Welcome to eNews!
A News Update for CU School of Nursing Alumni


Dean's Update
We are pleased to welcome you to this first edition of the Alumni eNews, which will be sent to you quarterly. Expanded versions of these eNews "briefs", and other articles, will appear in the Fall 2006 SON News.

It was great to see all of our terrific alumni at this year's Reunion Weekend held April 27-29. Alums were enthused to hear about the latest accomplishments of the School of Nursing and were excited to catch up with one another. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and it was so nice to see such a big turnout this year! We're looking forward to next year's reunion, which will be the School's last year at the 9th Avenue campus before we move to our new facilities at Fitzsimons. Hope to see you there!

  
 
 
 

Patricia Moritz, PhD, FAAN
Dean, School of Nursing
 

 
 
 

On May 26, 195 graduating students gathered with their families and guests for the annual School of Nursing Convocation in a beautiful ceremony held in the campus quadrangle. Graduates included: 161 BS degree students, 27 students from the MS program, two ND students, two students from the School’s new DNP program, and three PhD students.

During the ceremony, Student Leadership Awards were presented to graduates from each degree program, including BS graduate Barbara Anderson, MS graduate Joseph Cabell, ND graduates Kari McInturff and Jennie Pike, DNP graduate Suzette Reuschel, and PhD graduate Lenora Follett. The recipients of the awards were selected by the SON faculty. Congratulations to our newest alumni for their outstanding leadership!

 

Clare Sandekian. MS		   Clare Sandekian (MS ’69) received the 2006 Dean’s Award for Leadership in Nursing for making major contributions to the School through her long-term legacy of involvement as a nurse leader in Colorado; her continued support of the SON from the time she was a SON student; and as a previous SON faculty member who left her “leader’s mark” on the School.
   

Faculty honored for their teaching excellence were: Tammy Spencer (MS '89), recipient of the President’s Excellence in Teaching award; Dr. James Sampson for the Chancellor’s Teaching Recognition award; and Dr. Cathy Thompson for the Chancellor’s Teaching Award-Graduate School. These faculty awardees were chosen by the graduating students. Dr. Ellyn Matthews received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in the baccalaureate program and Dr. Lynn Gilbert (PNP Post-MS Certificate '79) was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in the graduate program.

The Dean’s Award for Leadership was presented jointly to two faculty and a staff member for their educational technology excellence and innovation in the development of the School’s new Simulation Laboratory. Awardees included staff member Timothy Martinez, and faculty members Dr. Gail Armstrong (ND '95) and Dr. Gayle Preheim (MS '92).

Recipients of the Dean’s teaching and leadership awards were nominated by graduating students and faculty.




 
 

June 2006 Contributors:

Diane C. Lenfest
Administrator, Public Relations and Development, and
Director, International Program
School of Nursing

Wende Reoch
Director
Office of Alumni Relations

Anthony D. Kapp
Events & Publications Coord.
Office of Alumni Relations

   
 
 

Marlaine Smith , PhD, FAAN 		  Faculty News
Dr. Marlaine Smith, long-time faculty member and associate dean for academic affairs, has had a great opportunity and will be leaving the School of Nursing this summer. She has been appointed to the Helen K. Perrson Eminent Scholar Chair in Community Caring and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. As the holder of this new chair, she will provide leadership in transforming health care through research, teaching, and influencing public policies related to health care. Dr. Smith will be sorely missed by all of her colleagues!
 
   
  Dr. Susan Hagedorn (PhD '95) is the recipient of a 2006 Nightingale Award, presented at the 21st annual Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Human Caring held May 6. The event, hosted by the Colorado Nurses Foundation at The Renaissance Denver Hotel, honored Dr. Hagedorn for her “passion for caring which has been incorporated into her work, her family, and the world.” Dr. Hagedorn isa 1995 alumna of the School’s PhD program. She was one of six recipients from 277 nominations for the award.

Susan Hagedorn, PhD
 

Gene Marsh, PhD
  

Dr. Gene Marsh (MS '79) has received the U.S. Public Health Service 2005 Hurricanes Coin in recognition of her valuable volunteer work providing community health services in post-Katrina Louisiana. Her work was carried out under the auspices of the U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services. She was presented the award at the School's May 26 Convocation.

