2015 Frontier Nursing Unversity President's Report

Answer the call. president ’ s 2015 annual report

Our Vision Continually improve our status as a center of excellence for Midwifery and Nurse Practitioner Education.

Our Mission The Frontier Nursing University is a private, non-profit, non-residential graduate school of nursing offering community-based, distance education programs leading to the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, the Master of Science in Nursing Degree and/or post-master’s certificates in advanced practice nursing specialties. Our mission is to educate nurses to become competent, entrepreneurial, ethical and compassionate nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who are leaders in the primary care of women and families with an emphasis on underserved and rural populations.

Board of Directors..........................................2 Letter from the Chairman of the Board..........2 Letter from the President...............................3

table of contents

2015 by the Numbers....................................4 Highlights of 2015.........................................6 Our Programs.................................................9 ADN-MSN Bridge.......................................................... 9 CNEP and CWHCNP.................................................... 10 CFNP.......................................................................... 13 PM-DNP...................................................................... 16

2015 Strategic Goals...................................18 Strategic Goal 1.......................................................... 18 Strategic Goal 2.......................................................... 20 Strategic Goal 3.......................................................... 21 Strategic Goal 4.......................................................... 23 Strategic Goal 5.......................................................... 24 Strategic Goal 6.......................................................... 25 Strategic Goal 7.......................................................... 26 Strategic Goal 8.......................................................... 28 Strategic Goal 9.......................................................... 29 Strategic Goal 10........................................................ 34

FNU Faculty .................................................35 FNU Staff.....................................................36

Dear Friends, On behalf of the Frontier Nursing University Board of Directors, I want to say thank you for all that you do to contribute to the great success of our University. The nurse-midwife and nurse practitioner programs offered by FNU are consistently top rated. It is because of our strong faculty, determined students, dedicated preceptors, outstanding staff, engaged alumni and committed donors that it is all possible. We are honored to serve as the Board of Directors for such an exemplary institution.

Seated, l to r: Kitty Ernst, Phyllis Leppert, Marion McCartney Standing, l to r: Wallace Campbell, Jean Johnson, Michael Carter, Robert Montague, Peter Coffin, Peter Schwartz, Mike Rust Not pictured: Nancy Fugate-Woods, Nancy Hines, Della Deerfield, Ken Tuggle, and John Foley

At Frontier Nursing University we are making a difference. In 2015, we graduated more than 550 nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. Our new graduates are taking their places in health clinics, hospitals, birth centers, and a variety of settings all across the country—and indeed the globe. With our focus on recruiting students from rural and underserved areas, the impact of our graduates for these communities is tremendous.

In Kentucky alone the impact is amazing. In the last five years, 187 students in Kentucky have graduated as nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. Of these graduates, 92% reside in Kentucky’s fifth district—a rural and impoverished area of the state. These graduates are now providing increased access to quality care for the residents of the state. We are proud to report these statistics for the state of Kentucky—our birthplace and home. However, we can find similar data for every single state in the country! It is truly remarkable.

Please enjoy reading about the news and accomplishments of Frontier Nursing University. And please continue your role in our collective success. We are improving healthcare one graduate at a time.

Respectfully,

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Michael Carter, DNSc, DNP, FNP Chair, Board of Directors Frontier Nursing University

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president ’ s 2015 annual report

Dear Friends, Frontier Nursing University is proud of each and every one of our graduates who are “answering the call” as nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners providing compassionate, quality care to families around the globe. We are inspired by our current students who are “answering the call” to further their own education to be able to provide high quality healthcare to their communities. And we are grateful for the thousands of supporters and organizations who “answer the call” to support improving healthcare through generous gifts to Frontier Nursing University.

Together, we are making a difference. And together we will continue to sustain, grow, and improve our university. Mary Breckinridge established the Frontier Nursing Service and founded the Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery in order to begin accomplishing her vision of improving the welfare of women and families in rural areas.

We are expanding her vision to every corner of the globe and continually improving our work.

Finally, as our enrollment reached more than 1600 students this year, we recognize the financial need to help them succeed and graduate from our programs. Fundraising efforts are providing new scholarships for students and we strive to keep tuition affordable. We are pleased to showcase the achievements of Frontier Nursing University for 2015. The hard work and success described in this report help us to achieve our ultimate mission of improved healthcare for all and especially for rural and underserved families. We appreciate your role in the success of Frontier and extend our sincere thanks for “answering the call.”

letter from the president

At Frontier we are always striving for excellence. As a pioneer in distance education, we are developing new, innovative online methods for delivery of didactic and clinical simulation content. Through the establishment of an Innovation Center for Online Learning, we plan to position Frontier as the leader in distance learning for advanced practice nurses and midwives. As we survey the needs of the rural communities in our country, we recognize our role in improving healthcare for the people. For that reason, we will be launching a much needed Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program in 2017. And we are very proud to report that we have formed a partnership with the FSIL Nursing School in Haiti to assist them in developing a midwifery education program.

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Sincerely,

Susan E. Stone, DNSc, CNM, FAAN, FACNM President Frontier Nursing University

president ’ s 2015 annual report

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2015 by the numbers

102

6,731 CLINICAL SITES

CASE MANAGEMENT DAY

More than 60% of clinical sites are located in rural and/ or health professional shortage areas.

In 2015, our credentialing team maintained credentialing for 5,845 previously established clinical sites.

An additional 886 new clinical sites were added in 2015—for a total of 6,731 in all 50 states, Germany, and Guam. We work to maintain personal relationships with our sites. All new sites are assessed by faculty to assure they can provide a quality learning environment for our students. All students receive an on-site visit by their Regional Clinical Faculty during their clinical rotation.

FNU hosted 102 Case Management Days in 2015; 53 of these were virtual events and the others were in-person events in 27 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming). These events provide an opportunity for students and faculty to gather in regional sites; network; and for clinical practicum students to present case studies to FNU faculty, alumni, preceptors, and fellow students.

FNU Case Management Days drew over 900 participants in 2015.

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EXHIBITS AT STATE, LOCAL, OR NATIONAL EVENTS

FNU exhibited at over 40 conferences and career fairs in 2015. This total includes 10 national conferences, two of which focused on minority audiences for FNU’s PRIDE Diversity initiative. We were represented at 16 Kentucky statewide events, and at an additional 10 other student nurse conferences in other states.

Case Management Day in Auburn, IN on November 18, 2015.

7,663

FNU PRECEPTORS

In 2015, there were 7,663 credentialed preceptors in the FNU database, which included 1,241 new preceptors added during 2015. Preceptors serve as the primary teachers of clinical skills for our students during their clinical practicum.

They are supported by our Regional Clinical Faculty.

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548

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GRADUATES

president ’ s 2015 annual report

759

STUDENT ADMISSIONS

Our student enrollment continues to increase; we admitted a record 759 students in 2015. Faculty and staff continue to grow to meet the needs of the expanding student body.

FNU graduated 548 new nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners in 2015 and nearly 60% are employed in rural and/or underserved areas. FNU nurse-midwifery graduates constituted 34% of newly certified nurse-midwives in the United States.

14 CLINICAL BOUND SESSIONS Clinical Bound sessions are week-long sessions conducted on campus to strengthen students’ hands-on clinical management skills prior to starting at a clinical site. They practice clinical skills such as suturing, hand maneuvers for birth, physical assessment, and patient-management situations.

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FRONTIER BOUND ORIENTATION SESSIONS Orientation sessions are held on our Hyden campus to welcome and prepare students for their educational journey at FNU. In 2015, 8 Frontier Bounds welcomed our MSN students; 4 Bridge Bounds welcomed our ADN-MSN students; and 4 DNP Bounds welcomed our students entering the post-master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

STORIES IN THE MEDIA Twenty-one stories were reported in media in 2015 ranging from tributes to our legacy and Mary Breckinridge to accolades for Frontier’s current impact on the nursing and midwifery professions in the US and abroad.

