The College of Nursing continues to scale faculty experts to meet increasing enrollment and future expanded space at the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion, scheduled to open in Fall 2025.
In addition to welcoming more than 240 future nurses, UCF’s College of Nursing is welcoming 8 new full-time faculty members to the university for Fall 2024 and welcoming back 12 full-time faculty members in new roles.
“We are thrilled to welcome these new experts to the college,” says Dean Mary Lou Sole. “While nursing programs nationwide have faced a faculty shortage, UCF has prioritized faculty recruitment and retention efforts, and preparing future generations of educators.”
PIPELINE funding from the State of Florida has helped the college hire not only additional faculty, but additional staff and resources to support student success.
All are critical as the college prepares for its anticipated move to UCF’s Academic Health Sciences Center next fall. The Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion will have double the space of the current building, allowing UCF to increase its nursing graduates by 50%.
“While we are growing to meet demand, we remain focused on excellence in nursing education, research and practice,” adds Sole. “All of our faculty are dedicated to preparing future generations of Knight nurses for practice in the dynamic field of healthcare, and to advancing the profession through innovation and research.”
New College Leadership
Among the new faculty members joining UCF’s College of Nursing are two experts who have been selected to serve in leadership roles. Professor Sharon Tucker will serve as Chair of the Department of Nursing Practice and Professor Susan MacLeod Dyess will serve as Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs.
Tucker, who is board certified in psychiatric mental health nursing, joins UCF from The Ohio State University College of Nursing where she was most recently the executive director of the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare. Her research focuses on behavior change through mental health and wellness interventions and practice and organizational change through evidence-based practice implementation science and practice, training and tools.
Dyess brings nearly a decade of academic leadership experience to her role, and extensive expertise in curricular development and accreditation processes. Prior to UCF, Dyess was director of the School of Nursing and the Thomas M. and Elizabeth D. Holder Endowed Chair at Kennesaw State University. She has also held academic leadership positions at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, and Florida Atlantic University.
New Faculty Members
Department of Nursing Practice
- Hannah Binding, Lecturer
- Danny Hernandez, Instructor
- Angela Wheat, Lecturer
Department of Nursing Systems
- Rebecca Koszalinski, Associate Professor
- Lisa Linville, Senior Lecturer
- Janet Lopez, Assistant Professor
New Faculty Roles
Department of Nursing Practice
- Frances Armstrong, Clinical Assistant Professor (former lecturer)
- Ashley Faulkner, Lecturer (former clinical adjunct instructor)
- Jenny Garden, Instructor (former visiting instructor)
- Caroline Griffin, Lecturer (former visiting instructor)
- Kelsey Hickson, Visiting Instructor (former clinical adjunct instructor)
- Sarah Mundy-Russell, Instructor (former clinical adjunct instructor)
- Kimberly Navarro, Lecturer (former clinical adjunct instructor)
- Kaylee Nettles, Instructor (former clinical adjunct instructor)
- Darcy Ravndal, Instructor (former clinical adjunct instructor)
- Elizabeth Torres, Instructor (former adjunct clinical instructor)
Department of Nursing Systems
- Patti Thielemann, Senior Lecturer (former visiting senior lecturer)
- Jayne Willis, Lecturer (former visiting lecturer)
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