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college was granted full accreditation by NLN for eight years, the maximum period, for the first time. In 1987, the college became a part of ECU’s Division of Health Sciences. Henning was a staunch supporter of faculty activities in Sigma Theta Tau International. Several faculty members held leadership positions in the southeast region. Professor Emeritus Lou Everett said she will never forget Henning’s support after she lost election for international secretary by two
votes. Everett got a card from Henning saying “Thank you for the great showing.” “She did things to encourage us,” Everett said. “She put ECU School of Nursing on the national map. She mentored us and took us to national conferences.” The school’s Beta Nu chapter became a recognized leader and, to date, has won the coveted Key Award for excellence nine times. Henning helped recruit international speakers for chapter banquets as well. “Our school became a mentor for other schools who wished to start a chapter,” Henning said. Henning initiated the first attempt to move the undergraduate program to an upper division program, following the lead of other schools across the country. “But our faculty were not ready yet,” she said. “That’s why we didn’t do it.” Henning said she listened to faculty and students before making decisions. In 1990, she returned to the classroom after stepping down as dean. n
accommodating working nurses in rural areas wanting advanced degrees. A doctoral degree in nursing was initiated, along with the East Carolina Center for Nursing Leadership. “We’ve had a required course in leadership in our undergraduate program for a very long time,” Horns said. Horns stayed ahead of the college’s growing pains, as additions and renovations were completed in the Rivers Building before nursing moved to the new Health Sciences Building in 2006. “I think the time I was dean was one of massive growth and expansion of all kinds of programs, services and technologies and, fortunately, we had the support of the university,” Horns said. “It was the growth of the university
in and of itself that helped us get the resources we needed to grow all these areas.” Strong linkages in the community continued through EAHEC, PCMH and other clinical partners. The college maintained full accreditation, and students continued to achieve high pass rates on credentialing and licensure exams. “Our graduates have a strong reputation for being clinically prepared,” Horns said. “They are great nurses no matter where they go to work.” Horns served as interim vice chancellor of health sciences in 2001-2002, and again in 2006 until her permanent appointment in 2009. She also served as interim dean for the Brody School of Medicine. “I greatly value the strengths of people working in the college and maintain a commitment to support their highest level of achievement,” Horns said. “I’ve worked hard to bring good people on board and to let them flourish. It’s something that’s been very important to me.” Horns received her doctorate in nursing from the UAB School of Nursing, where she was nominated as one of 60 Visionary Leaders. Dr. Rachel Booth, a longtime friend and mentor, said in her nomination that Horns “is a visionary leader who has experienced a trajectory that no other nurse, to my knowledge, has experienced.” n
Emilie D. Henning (dean, 1982-1990) Emilie Henning came to ECU from Florida State University, where she had been dean of nursing. Before that, she was chair of the department of maternal-child nursing at Rutgers, where she initiated the graduate program in parent-child nursing. The entire University of North Carolina system impressed her, and the move to Greenville gave her an opportunity to be closer to her mother and nieces, said Henning, who still lives in Greenville. While at ECU, she was active in state and national professional nursing associations, serving as a site visitor for National League for Nursing accreditation and member of the NLN’s board of review which accredited baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs. A learning resources center was established primarily for multimedia and computermediated instruction for students. In 1986, the
Phyllis Horns (dean, 1990-2009) The longest serving dean in the history of the College of Nursing, Dr. Phyllis Horns is an eastern North Carolina native and ECU nursing alumna. She first joined the ECU nursing faculty in 1970 as an instructor of parent-child nursing and became an associate professor before joining the graduate nursing faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1979. She returned to ECU in 1988 as professor and chair of parent-child nursing and was selected dean following a national search. She spent her first six months as dean visiting every faculty member in the college. “We had a very fine faculty then, and we have a very fine faculty now,” said Horns, ECU’s vice chancellor of health sciences. Over the past two decades, faculty and staff grew as enrollment increased, from 500 to more than 1,000 students. The master’s degree program expanded, prompted by the state’s health and workforce needs, adding several specialties like neonatal nurse practitioner, family nurse practitioner, nursing education and nursing leadership, nurse anesthesia, and nurse midwifery. The college became a national leader in distance education and technology integration,
Pulse 2010