Dr. Susan E. Stone, President of FNU delivered the keynote address on the March 4th, 2015 conference of Women Leading Kentucky, a statewide network of outstanding business professionals. The organization hosts a series of networking roundtables where prominent Kentuckians are invited to speak and share professional/personal challenges and lessons learned.

Dr. Tonya Nicholson was featured in the Huffington Post Healthy Living Blog by Debra K, the host of PBS’ The Journey into Wellbeing. Debra K. provides a well-researched and evidence based discussion of the benefits and outcomes of working with a Certified NurseMidwife in an in-depth profile and interview with Tonya Nicholson, Associate Dean of Midwifery and Women’s Health. Dr. Nicholson is an FNU midwifery graduate who has attended the births of approximately 2,700 babies (and still practices) and then returned to FNU to teach. In this interview, she elaborates on the options that are available to women in a midwifery-attended birth, and describes affiliations and partnership options that exist among CNMs and physicians.

Frontier Nursing University hosted a screening in Kentucky of the award-winning documentary, The American Nurse (DigiNext Films) during National Nurse’s Week, May 6-12, 2015, which proudly celebrates the role nurses play in delivering the highest level of quality care to their patients. The film won the American Academy of Nursing’s Excellence in Media Award and highlights the work and lives of five American nurses from diverse specialties.

president ’ s 2015 annual report

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In her popular Google+ blog, My Life in Haiti, nurse-midwife alumna Nadene Brunk, founder of Midwives for Haiti, posted about implementing her idea to duplicate Frontier’s famous “baby in a saddlebag” image with a modern Haitian baby in a saddlebag. In her story, she recognizes the quiet heroism and determination of FNU student-midwife Rebecca Barlow. In arranging to transport a new mother and baby home from the hospital in their mobile clinic midwives’ pink Jeep, Nadene reflected on the many unmet needs of the young mother and how a group of women together found clothes and baby supplies for her: “women loving and supporting each other” in the best tradition of Mary Breckinridge’s vision.

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2015 year in review

Highlights of

2015

Frontier Nursing University had many achievements and milestones to celebrate in 2015. The year marked the beginning of a new five-year strategic plan, which includes ambitious plans for improvements to didactic and clinical education, new programs, enhanced diversity efforts, student services programs aimed at student success, long-term facilities planning, development efforts to support our goals, and responsible fiscal management. Strategic Plan goals are implemented by the responsible departments and annual plans are approved at the start of each year. Our strategic planning process has served us well over the years and aims to keep us continually growing and improving in order to best meet our mission. We are pleased to report on the progress made throughout 2015.

Frontier Selected as Take Pride Campaign Winner Minority Nurse magazine once again selected Frontier Nursing University as one of three national 2015 Take Pride Campaign winners, recognizing the school’s efforts to promote diversity in nursing and midwifery through the FNU PRIDE program. Each year, the magazine recognizes employers that go above and beyond to encourage diversity; recruit and retain minorities; and create a cooperative, inclusive work environment.

Sharing Our Story

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As one of the largest educators of nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners in the country, FNU feels it is critical to share our story and advocate for these important advanced nursing professions. We strive to promote both Frontier and the role of nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners as part of the solution to our country’s healthcare needs.

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In addition to producing the Quarterly Bulletin which FNU alumni dressed as the cast of “Call the Midwife” is distributed to more than 8,000 readers, we work to promote Frontier in social media and television. To generate excitement and bring nurse-midwives into the popular culture conversation, FNU hosted screenings of “The American Nurse” and the “Call the Midwife” television series. To showcase the history of FNU, we debuted a new digital timeline: A Journey Through Time. We were honored to be featured in American History Magazine and also highlighted in the documentary “Dreamers & Doers: Voices of Kentucky Women,” featuring Mary Breckinridge.

president ’ s 2015 annual report

Providing Support for Students Through private scholarship support of nearly $100,000 and federal funding of nearly $1 million, FNU was able to award scholarships to more than 200 students in 2015. We continually apply for competitive federal funding to support students and seek private grants and donations to establish new scholarship opportunities for our students.

Hawa Al-Hassan – Nurse-Midwifery alumnus, Scholarship Recipient As a nurse-midwife, my goal will be to bring quality healthcare to some of the most vulnerable women in the world, the women of sub-Saharan Africa—specifically in the rural areas of Ghana where I still have roots. I used to look at this as an impossible dream until I came to Frontier and saw the work of Mary Breckinridge. I feel that with my education at FNU, I have acquired the courage to devote the rest of my life to this dream. Reading “Wide Neighborhoods,” I learned the practical ways that I can bring this dream to reality. I have met so many people through school who are involved in bringing midwifery care to their communities or who are involved in helping women achieve their ideal births; this inspires me to know that I can achieve the goals I am setting for myself.

I had to take a leave of absence in order to complete my clinicals out of state. I have depleted my bank account and don’t want to borrow more money because the more I owe the more I have to defer my dream of service. I am 55 years old and I feel the sooner I get started in Ghana, the better service I will be able to provide.

Celebrating Success Together

Nurse-Midwives Roles in Collaborative Community Care

In October, FNU’s Annual Homecoming event brought graduates back to Wendover to celebrate the 25th reunion of the first distance-education class of nurse-midwifery students.

Annual alumni awards for Distinguished Service to Society (Kerri Schuiling) and Distinguished Service to Alma Mater (Joan Slager), as well as the annual Courier Unbridled Service award (Patricia Perrin Lawrence), were presented during the homecoming weekend. To end the year, FNU hosted the Annual Holiday Party at Wendover for local children and families. The “Big House” at Wendover celebrated its 90th anniversary throughout 2015.

president ’ s 2015 annual report

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In recognition of National Midwifery Week in October 2015, FNU hosted a digital summit to explore how today’s nurse-midwife plays an important role in collaborative care. The nationwide, online event called Today’s Nurse-Midwives: Creating a Collaborative Community of Care brought together a number of industry leaders to explore the latest evidence and discuss changes that are needed now.

This event served to educate providers and consumers about the troubling trends in women’s healthcare, as well as strategies to improve women’s healthcare through collaboration.

With more than 8,000 alumni and donors nationwide, more than $3 million was raised in 2015 to support FNU’s mission. This support helps to build the endowment, fund new scholarships, fund special projects, support technology needs, and maintain our historic campus. We are grateful for the financial contributions that help to sustain and grow our programs.

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2015 year in review

Highlights of 2015

(continued)

Growing the nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner professions Enrollment by Specialty and Calendar Year

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Nurse-midwifery

635

750

805

855

869

Family Nurse Practitioner

758

898

987

915

922

Women’s Health

102

110

118

111

83

MSN Completion

6

8

7

4

1

Women’s Health Completion

7

13

17

9

10

Post-Master’s DNP

65

76

103

138

152

Unduplicated calendar year enrollment (January 1 - December 31, 2015)

FNU Recognizes More than 500 Graduates in Annual Commencement Ceremony

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We were honored to host Frontier Nursing University’s annual commencement ceremony in Hyden, Kentucky in October 2015. More than 500 nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners from almost every state across the nation completed an FNU distance-education program and nearly 200 of these graduates representing 41 states returned to Hyden to participate in the ceremony. Graduates traveled from as far away as Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, and California in order to celebrate this important milestone in their careers. We were proud to have three Leslie County, Kentucky graduates at this year’s commencement. With friends and family joining each graduate, and nearly 100 faculty members in attendance, along with the FNU Board of Directors, staff, and honored guests, more than 2,000 people were present.

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Sandra May Perkins (2nd from right), joined by her sisters and Kitty Ernst.

