal should be mailed to:

The John A. Hartford Foundation
c/o Rachael Watman, Program Officer
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022

Submission Dates and Times
Completion of Electronic Letter of Intent: December 4, 2006
Submission of Invited Full Proposals: March 30, 2007

Online submission of Letter of Intent: December 4, 2006
Invitations for Full Proposal will be sent to Select Institutions: December 14, 2006
Full Proposals Due: March 30, 2007
Site Visits to Select Institutions: April through June 2007
Full Proposal and Site Visit Review: July 2007
John A. Hartford Foundation Trustee Review: December 2007
Anticipated Start: January 1, 2008

Full proposals must be received on or before March 30, 2007. If an application is received after
that date, it will not be reviewed. Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness
and format by the staff at the Foundation. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Criteria

The following criteria will be considered in making funding decisions:

• Likelihood that the Center will be successful in preparing larger numbers of expert faculty
  committed to long-term careers in geriatric nursing (e.g., past success in this area, nature of the
  curricula and program material)
• Innovation in the design and methods used to meet the clearly quantifiable objectives
• Strength of the school and faculty in relation to preparation of expert educators in geriatric
  nursing
• Adequacy of the resources and environment to support program goals
• Ability to articulate strengths, weaknesses and ability to overcome barriers
• Potential for sustainability of the program beyond this grant funding
• The management plan, including the management structure, plan for use of fiscal resources,
  organization and coordination of personnel
• Appropriateness of the budget in relation to the proposed activities
• Creative partnerships contributing to the required match

Review and Selection Process

Members of the National Advisory Committee and Hartford staff will screen the Letters of Intent
and select those to submit full proposals.

The Advisory Committee and Foundation staff will review the full proposals. Afterward, projects
under consideration will receive a site visit with a consultant and Foundation staff.

Six-month progress and expenditure reports will be submitted to the Foundation. Foundation staff
will conduct annual site visits to monitor progress. An external consultant will be retained in the
first and final year of the project to offer expert guidance.

Inquiries concerning this funding opportunity should be addressed to:

Rachael Watman, Program Officer
rachael.watman@jhartfound.org

A formal announcement of this opportunity will be made at the Fall Semi-annual Meeting of the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing during the awards ceremony at 6:15 pm on Sunday,
October 29, 2006 at The Fairmont Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. Details of the meeting
can be found at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/confsche.htm.

Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.jhartfound.org/cgne_faq

Nursing Outlook:
A recent special issue of Nursing Outlook devoted to the current CGNEs.
http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ymno/issues/contents

CGNE Action Brief:
As part of the Hartford Foundation’s 75th anniversary annual report, a synopsis of
our CGNE program.
http://www.jhartfound.org/IDEAS/academicnursing.