  
 
Dr. Ruth O’Brien is the recipient of the School’s prestigious 2006 Elisabeth H. Boeker Excellence in Research Award. Dr. O’Brien’s selection for this award was based on her sustained career of accomplishment in the area of translating research into evidence-based public health nursing practice. The selection committee said that her career of interdisciplinary work and mentorship of students in the area of prevention and policy development with first-time, at-risk mothers has contributed to the School of Nursing and to the discipline of nursing.
Dr. O'Brien received the award and a check for $8,000 to support her research, at the Convocation ceremony. She will present a lecture in the Fall related to her research.
Ruth O'Brien, PhD, FAAN
 

Amy Barton, PhD
   Dr. Amy Barton has received a five-year grant to fund the School of Nursing primary health care clinic, Sheridan Health Services, located in southwest metro Denver, Colorado. The grant supports the salaries and operating expenses of the clinic, which provides primary health care services to persons of all ages, including physical assessments, immunizations, minor acute care, management of stable chronic disease conditions, and referrals for complex and emergent care. A SON University Nurse Midwife provides prenatal and postpartum care, with deliveries occurring at the 9th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard campus in Denver. Mental health counseling and support groups are also available through on-site counselors and social workers. Nearly 90% of the patients who receive services are either uninsured or are Medicaid recipients. The SON acknowledges the generosity of the Sheridan School District in providing space and utilities for the clinic and recognizes The Children’s Hospital, which originally initiated the clinic. Dr. Barton’s grant is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Division of Nursing, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.
 
  PROGRESS UPDATE...
School of Nursing space
at new Fitzsimons campus

The School of Nursing expects to move to its new space in the Education II / Administrative Office Building at Fitzsimons, in the fall of 2007. The latest photo of the new building at left, shows a foundation, elevator shafts, stairwells and the iron frame of a building! 		 

  2006 Alumni Weekend  
The 9th Annual Lola M. Fehr Lectureship kicked off the 2006 Nursing Alumni Weekend on April 27th with keynote speaker Dr. Patricia Yoder-Wise, professor of nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. Her presentation was entitled Forces for the Future: Expanding Nursing’s Potential, and was followed by a panel discussion on Magnet hospitals with four Chief Nursing Officers from Magnet hospitals in
Colorado, including: Dr. Colleen Goode from University of Colorado Hospital, Lynne Hedrick (MS '90), The Children’s Hospital, Kelly Johnson (MS '03), Craig Hospital, and Craig Luzinski, MSN of Poudre Valley Hospital.
 


Other activities during Alumni Weekend included a School Update with the Dean, Faculty and Students on Friday, April 28th, followed by tours of the Nursing History Centre and the Nursing SIM Lab. School of Nursing alumna Thelma M. Robinson (MS '70) hosted an Alumni Book Signing for her book Nisei Cadet Nurse of World War II: Patriotism in Spite of Prejudice where she shared the stories of Japanese-American cadet nurses and the special connection some of these students had to CU and Colorado.

Also on Friday, the School of Nursing Alumni Association hosted their Annual Alumni Luncheon, where the Class of 1956 was honored, and attendees experienced a moving presentation and slide show by Boyd Loehr, RN, ICU on his experiences in New Orleans from a volunteer and nursing perspective after Hurricane Katrina. At the luncheon, the Alumni Association presented the Distinguished Alumna Award to Linda F. Smith (MS '80), a Special Commendation Award to Sue Carparelli, and the Association's first scholarship was awarded to Tasha Mansfield, a current BS student. Mary Racen Brown, a member of the Class of 1956, gave a spirited speech and presented a restored class composite photograph to the School for display in the halls with photographs of other graduates.

If you are interested in participating in the planning for 2007 Alumni Weekend, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@uchsc.edu.
 
  Other News from the School  
Pete Wolfe, MBA appointed Director of Admissions, Student Services and Diversity
The appointment was effective November 14, 2005. He comes to the SON from the Graduate School of Public Affairs (GSPA) at the downtown CU-Denver campus where he was Assistant Dean for External Relations and Student Services, and held an adjunct faculty appointment. During his tenure at GSPA, Pete was founding director of the Accelerated (daytime) MPA program. He has experience on both the Boulder and downtown Denver CU campuses and has worked at the University of Colorado since 1981. Pete holds a bachelor’s degree in business management with a special emphasis in economics and an MBA from CU. He is very active in the community and serves on several advisory and service boards. 		 

Pete Wolfe, MBA
Pete enjoys hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, and reading. He is deeply interested in the
history of the American west, and in areas of public policy—particularly those policies that have affected or continue to affect the western region. He enjoys road trips “off the beaten path” and has driven along most of the Oregon Trail, much of Route 66, and throughout the west.