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Award-winning author Silas House delivered the keynote address. House was born and raised in Eastern Kentucky near FNU’s home town of Hyden. House is the author of five novels and serves as the NEH Chair of Appalachian Literature at Berea College and as fiction faculty at Spalding University’s MFA in Creative Writing program.

Silas told the story of his mother’s birth, which was attended by famous FNS nurse-midwife, Betty Lester.

He reminded the new graduates of their roots and legacy, and encouraged them to continue to go forth and be heroes to the families they will serve. FNU awarded Silas a honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the ceremony.

As always, the annual graduation ceremony served as a special event to recognize the wide reach of Frontier graduates. Their compassionate care will affect many thousands of families for years to come.

We were honored to also award the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to nursemidwife Sandra May Perkins. Sandra was born in 1944 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Her father left the United States and the family to serve in the Second World War, and she and her seven brothers and sisters struggled to survive in poverty. Despite these circumstances, Sandra received a scholarship as the first black nurse enrolled in her nursing school, graduated as class valedictorian from the Zion Bible Institute, and excelled in the federally funded nurse-midwifery program at the University of Mississippi. For over twenty-five years, she dedicated her life to advancing the field of Nurse-Midwifery across the country. Working in the trenches of the healthcare delivery system, Ms. Perkins demonstrated the leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, passion, and dedication that Frontier expects of all of its graduates.

Our Programs ADN-MSN Bridge The Bridge option for entering the MSN+DNP program at FNU admitted its first students in January 2007. The Bridge makes it possible for nurses with an associate’s degree in nursing as their highest degree earned to enter into FNU’s graduate program.

The Bridge continues to be a highly sought after option for registered nurses who desire to become nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. We have served more than 1000 students since the first Bridge Bound in January 2007. Of the students admitted in the first nine years of the program, more than 76% have graduated and are practicing in their communities across the nation, providing excellent health care.

During 2015, 137 students were admitted to FNU via the Bridge, and 89 students who began their degree program as Bridge students graduated.

This year, students from Bridge Class 108, the first Bridge class to enter the new MSN+DNP curriculum, came back to Hyden for Clinical Bound. They are now in their clinical practicum to become nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. Soon they will be on their way to earning their DNP as part of the first group to complete the companion DNP in 2016.

Tamesha Parker, Bridge Class 132, attending “Crossing the Bridge”

Bridge Family Nurse Practitioner

59 53

Bridge Women’s Health*

46

20 4

Bridge Midwifery

0

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Unduplicated calendar year enrollment (January 1 - December 31, 2015) *Students no longer admitted to Women’s Health option after 2011

president ’ s 2015 annual report

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40

46

40

60

53

80

71

87

100

98

98

Students Enrolled in Bridge by Calendar Year

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our programs: 2015 frontirer nursing university

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MSN Nurse-Midwifery (CNEP) and Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner (CWHCNP) We continue to celebrate robust numbers of nurses seeking midwifery and women’s health care nurse practitioner education, as well as the successes of those who choose FNU for that education.

Tonya Nicholson, DNP, CNM, WHNP-BC, CNE was named as the Associate Dean of Midwifery and Women’s Health in May 2015. Dr. Nicholson has served as course coordinator and FNU faculty member for eight years and also served as the Program Director of Midwifery and Women’s Health from 2010 until her appointment as the Associate Dean. Dr. Nicholson holds certification as both a nurse-midwife and women’s health care nurse practitioner, which uniquely positions her for serving in the role of Associate Dean for the midwifery and women’s health programs. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University, certificates for nurse-midwifery and women’s health from FNU, and was FNU’s first doctoral graduate. Dr. Nicholson currently serves on the ACNM Nominating Committee, is an active member of the Directors of Midwifery Education, and presents nationally on topics related to civility and precepting in nursing education. Dr. Nicholson has 15 years of clinical experience and served as practice director for 6 years.

She currently practices part-time in her hometown of Dublin, GA. Jane Houston, DNP, CNM was named as the Clinical Director of Midwifery and Women’s Health in August 2015.

Dr. Houston was born in Scotland and with both parents and three siblings in the caring professions, she decided nursing was for her.

After working as an RN for two years, Dr. Houston undertook her midwifery training in the early 1990s. She was able to work thereafter in a mission in Northwestern Zimbabwe and improve her midwifery skills. Subsequently she was offered a job in Wellington, New Zealand and had a wonderful time there learning about group domiciliary midwifery and caring for high-risk women. Her life then

president ’ s 2015 annual report

brought her to Florida in 1996 where she completed her MSN and then brought midwifery care as a new offering for birthing families to a local hospital. When University of Florida began the DNP program in 2009, Jane was in the inaugural class. After teaching at University of Florida and leading the midwifery program there for four years, Dr. Houston came to FNU. She loves and is proud that the successful past history of Frontier includes nurse-midwives from Scotland.

Program Accomplishments and News • New affiliation between Episcopal University of Haiti (FSIL) School of Nursing in Haiti and Frontier Nursing University to develop a nurse-midwifery program by fall of 2016 • New affiliation with Drexel University for interprofessional simulation days • New affiliation with Reading Health System for interprofessional training (in development) • 2015 Digital Summit: “Today’s Nurse-Midwives: Creating a Collaborative Community of Care.” Included live streamed and recorded events in celebration of Midwifery Week

National Certification Corporation Women’s Healthcare Nurse Practitioner Exam • FNU’s 2015 pass rate: 100% • National average pass rate of first time takers of NCC (WHNP) certification exam: 87%

American Midwifery Certification Board National Exam • FNU’s 2015 pass rate: 97.4% • National average pass rate of first time takers of AMCB (Midwifery) certification exam: 93.7% •3 4% of exams administered in 2015 were to Frontier graduates

Faculty Facts • 50 CNEP/WHNP faculty, including 9 new faculty joining us in 2015 • 530 years of active clinical practice with many years of clinical practice as service directors. Faculty also have additional practice experience as FNPs, Public Health nurses, Sexual Assault Examiners, with Centering Pregnancy, and as Certified Menopause Clinicians • 190 years of out of hospital clinical practice • 410 years as educators in nursing education • Faculty international experience in Haiti, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Dominica, Germany, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, and Vietnam

Dr. Julie Marfell, Dean, with Robin Jordan, celebrate the Book of the Year award

Faculty Accomplishments

210

Nurse-Midwifery and Women’s Health Degrees

174

869

The textbook titled Prenatal and Postnatal Care: A WomanCentered Approach, edited by several Frontier Nursing University nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner faculty and former faculty, received the Best Book of the Year award presented by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Dr. Julie Marfell, a co-editor, is a family nurse practitioner and Dean of Nursing at Frontier Nursing University. Several former FNU faculty members served as co-editors including Robin Jordan, certified nurse-midwife; Janet Engstrom, certified nurse-midwife and women’s health care nurse practitioner; and Cindy Farley, certified nurse-midwife. The co-editors were presented with the Book of the Year award at the 2015 American College of Nurse-Midwives Annual Meeting Awards Banquet.

Nurse-Midwifery

Women’s Health

2011

43

2015

40

2012

2013

2014

Nurse-Midwifery

24

111

2014

28

118

2013

24

110

2012

83

102

2011

2015

Women’s Health

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75

635

138

750

805

855

Nurse-Midwifery and Women’s Health Enrollment

American College of Nurse-Midwives Book of the Year Award

179

• Tanya Tanner, Heather Clarke, Katie Moriarty, and Diana Jolles were inducted as Fellows of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) • Anne Cockerham, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, was chosen to participate as a Fellow in the AACN Leadership for Academic Nursing Maria Valentin-Welch professional development program.

• Metta Cahill’s midwifery practice, Capital Women’s Group, was recognized as the “Outstanding Midwife-Led Health Service” by the New Jersey American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) affiliate.

