What is your current job title and responsibilities?
Associate Professor (tenured), College of Nursing, Graduate Department
Coordinate: MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) Leadership and Management track
Executive DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) track
Vice Chair: CON Faculty Assembly and Leadership Council
Chair: CON Bylaws Committee
CON Instructor/Lecturer Promotion Committee
Member: UCF Graduate College Curriculum Committee
CON MSN and DNP Curriculum Committee
CON Strategic Planning Council
CON AESP Review Committee
CON P & T Review Committee
CON Associate Dean Search Committee
PhD/DNP/HIM: Currently Chair a total of 4 Committees (3 DNP; 1 HIM) and serve on an additional 2 committees (1 PhD, 1 DNP)
In addition to my teaching, scholarship and service responsibilities within the university, I am Secretary and Bylaws chair of CGEAN, the national organization representing faculty in nursing leadership education and research; an onsite evaluator for CCNE, the accrediting body for colleges of nursing; a member of the Florida Organization of Nurse Executives Research Committee; a member of the Research Advisory Committee for the Florida Center for Nursing; and Treasurer of the Theta Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the national honor society for nursing.
What is your history at UCF and before UCF?
I completed my PhD in Public Affairs (COHPA) in 2006 and joined the College of Nursing as an adjunct instructor in the fall of 2006. I joined the CON faculty in a tenure-earning faculty role in the spring of 2007 and received tenure in 2013. Shortly after joining the CON in a tenure-earning role, I was given the responsibility for coordinating the MSN Nursing Leadership and Management track. It has grown from a semester by semester enrollment of approximately 20 students to over 100. In 2010 I was tasked to develop a new post MSN DNP fully online track for nurse leaders. This doctoral program had been previously approved and implemented in the CON for advanced practice nurses. Few DNP programs nationally offered stand-alone DNP education for nurse leaders, and even fewer were available online. The program I developed admitted its first cohort in 2012 and maintains an average annual enrollment of 20 doctoral students. The majority of admitted students are in senior level organization and systems leadership positions. Prior to beginning my doctoral studies I was active as a community volunteer while raising my family. I remain so today.
What is your academic background?
2006 Ph.D. University of Central Florida
1981 MS University of Illinois at the Medical Center
1976 BSN University of Iowa
What is your favorite UCF memory?
The experience of hooding of my doctoral students.
If you could change one thing at UCF, what would it be?
Retrospectively for the Medical City to have been built with all the associated health care specialties included from day one. Inter-professional collaboration is difficult to teach when student and faculty interaction is challenged by campus separation. As a College, Nursing has been in temporary space since its inception in 2007. We are neither part of the main campus or the Lake Nona campus. So, if I could change one thing today, it would be to make building a true home for the CON in Lake Nona a priority. We need classroom, laboratory and office space designed to meet the needs of our students, faculty, staff and collaborative partners.
What is one piece of advice you would like to share with your colleagues?
Be deliberate in taking the time for one’s self and time to be collegial. I know with all of the responsibilities we have for teaching, scholarship and service, it is a challenge to find self-directed time. I am not saying I am good at following my own advice, but do know that if I don’t think about it, it won’t happen. In addition, our university is rich in talent and diverse in the life interests and experiences of fellow faculty and staff members. Find time to explore new relationships within your college and across the university.
If UCF was going to name something in your honor, what would you like it to be and why?
An endowed professorship in the College of Nursing for Systems Leadership and Innovation. I am passionate about the importance of academically prepared nurse leaders. Excellence in clinical outcomes for those entrusted in our care requires excellence in clinical leadership, excellence in operational and structural leadership and excellence in seeking innovative solutions to present and future challenges.
If you could have lunch with anyone at UCF (who you do not normally eat lunch with), who would you choose and why?
A curious question, requiring a lot of thought. The reason is that it has never occurred to me that if I did want to meet with someone at any level in the university (maybe not over lunch) that it would ever be refused. UCF has always been such an open community. I have always considered Dr. Hitt’s door on down open to me if I wished to make an appointment. So, now, under that preamble, I think Dr. Elizabeth Klonoff. Why, because she is new to UCF. I would love to learn more about her vision and plan as she undertakes her new role. Of course this is important to me in terms of my faculty role. Probably as informative to me would be her insights about role transition at this level as it is informative to my research interests.
Who at UCF would you like to thank for your success?
I have so many friends and colleagues who supported me along the way. Dr. Thomas Wan was my PhD Program Chair and Dissertation Chair. Once I became faculty within the College of Nursing I was surrounded by colleagues who guided me along the way. Dr. Mary Lou Sole was my colleague long before she was my Dean. Her office was, conveniently for me, located next to mine until she moved to the Dean’s suite. She was always available to offer advice and direction, and continues to do so today. If I need to account for a singular influence, it is that of my friend and colleague, Dr. Jacqueline Byers. Jacquie’s bright light was extinguished far too soon. She was a professional treasure and a force within the College and UCF. She recruited me to join the faculty and as her health declined, shared with me her insights and knowledge. I will be forever grateful that she took me under her wing.
Name and describe a teacher or researcher from your past who truly inspired you and why.
Dr. Barbara Stevens Barnum. I completed my master’s degree at the University of Illinois. Dr. Barnum was Director of the Graduate Administration track in the College of Nursing. She left that position just prior to final completion of my thesis to become Professor of Nursing at Columbia School of Nursing and Director of the Division of Health Services, Sciences and Education at Teachers College. Dr. Barnum taught evidence-based practice long before the term became part of our professional lexicon. She taught me to always have the evidence/data to support any statement and to do so systematically and logically. I remember a very long day in her office when she took the time to tell me why my paper, while affirming well researched, was poorly presented and supported. She must have taken two hours that day. It forever changed me in many ways. At the time, Dr. Barnum taught me how to effectively write in a scholarly manner. More profoundly, Dr. Barnum’s time with me that day taught me the importance of presence. She chose to be present with me as an educator and shared with me strategies to make me successful. I do my best to follow her example today.
What undergraduate or graduate class/program/experience inspired you the most and why?
I had just begun my doctoral program in the UCF PhD Program in Public Affairs when we as a nation were confronted with the many realities of 9/11. Our cohort represented multiple professional specialties (nursing, health administration, social work, criminology, public administration). We were all in shock, as was the nation. Planning and training for crisis and large casualty events was something you did. On that day it was an exercise that became real for all of us. I was so inspired by the resolve to ensure that our community was prepared. We discussed this topic multiple times through-out the course of my studies. In retrospect, when I consider the community’s response to the devastation of hurricanes, tornados, and the horror of the Pulse Nightclub shootings, I am confident that it was a promise kept.
What is your favorite restaurant or food?
It is hard to have to have a favorite as Central Florida has become home to an incredibly rich and diverse restaurant community. When I first moved to Orlando over 30 years ago, a national pizza chain was featured on the cover of the local magazine as the “Restaurant of the Year.” Since then the community has been blessed with an influx of talent and culture that offers an array of food and beverage options.
What is your favorite movie, book or music?
Reading for pleasure is one of my favorite past-times, so I have to say which ever book is at the top of the stack next to my bed.
What is your favorite vacation destination?
New Mexico. The state is rich in culture and tradition, but what makes it special for me is a small condo we keep in the northern mountain community of Angel Fire. When I am there, I am truly away, able to relax and take each day as it comes.
By UCF Center of Success for Women Faculty
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