Baccalaureate Admissions at Record High
The School of Nursing received a record 912 applications to the BS Program for 2006-07 and about 240 students have been accepted. Under a new plan, half of the students matriculated this summer and the other half will begin the program next January. The plan will reduce the impact on hospitals and other clinical sites of having large numbers of students at one time and will spread out the School’s admissions and graduations over multiple semesters.  

Alumni Nightingale Award Recipients and Finalists
Among the 15 finalists for the 2006 Nightingale Award were seven School of Nursing alumni. In addition to recipient Dr. Susan Hagedorn (PhD ’95), they included: Carol Conger (MS ’97), a recipient, Kay Daugherty (PhD ’92), a finalist, David Kearns (MS ’94), a recipient, Terence Shea (BS ’76), a finalist, Jill Taylor (MS ’79), a finalist, and Ruth West (BS ’69), a recipient. Hats off to these exceptional alumni! And, congratulations to Corinne Koehler (BS '61), Nightingale Coordinator, for a great event!

SON participates in Colfax/News Marathon
On May 21, five School of Nursing faculty and staff participated in Denver's first marathon. Faculty participants included Dr. Marie Hastings-Tolsma, competing in the half marathon, and Dr. Pamela Spry (MS '85, PhD '93), who volunteered at the event. Staff members Terry Dargevics and Diane Lenfest also worked as volunteers and another staff member completed the full Marathon. Kudos to everyone on the School of Nursing “team”.

     

Update on Development and Fundraising Activities
Terry Biddinger reports:

  • The School of Nursing has received a $15,000 donation from a generous donor to kick off its new “Touched by a Nurse Program" whose purpose is to support programs of evidence-based clinical practice and research. 
 
  • The School is continuing a successful program to fully fund the Loretta Ford Faculty Endowment in support of the future of Primary Care education, practice, and research. Plans for an all-out campaign to complete the fund during the 2006-07 academic year are underway. Stay tuned!

  • Congratulations to the Class of 1958 who have worked very hard to make an endowment from their class a reality. The class includes: Mary Haave, Kaye Lemon, Henrietta Riedel, Sharon Rutledge, and Sauri Tagawa.

  • An Advisory Board has been initiated at the School of Nursing. President Angie Romani leads the Board in its mission to support SON efforts to prepare nurses in a SON setting with a commitment to education, clinical practice and research. The Board has 14 supportive members from the community who have been generous with time and resources. In addition to Angie Romani and Terry Biddinger, they include: Steve Edmonds, Jan Friedland, Mary Beth Hanzlik, Carla Littlefield, Carl Mahnke, Ann Moore, Mary Osborn, Linda Prior, Pierre Prouty, Barbara Robb, Jane Robb, Caroline Shreve, and Gene Sobczak.

  • The School’s new Simulation Laboratory helps prepare nursing students for their clinical experiences using lifelike mannequins who “simulate” real symptoms of many disease processes. Another generous donor just gave the funds to purchase a defibrillator for the lab. The SON is so appreciative of the many donors and committed alumni who support the School.

If you have questions about the School’s fundraising programs or would like to talk about a gift to the School of Nursing, please feel free to contact Terry Biddinger, BSN, Director of External Relations, at 303-315-0768.

 


Class Notes
Mary Haave (BS '58), reports great news from the Class of 1958! Theirs is the first class in the history of the SON to endow a nursing scholarship. They are in the process of developing criteria for the scholarship. If any members of the Class are interested in giving input, please contact Mary at 303-670-3061.

Marlene McAllister (MS '77), is now the CNO at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, TX. Medical Center is the regional referral center for the Permian Basin in West Texas.

Denise Coppa (Fimbel), ND (MS '79), writes to tell us that she is currently the director of the family and geriatric nurse practitioner programs at the University of Rhode Island. She received her doctorate from the University of Rhode Island.

    
Upcoming
Alumni Events

Shakespeare
Under the Stars
Sponsored in part by your HSC Alumni Associations
Saturday, July 22, 2006
7:00pm picnic dinner
8:30pm Showtime

All alumni of the University of Colorado Denver are invited to enjoy a night under stars with family, friends and colleagues to enjoy the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's production of As You Like It directed by Gavin Cameron Webb at the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre in Boulder.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

CU in Denver at the Botanic Gardens
Community Dinner and Alumni Program with CU President Hank Brown, Denver Botanic Gardens - The Mitchell Room
Thursday, August 3, 2006
5:30 - 8:00pm
Space is limited. Reservations required.
Contact CommunityEvents@cu.edu or 800-228-4357

For other Alumni Events, visit our online calendar at uchsc.edu/alumni/calendar.htm


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