• Maria Valentin-Welch received the Geraldine Bednash/American Association of Colleges of Nursing Scholarship and the Sandy Woods Scholarship for Advanced Study • Laura Manns-James was awarded the March of Dimes Scholarship • The A. G. Cox scholarship at Rush University was awarded to Meghan Garland

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our programs: 2015

MSN Nurse-Midwifery (CNEP) and Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner (CWHCNP) continued 2015 Leadership Positions held by CNEP and CWHCNP Faculty Members: American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Board of Directors, Region IV Representative : Katie Moriarty

AABC Legislative Committee Chair: Jill Alliman AABC How to Start a Birth Center Workshop Faculty: Kathryn Schrag Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers Board Member: Susan Yount

ACNM Nominating Committee: Maria Valentin- Welch and Tonya Nicholson

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing Program Evaluator/Team Chair: Trish Voss

ACNM Publications Committee: Jan Weingrad- Smith

AACN APRN Clinical Training Task Force: Susan Stone

ACNM Division of Education: Tonya Nicholson ACNM Midwives of Color Committee, Chair: Heather Clarke ACNM Foundation Board of Trustees: Tanya Tanner Board of Directors American Midwifery Certification Board: Tanya Tanner ACNM Healthy Birth Initiative, Chair: Tanya Tanner ACNM Foundation Board Member: Maria Valentin- Welch Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) Board of Review: Victoria Baker ACME Site Visitor: Tonya Nicholson; Mickey Gillmor

Council on Patient Safety for Women’s Health Care: Deborah Karsnitz Kentucky ACNM Affiliate President: Deborah Karsnitz Texas ACNM Affiliate President: Niessa Meier Nebraska ACNM Affiliate Secretary: Michele North

Faculty Scholarly Work — CNEP and CWHCNP Faculty Articles: 15 Book chapters: 6 Presentations at national and state meetings: 49 Poster presentation: 1

American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) Strong Start Project Director: Jill Alliman

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FNU Partnership with FISIL

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Susan Stone, President, and Michael Carter, Chair of the FNU Board of Directors, traveled to Haiti in June of 2015 to explore the establishment of a formal partnership between Frontier Nursing University and The Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Haiti or FSIL (Faculté des Sciences Infirmières de l’Université Episcopale d’Haïti ).

FSIL is the first four-year baccalaureate school of nursing in Haiti. This Hilda Alcindor, Dean of FSIL and Susan Stone partnership was publicly announced at the October meeting of the American Academy of Nursing. FNU will assist FSIL in development of a curriculum to train Haitian nurses as nursemidwives and nurse practitioners. Faculty members Jane Houston and Amy Marowitz are leading this effort. We are excited to consult in this partnership which is a direct extension of our mission to train nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to serve rural and underserved families.

president ’ s 2015 annual report

MSN Family Nurse Practitioner (CFNP) The Department of Family Nursing led by Associate Dean of Family Nursing, Dr. Lisa Chappell, continues to grow in the number of qualified nurses who are admitted and who succeed in the family nurse practitioner program.

Dr. Lisa Chappell, PhD, FNP-BC completed a second year as the Associate Dean of Family Nursing. In August, 2015 Dr. Irma Jordan assumed the role of Clinical Director for Family Nursing. Prior to this Dr. Jordan Dr. Irma Jordan had the privilege of teaching at the entry into practice programs and graduate programs (both MSN and DNP) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). The last two years she was at UTHSC she assumed the role of DNP Program Director having oversight responsibility for six advanced practice nursing concentrations. Dr. Jordan has an extensive history of scholarly endeavors having presented at numerous national and international meetings for advanced practice nurses and for faculty of graduate programs. In 2012 she had the honor of being accepted as a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners for her work in the area of teaching and practice. Her work as an advanced practice nurse has also included being an active member of state and national associations and she served as the TN State Representative for AANP and the Chairman of the Psychiatric Special Interest Group for National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculty. Dr. Jordan has also been an active member in the Tennessee Nurses Association (TNA) and served as the chair for the TNA advanced practice committee. Dr. Jordan is dually certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and has provided

Family Nurse Practitioner Enrollment 987 898

915

2014 Certification Pass Rates *2015 results not yet available at press time FNU’s first time pass rate: 95% National pass rate for American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) for 2014: 87.5% FNU’s first time pass rate: 96.7% National average pass rate for American Nurse Credential Center (ANCC) for 2014: 79.35%

clinical services in addition to her faculty role.

She currently practices at the Crisis Assessment/ Stabilization Unit for Shelby County. This site serves clients with severe mental illness whose illness is complicated by psychosocial issues such as homelessness and lack of insurance. She has served as a student preceptor since 1999 as both an FNP and PMH nurse practitioner.

Program Accomplishments and News • FNP faculty members served as Capstone Chairs for 21 post-master’s DNP students • FNU was represented by the FNP faculty at more than 50 conferences nationwide • Established an Interprofessional Education (IPE) project with University of Pikeville and Appalachia School of Pharmacy

Family Nurse Practitioner Degrees 922 253

758

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2011

241

2014

2015

168

2012

2013

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154

242

13

our programs: 2015

MSN Family Nurse Practitioner (CFNP) continued FNP Faculty Facts • 43 total FNP faculty, including 10 new faculty in 2015 • Five hundred twenty seven (527) years of clinical practice with an average of 12.25 years • Practice sites include a large percentage in Primary Care/Family Practice and rural/underserved/homeless populations. Additional practice sites include Indian Health, VA/army hospital, mental health, home care, hospitalist/ ER/urgent care, public health, integrative medicine, specialty practice such as cardiology, endocrinology, retail clinics, correctional medicine, wilderness medicine, and owners of private practices • Most FNP faculty have earned doctoral degrees: 37 with DNP; 5 with PhD

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Faculty Accomplishments

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• Irma Jordan, Clinical Director of Family Nursing, received the 2015 Tennessee American Psychiatric Nurses Association Excellence in Teaching Award.

• Diane John won an FNU Faculty Innovation Award.

• Carol Palmer won an FNU Faculty Innovation Award.

• Rhonda Arthur led the FNU Faculty Certified Nurse Educator group.

• Heather Shlosser is a member of an Integrative Behavioral Medicine Leadership Team at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for integrating behavioral medicine with primary care.

• Barbara Brennan earned a graduate certificate in Science/Medical Writing from Johns Hopkins University.

• Jana Esden served as a writer for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP).

• Vicky Stone Gale served as conference coordinator for South Florida Council Advanced Practice Nursing Primary Care conference.

• Sharon Hunsucker served a medical triage for a drive through Anthrax prophylaxis dispension drill.

• Gayle Phillips promoted local community involvement and fund-raising for HOPE pregnancy crisis center in Campbellsville, KY. • Gayle Phillips serves as local BOH representative to district court for presentation regarding needle exchange program.

• Rhonda Arthur served with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corp.

• Rhonda Arthur performed volunteer physicals for the Apple Ridge Camp for Kids, Virginia.

• Heather Wilkinson served as a Family Support Volunteer with the Tri-State Southern Ohio Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

• Rachel Mack completed Certified Nurse Educator certification.

• Rachel Mack won the FNU Student Choice Award for Teaching Excellence.

• Mary Jones attended the Chartering ceremony for Chi Pi chapter Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI).

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• Jackie Noland served at community educational events in KY; Teddy bear clinic, and effects of second-hand smoke in children • Mary Ellen Biggerstaff was inducted as a 2015-2016 Duke Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Fellow.

2015 Leadership Positions held by FNP Faculty Members • Tammy Whitehead is a Board Member Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse-Midwives (KCNPNM).

• Tammy Whitehead is Chair of Editorial Committee Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners & NurseMidwives (KCNPNM).

