SLCC School of Health Sciences Awarded Prestigious Grant for the Study of Holistic Admissions

The Community College was only one of five institutions to receive the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Grant, and the only community college.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action (S4A) recently awarded Salt Lake Community College’s (SLCC) School of Health Sciences nearly $100,000 to study holistic admissions in health science education.

Only five awards were made across the entire nation this year through an S4A Call for Proposals to implement studies rigorously testing innovative approaches of helping medical, social and public health systems work together to dismantle systemic racism and address the health and social needs of people experiencing health inequities.

Holistic admissions help identify potential students who are not only academically strong but who also have important soft skills that are necessary in healthcare, such as responsive bedside manner, cultural competence, and the life experience to commit to a long career serving the communities that they come from.

“We’re thrilled to have been chosen among only a handful of institutions nationwide to study holistic admissions here at Salt Lake Community College’s School of Health Sciences. We hope this high-impact developmental study will advance educational equity and excellence among our students as well as provide findings for other institutions considering a holistic admissions process,” said Robert Pettitt, dean of the School of Heath Sciences, SLCC.

The proposed study has two major aims. The first aim is to test several holistic admission techniques in three of SLCC’s competitive health science programs and develop statistical data on best practices. “This grant will really allow us to expand all aspects of the holistic admissions process in three of our programs, including building out technology to support and expand holistic admissions,” said Cher Knupp, program manager for SLCC’s Health Sciences Admissions & Recruiting.

The second aim of the study is to cross-sectionally evaluate metrics of holistic admissions and intercultural competence on admitted and non-admitted students to the College’s AAS degree in Nursing in comparison with nurses who have been practicing three or more years in the field. “We want to know if there is a difference in how people identify culture and inequities in healthcare from the incoming student perspective and then from those who have been in nursing for a while,” explained Knupp.

“We’re excited about this new cohort of research studies with promising ideas to produce new, actionable evidence on how these sectors can better work together to disrupt forms of systemic racism,” said Systems for Action Deputy Director, Carrington Lott. “This study at SLCC will help build a growing body of evidence for alignment innovations and collaborative, multi-sectoral approaches to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities.”

Media Contact, Salt Lake Community College:

Peta Owens-Liston, peta.liston@slcc.edu, 801-957-5099

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