• Chaundel Presley is Director of Practice for Tennessee Nurses Association Board and coordinated the IPE program.

• Nancy Pesta Walsh served as a delegate to the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) National Convention and was on the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Leadership Team.

• Denise Orrill served as Region 6 Chair for Illinois Society of Advanced Practice Nurses.

• Denise Orrill served as Treasurer for Chi Pi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI).

• Vicky Stone Gale is President of the South Florida Council Advanced Practice Nurses.

• Sharon Hunsucker served as Deputy Director for the River Run Region Kentucky Medical Reserve Corp.

• Beki Asti served as counselor for Chi Pi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI).

• Gayle Phillips is a member of the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse-Midwives (KCNPNM) CE Committee.

• Mary Ellen Biggerstaff is Clinic Primary Care Director at Summit Pacific Medical Center in Elma, Washington.

• Rachel Mack served as secretary of the Association of Oklahoma Nurse Practitioners.

• Mary Jones served as President Chi Pi chapter Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI).

• Mary Jones served as delegate to STTI national convention for Chi Pi chapter.

• Grace Urquhart served as Finance Chair for Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), FNU. • Jackie Noland served as consultant for new family nurse practitioner providers for a nurse practitioner owned clinic.

• Amy Nassar was elected to the Shared Leadership Council for Washington, DC CVS Minute Clinics.

• Gayle Phillips was elected as a member of the Lake Cumberland District Board of Health.

FACULTY Scholarly Work — FNP Faculty Articles: 9 Book Chapters: 7 Podium presentations at national and state meetings: 10 Poster presentation at national and state meetings: 3

Partnerships in Interprofessional Education (IPE) FNU has developed an innovative partnership with University of Pikeville, Pikeville, Kentucky and Appalachian College of Pharmacy, Grundy, VA (each located in rural and underserved areas). FNU is collaborating with University of Pikeville’s Colleges of Nursing, Social Work, Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Appalachian College of Pharmacy on an interdisciplinary project promoting healthcare teams. This team of five professional schools has created a unique learning venue whereby students collaborate on client care issues and problem solve the issues from an interdisciplinary framework. We are excited to continue building on this partnership to offer virtual venues to complete interprofessional education (IPE) activities and therefore open the opportunity to more students.

In April of 2015, Dr. Stone and Dr. Nicholson visited Drexel University to observe and participate in their Simulation Experience. This interprofessional learning experience consists of realistic emergency situations that require teams of students to function together at a high level. Teams of medical residents, undergraduate nursing students, nurse anesthesia students, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant students work together. Drexel leaders Dr. Owen Montgomery and Kym Montgomery graciously invited Frontier faculty and midwifery students to participate on a regular basis in these realistic, IPE simulation experiences. Three times each year, we send a group of students and faculty to participate in the high value learning experiences. We are very grateful to Drexel University for inviting FNU faculty and students to participate.

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our programs: 2015

Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (PM-DNP) Frontier Nursing University continues to enroll up to 100 new students to the Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program each year.

DNP Enrollment

152 138 103

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Dr. Barbara Anderson, former Director of the Post-Master’s DNP program, retired in 2015 and Julie Marfell, Dean of Nursing, acted as interim Director for the remainder of the year. A new Director for the Post Master’s DNP Program will begin in 2016.

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DNP Degrees

In 2015, Frontier opened up this option to additional advanced nursing specialities resulting in the current list: • adult nurse practitioner (ANP) • certified nurse-midwife (CNM) • family nurse practitioner (FNP) • geriatric-adult nurse practitioner (GANP) • geriatric nurse practitioner (GNP) • pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) • psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) • women’s health care nurse practitioner (WHCNP)

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Current MSN students at FNU may apply for streamlined admission to the Post Master’s DNP (PM-DNP) program and may take the nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner certification examination in the first term of the PMDNP program. In 2015, FNU formalized the plan for the PM-DNP program that allows for second certification as a nurse practitioner or nurse-midwife for current nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives.

“ As a rural health family nurse practitioner, I saw so much need in my community. I felt limited in my capacity to help. The DNP program at FNU has equipped me with skills to improve outcomes in my community and impact health care policy.” – Deborah Skoruppa, FNP, DNP

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Post-Master’s DNP Students Participate in the Jonas Scholars Program We were honored that four of our 2015 DNP graduates participated in the Jonas Scholars program. FNU has hosted six Jonas Scholars since the program began, and has been awarded grant funding to host an additional four Scholars in the 2016-2018 cohort. The Jonas Scholars program is funded by the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare. The Scholars program supports educational development of new nursing faculty and stimulates models for joint faculty appointments between schools of nursing and clinical affiliates. The grants, made through institutional awards, also prepare doctoral candidates to address the needs of future patients—from dealing with co-morbidities and chronic illnesses to providing culturally competent care. Congratulations to the following Scholars who graduated in 2015: Julie McCarron, DNP, CNM Class 16 DNP – Alaska Julie McCarron is working with the Alaska Center of Nursing Excellence, which is the Alaska state Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action group. Within this group, one of the focus area teams is the APRN Alliance. This group is made up of CNM, CNS, NP and CRNA practitioners working on Scope of Practice issues and developing the APRN Consensus Model in Alaska nursing statutes. Ms. McCarron’s goals are to assure nurses’ voices are heard in the legislative process. She represents the Kenai Peninsula APRN Alliance Group.

Lauren Ervin, DNP, CNM Class 14 DNP Jonas Veteran’s Scholar – Virginia Lauren Ervin participated as a Jonas Veteran’s scholar. As part of her Jonas project, Ms. Ervin conducted research regarding perinatal depression and military families. She had the opportunity to interview the former president of Postpartum Support International (PSI) about her extensive work with perinatal depression and is thankful for that opportunity. Her doctoral capstone project resulted in the establishment of a strategic plan for a perinatal support group for female partners of deployed service members to reduce depressive symptoms and resulting negative sequelae.

Victoria Evans, DNP, CNM, MPH Class 14 DNP – Maine

Janet Thurston, DNP, CNM, FNP-BC Class 14 DNP – Montana Janet Thurston had the wonderful opportunity to meet Jonas expert in nursing leadership, Cathy Rick, and other members from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation during their visit to Montana in October 2014. Her Jonas Leadership Project included working with the Montana Academic Progression in Nursing Program, focusing on their objective, Promote Diversity in Nursing, incorporating indigenous learning systems into nursing curriculum to promote and advocate for Native American workforce development for Montana communities. She continues to pursue her goal to see more Native American nurses in practice with an ultimate goal of growing more diversity in Nurse-Midwifery and Family Nurse Practitioner practices overall.

“ My dream is to see the development of more Native American Nurse Practitioners and Midwives, who will “ring the bell” in Hyden. It will be a day to bless and celebrate! The Jonas’ and FNU are sharing this goal, inspiring others to do the same.”

– Janet Thurston, Jonas Scholar

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Ms. Evan’s capstone project: “Implementation of Patient Administered Inhalation Nitrous Oxide for Use in Labor at Maine General Medical Center,” implemented nitrous oxide as an additional option for pain management at Maine General Medical Center (MGMC) in Augusta, Maine. Providing safe, less invasive options for comfort during labor is an important part of programs to improve

maternal-child outcomes. Nitrous Oxide during childbirth is widely used in other developed countries but is available at only a few institutions in the United States. Ms. Evans received full approval of her project for implementation by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. MGMC became the second hospital in Maine to offer Nitrous Oxide to laboring women, and hopefully will be a model for other hospitals.

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Strategic Goal 1: Continue to expand current programs and explore new programs that support and enhance the mission of FNU.

Striving for Excellence Launching the MSN + DNP FNU began a major curriculum revision in 2013 in order to develop the MSN + Companion DNP program. To date, 56 courses, including all MSN-level didactic, Clinical Bound, and clinical courses have been revised to include the DNP Essentials. The complete curriculum transition will be finished in Summer 2016 when the last companion DNP courses open. Our first group of new curriculum students seamlessly continued to our innovative 17-credit Companion-DNP program in January 2016 and they will complete the DNP requirements in September 2016.

Supporting Improved Writing Skills

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During 2015, Gail Spake, the FNU Writing Specialist, worked with faculty to redevelop the Communications and Scholarly Writing course, designed to lay a foundation for students to begin preparation for academic writing.

Student evaluations affirm the course is well received after two terms. An educational session was completed by the Writing Specialist in 2015 spring term. Curriculum Committee members identified 3 topic areas for supporting faculty: assignment design and rubrics, giving meaningful feedback, and self-editing skills for students. A repository of digital resources for students was developed and will be linked in all online course modules for easy student access.

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FNU’s clinical goal is to identify quality preceptors, and then further elevate their abilities through the preceptor certification program. The Gift of Precepting education program for preceptors was updated in 2015, and the continuing education credits are approved through the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). The Clinical Directors are now developing the second course for our preceptors. This will be the Master’s Level Preceptor course and, like the first course, continuing education credits will be awarded upon completion. This second course will include modules addressing information to help new preceptors improve student experiences; deal with difficult situations; manage preceptor and student relations; have difficult conversations; give effective feedback, remediation, and advanced problem solving in the clinical site; structure student learning to foster critical thinking; and develop the qualities of an exemplary preceptor.

Working in conjunction with the Credentialing Department, the Clinical Directors are identifying processes and procedures to streamline clinical site identification and approval. Efforts are underway to reduce required paperwork through electronic transmission of forms.

In addition, the increase in Regional Clinical Faculty has permitted the development of regional teams with knowledge of the local communities.

Improving the Clinical Experience

Continuing to Innovate

Strong, dedicated clinical preceptors in our home communities are the backbone of Frontier Nursing University. In 2015 FNU welcomed two new Clinical Program Directors, Irma Jordan, DNP, FNP/PMHNP-BC, FAANP and Jane Houston, DNP, CNM, who both have experience in clinical and higher education settings. Drs. Jordan and Houston are both dedicated to strengthening the Frontier community with strong preceptor, faculty, and student relations. They implemented a “Featured Preceptor” program to acknowledge excellence in precepting by including a short biography and photo of each term’s Featured Preceptor on our preceptor web page and in social media. The featured preceptors also receive a personalized certificate, gift card, and a handwritten note from both the Clinical Site Facilitator and the Clinical Program Director.

In 2015, Dr. Anne Cockerham transitioned from the role of Associate Dean of Midwifery and Women’s Health to the role of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In this role, she leads the academic faculty in the development of coursework with a focus on innovation. FNU remains committed to exploring, employing, and disseminating innovative methods to motivate and guide students throughout the curriculum. A major goal is enhancing students’ critical thinking and lifelong learning skills.

Didactic faculty members are developing creative and engaging uses of existing technologies, such as faculty-facilitated, real-time unfolding case studies via Google Hangout and web-conferencing applications like Big Blue Button to help students apply knowledge to realistic patient care situations. Other faculty are using branching case studies via Google Forms to enhance

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diagnostic reasoning skills. Clinical Bound faculty are maximizing students’ time on campus by continuing to develop and enhance simulation experiences to create a safe space to refine management skills for emergencies such as shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage.

Additionally, Clinical Bound students benefit from patientfocused experiences like physical assessment activities.

Regional Clinical Faculty and Clinical Directors have been leveraging our virtual meeting platforms to broaden the reach of Case Days by including students and faculty not only in-person, but also online. This provides even more opportunities for didactic students to apply what they are learning to realistic patient scenarios.

Honoring Our Preceptors Jessica Nagel, CNM Sutter West Women’s Health & Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis, CA

Recent graduate, Michelle Walker, celebrates her 40th birth with our featured preceptor, Jessica Nagel (right).

Jessica Nagel, CNM, of Davis, CA was recognized as the Summer Term 2015 featured preceptor. Ms. Nagel, CNEP 47 and a 2008 graduate of Frontier, is a full scope nurse-midwife at Sutter West Women’s Health and Sutter Davis Hospital. The patient population in this semi-rural community outside of Sacramento is very diverse.

In addition, the Sutter Davis midwives share call with the Davis Community Clinic, which is a Federally Qualified Health Center and serves a diverse, low-income, and uninsured/underinsured patient population. Michelle Walker, recent CNEP 99 graduate, enthusiastically nominated her former preceptor and praises her as committed to helping student nurse-midwives have a thorough, hands-on clinical experience. She allows her students to jump right in and learn by doing. Ms. Nagel and other Sutter Davis midwives were recently featured in the new documentary “The Mama Sherpas” about the growing movement of collaborative care between physicians and midwives. Ms. Nagel narrates the trailer, and a quick shot of her working with a collaborative OB physician can be seen in the trailer. FNU is proud to call Ms. Nagel one of our graduates and we appreciate the good work she does on behalf of mothers and families.

Learn more about the Mama Sherpas Documentary at themamasherpa.com.

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2015 strategic goals

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Strategic Goal 2: Explore new educational program options that support and enhance the mission of FNU.

Developing the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program

FNU plans to extend our currently offered distance education services to include a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program. By utilizing established and demonstrably successful FNU infrastructure and distance-learning methodologies, we hope to fill the chronic and critical need for mental health professionals in rural and underserved regions.

There is a significant shortage in the mental health care workforce. Nationally. 55% of the nation’s 3,100 counties have no practicing psychiatrists, psychologists, or social workers, and 3,132 mental health professional shortage areas (MHPSAs) exist in the United States with 8 million people living in them. The scope of the problem is exacerbated by barriers to early diagnosis, treatment, and care. Even if patients make the difficult choice to seek help, critical shortages in mental healthcare providers force patients to wait months before ever seeing a professional. This creates a critical treatment gap, wherein most of the people with mental disorders in the United States remain either untreated or poorly treated.

As with most healthcare shortages, disparities can be seen in the poorest, most remote areas of the country.

Rural areas present the highest need, where there are additional burdens of access, fewer providers, and a lack of culturally-sensitive outreach to diverse populations.

Psychiatric mental health advanced practice nurses are a vital part of the workforce required to meet increasing population mental health needs.

FNU is pleased to welcome Dr. Patricia Cunningham as Associate Dean for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program. Due to the overwhelming need for mental health providers and its alignment with our mission, FNU included development of a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program in the 2015-2019 Strategic Plan. Dr. Cunningham will develop the curriculum, seek accreditation for the program, secure clinical sites, and recruit faculty for the program throughout 2016 with plans to admit its first students in January 2017.

Dr. Cunningham completed a Doctor of Nursing Science Degree in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2001 and a Master of Science in Nursing with a specialty of psychiatric nursing from Indiana University in 1986. She has been certified as a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist since 1986 and as a family nurse practitioner since 1994. She has continuous certification as a Family Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner since 2006. In addition to her twelve years of nursing faculty experience, Dr. Cunningham has more than 35 years of psychiatric nursing experience.

Dr. Cunningham served as President of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association from 2012-2015. We are excited for the wealth of knowledge and experience she brings to Frontier in order to implement the new program.

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As with most healthcare shortages, disparities can be seen in the poorest, most remote areas of the country.

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Strategic Goal 3: Create a diverse environment that promotes and enriches the opportunity for all persons to succeed.

FNU’s PRIDE Initiative A Nationally Recognized Diversity Program The goal of the Frontier PRIDE Initiative is to create a diverse environment that promotes and enriches the opportunity for all persons to succeed and to prepare students to meet the cultural healthcare demands of diverse populations they serve. In 2010, FNU launched the PRIDE (Promoting Recruitment and Retention to Increase Diversity in nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner Education) Initiative. The ultimate goal of the PRIDE Initiative is to recruit and retain qualified minority students in our graduate school of nursing who will meet the health care demands of an increasingly diverse population. The PRIDE Initiative is a comprehensive program that includes targeted recruitment activities, retention programs, partnerships with undergraduate nursing programs and financial aid, and scholarship assistance. A combination of targeted strategies to recruit and retain students from minority backgrounds has proven successful over the last five years.

Wilvena McDowell, PRIDE Coordinator (right) with PRIDE student

FNU’s minority enrollment has grown from 10.6% in 2009 to 18% in 2015.

Diversity Impact Weekend Event 2015 Frontier Nursing University (FNU) hosted its 5th Annual PRIDE Diversity Impact Event on the FNU campus in Hyden, Kentucky, June 5-7, 2015. Over 70 students, faculty and staff united to engage in education sessions on diversity topics that addressed health disparities, bullying in the workplace, gender topics, and other diversity issues in healthcare. This year Diversity Impact had the largest online viewing attendance of 35 registered attendees, along with student organization participation from FNU Student Council, Student Ambassador Program, SAGE Mentors, and the Honor Society. Frontier’s Courier Program also brought in student interns from the University of California Berkeley, North Carolina State University, and the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

The keynote session “Culture of Housecalls” was led by Dr. Scharmaine Lawson-Baker, a nationally recognized and award-winning nurse practitioner in New Orleans, Louisiana. After Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Baker was instrumental in caring for the sick and disabled in New Orleans, where hospitals had closed and doctors had evacuated and then never returned. Her patient load went from 100 to 500 in only three months. Her passion and

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Frontier Nursing University was recognized by Minority Nurse magazine, in its annual Take Pride Campaign, as an exemplary institution for the success of the FNU PRIDE Initiative. Wilvena McDowell, Student Services Coordinator and PRIDE Coordinator, leads the PRIDE Initiative retention efforts, which include organizing monthly webinars; monthly meetings with PRIDE students using software that allows open discussion in a distance learning situation; providing ongoing online forum discussions on various topics; offers career guidance and assistance with clinical site selection; and even sending birthday ecards.

The PRIDE Initiative also has a partnership with the Midwives of Color Committee (MOCC), an extension of the American College for Nurse Midwives (ACNM), that offers MOCC mentors for students of color pursuing a degree in Nurse-Midwifery. Professional mentors within the nursing industry are paired with students seeking additional support and guidance.

FNU has been able to offer financial assistance to PRIDE essay winners to attend various professional conferences.

During the conference, students are paired with a faculty member to introduce them to colleagues, suggest their workshop schedule and events, and provide mentorship during the event. The students also assist staff in working at the conference exhibit hall and write reflections of their experience at the conference.

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Strategic Goal 3: continued unwavering dedication to caring for homebound patients is what prompted an interview with CBS. Informing patients on their health care and encouraging them to participate in decisions became an inspiration focus for her book release “Nola the Nurse.”

In addition to the annual on-campus Diversity Impact event, FNU hosts monthly virtual events as part of the PRIDE Initiative. In 2015 topics for webinars included: • Religious Diversity in Healthcare • Historical Health Disparities • Careers in Nursing • Cultural Communication Skills • The Impact of Racism on Health & Wellness hosted by American Public Health Association (APHA) • Nurse Dress Code: Why Do They Make Me Do That?

• No Safety, No Health, hosted by APHA • Cross-Cultural Safety for Nurses in the Workplace • Discover Your It-Factor: Communication Skills • Mobile Mental Health Resource for Improved Patient Care provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), hosted by the National Association for Hispanic Nurses (NAHN)

FNU Diversity and Inclusion Committee In 2015, FNU formed a new standing committee to further address diversity and inclusion institutionwide. This committee’s purpose is to foster a dynamic and empowering learning and working environment of acceptance and respect, recognizing individual uniqueness and differences of a multicultural, intercultural, and crosscultural perspective that encourages freedom of expression and civility of discourse. This committee has been met with enthusiasm from faculty, staff, and students and currently has twenty-two volunteer members. The committee will focus on identifying and implementing new programs and activities to address diversity and inclusion efforts at FNU.

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2015 PRIDE Diversity Impact event

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Strategic Goal 4: Decrease the student attrition rate to 15% or less across all programs.

Supporting Student Success Academic Advising and Students Services Programs Aim to Increase Student Retention FNU implemented a new advising model in 2014. Abby Hollander, Director of Student Retention and Academic Records, leads a team of academic advisors to provide individual and group support to students. Five fulltime advisors ensure that all students are assigned an individual advisor. The academic advisor is responsible for engaging the student in the education process, educating students regarding curricular requirements, and monitoring students’ progress toward degree completion.

The advisor and student meet a minimum of once per term and more as necessary. Each student also has a faculty mentor who models professional role and responsibilities, clarifies expectations for graduate level coursework, and promotes professional development. The team successfully transitioned all students to the new shared model of advising as of Winter Term 2015.

The advising team spent many hours assisting students— including 4,552 course registration meetings and additional meetings held throughout the year for students needing help outside of course registration. The advising team facilitated sessions at new student Frontier Bounds for all 16 new classes. The advising team is continuing to add services and in 2015 assumed responsibility for managing student performance plans. Team members held 134 meetings with students on performance plans. As data is key to evaluation and improvement, the team worked with the Registrar to correct over 800 missing or erroneous data points in PowerCampus, the FNU Student Management System. Additionally, the Director of Student Retention and

Academic Records is assisting in edits to academic policies to improve clarity for students.

Results of the advising program will continue to be revealed as data and feedback is collected from students.

Preliminary feedback shows positive increases across the board with regards to interaction with the advisor, timely response to calls/email, support provided and students’ sense that the advisors are concerned for their well-being. We are encouraged by the feedback received thus far and hope that each student feels supported and important in the program. The Director of Student Retention and Academic Records is working with the President, Assessment Coordinator, and IT Team to establish the most accurate data points and measures to track student retention.

Student Services Programs Student Services operates many additional programs designed to support students in their progress and increase retention. In 2015, the SAGE mentoring program was updated to become an online social network on Facebook. More than 90 members were recruited in the first month and the group had 170 members at the close of the year. Student Services staff facilitated 46 live online information sessions to all 16 classes of new students prior to their Frontier Bound with approximately 92% attendance. Student Services staff play a large role in the annual commencement ceremony; lead the Student Council nominations and elections; and take part in the annual Mary Breckinridge Festival.

Case Day, New York City

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n Saturday, October 3rd Dwynn Golden, Regional Clinical Faculty for Frontier Nursing O University, braved the cool temperatures and intermittent rain to lead a team of FNU graduates and students in the 12th Annual Miles for Midwives 5K in Brooklyn, NY. The annual event is a Fun Run and Birth Fair that brings together families, birth workers, and healthy-birth supporters for a day devoted to improving maternity care and community wellness. Angela Bailey, Associate Director of Development and Alumni Relations, manned the FNU booth at the Birth Fair to educate the community about the work of Frontier Nursing University. This fun event was held in conjunction with a Case Day that brought together nearly twenty students, alumni, preceptors and faculty.

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Strategic Goal 5: Foster a productive, inclusive, creative, and positive university environment for all constituents.

Foster a Supportive University was revised and many employees began telecommuting agreements. Leadership Team members also reviewed books and articles as a group and engaged in discussion about the readings. The Leadership Team will continue to meet monthly in order to provide training to supervisors as well as to engage in thoughtful discussions and decision-making to benefit all Frontier employees.

Shared Governance

The FNU faculty celebrate the 2015 commencement ceremony

Leadership Team As Frontier Nursing University faculty and staff have grown to nearly 200 current employees, new infrastructure has been developed in order to focus on workplace policies and employee satisfaction. The Leadership Team was formed in 2014 and consists of all FNU supervisors.

The purpose of the Leadership Team is to create and sustain a mutually beneficial, effective, satisfying, and supportive environment for all employees of Frontier Nursing University. The Leadership Team meets monthly to address institution-wide issues and is an avenue for all employees to voice suggestions or concerns.

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In 2015, the Leadership Team implemented many new changes that have a positive impact on employee satisfaction. Employees now receive a 25% discount in the gift shop, a shared sick leave bank was created, and vacation and sick leave were adjusted to allow for onehour increments. Additionally, the telecommuting policy

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Throughout 2015, the Shared Governance Committee worked to develop a proposal for implementing a shared governance structure at Frontier Nursing University. The proposal that has been presented to the administration will allow for all faculty and staff participation in committees and leadership groups, including participation in the Board meetings. This will ensure that decisions are being made and communicated more broadly across the University.

The implementation of a Shared Governance structure is expected to be complete in 2016.

Culture of Civility In 2015, FNU introduced the Culture of Civility Course as a required course for all current employees and also included the course for all new hires as part of their orientation. This is a practical course for all members of the Frontier Community aimed at equipping individuals to function and communicate more effectively. The course is completed online and includes modules explaining the Culture of Caring Study which was completed prior to the development of the course. Modules include meeting etiquette, civility in cyberspace, group work etiquette, difficult conversations, conflict resolution, and cultural competency.

The Leadership Team will continue to meet monthly in order to provide training to supervisors as well as to engage in thoughtful discussions and decision-making to benefit all Frontier employees.

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Strategic Goal 6: Provide faculty development opportunities designed to assure success in their roles as teacher, practitioner, and scholar.

Faculty Development FNU is proud to employ nearly 100 faculty members representing the best in their fields. Providing faculty development opportunities is key to their continued growth as teachers and satisfaction as practitioners and scholars.

In 2015, we were pleased to implement several new functions to support our faculty.

Individualized Faculty Development Plans In 2015, Frontier developed a new, formalized process for identifying and implementing individualized faculty development plans. The goal of the faculty development plan is to support the success of the students by nurturing individual faculty professional development. Areas of focus for faculty development reflect the same areas included in the rank process: teaching, service, and scholarship.

Faculty are surveyed to determine self-identified learning needs and resources needed for development. Each faculty member’s appropriate Associate Dean then works with him/her to develop an individualized faculty development plan based upon self-identified and mutually determined needs. These plans will be reviewed and goals will be set as part of the faculty evaluation process. The established individualized faculty development plan will be discussed twice yearly: at the annual spring review and in the fall for a report of progress. Plans will be amended as needed at either of these junctures. Additional resources for faculty development will be focused on needs identified through course evaluations, other student feedback, or peer review.

We are pleased to put this new process in place to ensure each faculty member is supported in their role as a teacher, practitioner, and scholar.

Center for Teaching Innovation

Faculty Innovation Awards In 2015, a grant from Dr. Alan Howard provided funding to award the Faculty Innovation Awards. These awards showcase the innovative ideas being used in courses and encourages sharing among the talented faculty.

2015 Faculty Innovation Awards were given to: Carol Palmer, PhD, FNP – Course Coordinator: NP706: Primary Care III Examples of Dr. Palmer’s course activities were shared were shared with the full faculty and included students’ participation via Google Hangout for cases studies and interactive “Diagnosis Games.” Dr. Palmer also published lectures and presentations on YouTube for easy access by students. “Dr. Palmer was very engaging. I really enjoyed the case studies where all the course participants could see each other and interact. It helped my learning tremendously. I also really enjoyed her powerpoint lectures. I am an auditory learner and this piece is missing from many classes. Her lectures were detailed, engaging, and helped me learn major concepts better than reading alone.” – Spring Term 2015 Course Evaluation Diane John, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC – Course Coordinator: PC702: Epidemiology and Biostatistics The innovative activity, Investigating an Outbreak, in course PC702: Epidemiology and Biostatistics, used digital storytelling and gaming as instructional strategies to meet the course objective and to enhance student learning. “I really enjoyed this activity. It was an engaging, informative, and refreshing learning experience. This type of low stress, fun learning method promotes creative thinking as well as positive, retained learning. Thank you for sharing this. I will definitely be downloading the app to my iPad so I can continue to play this game!” - Spring Term 2015 Course Evaluation president ’ s 2015 annual report

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Plans are taking shape to launch a Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. The Center will enable faculty to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their courses, incorporate creative and powerful technologies, develop well-designed experiences, and enhance students’ critical thinking and lifelong learning skills. During 2015, stakeholders created measurable objectives and are working diligently to move forward on the project. During 2016, we will: (1) build a resource base for the Center, including securing funding and assembling a stakeholder team; (2) analyze data to determine needs for faculty development and strengthened pedagogy; (3) investigate, publicize, and assist in implementation of evidence based pedagogy and innovative instructional and curricular approaches; and (4) promote an institutional culture of flexibility and support for trying new and innovative ideas.

Carol Palmer, Julie Marfell, Diane John and Susan Stone

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Strategic Goal 7: Ensure the effective use of administrative and technical systems to improve service.

Effective Service FNU maximizes use of technology resources to remain the leader in distance education for advanced practice nursing and midwifery. As a university that offers distance learning programs, technology is a key resource.

The focus for FNU Information Technology (IT) Services in 2015 was delivery of innovative, customer-focused, robust foundational technology solutions for the FNU community in delivery of our educational and clinical-learning model.

FNU IT Services, led by Chad Miller, Director of Information Technology, provided outstanding end-user support through our Support team, managed by Chris Coots.

Additionally, the team oversees the delivery of robust online tools through our infrastructure, development, and reporting services.

Support The support team led by Chris Coots is responsible for the operation of FNU technical support. A support team member handles all inbound student, faculty, staff, and alumni support requests ranging from a computer technical issue to the complex support of exam proctoring or web content publishing. The IT Team began using Zendesk help desk management software to assists agents in effectively

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In 2015, the FNU Support Team reduced wait times to an all-time low.

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managing support requests and providing meaningful report metrics. The support team completed over 1,000 support requests monthly and reduced wait times and ticket backlog to an all-time low. In 2015 the support team resolved 2,322 faculty tickets, 7,503 student tickets, and 3,904 staff tickets. The feedback satisfaction rating average for the team in 2015 is at 99%. It is paramount that our students receive the prompt and helpful technical support they need to succeed. We aim to make their experience in distance education easy to navigate from a technology perspective so that they may focus on the curriculum and excel in their programs.

president ’ s 2015 annual report

Infrastructure All infrastructure related items are managed and controlled

by Debi Mincks, FNU’s Senior Infrastructure Analyst and Systems Integrator overseeing all security, hosting, and hosted applications. FNU secures all applications and databases from external access utilizing a layered approach to security from firewalls, custom rules, controlled access, complex passwords, and VPN solutions.

All hosted services have been migrated to Amazon Web Services as FNU’s primary hosting solution for all applications and databases.

FNU maintains and manages infrastructure and application changes through a structured staged release process through the three environments (production, staging, and development). In early 2015, FNU made a major transition to a new learning management system (LMS).

The learning management system is where all the courses reside and most of the learning takes place. The Canvas LMS for students and faculty was integrated in concert with FNU’s instructional design team and successfully deployed. Google Apps for Education was adopted for delivering email, calendar, groups, hangouts, drive, and other free Google products to FNU. Big Blue Button online virtual classroom was integrated into FNU’s architecture for all classroom delivery and recorded sessions. Faculty and staff can use Big Blue Button to host large, online meetings and class discussions. Big Blue Button allows for video presentations and the sessions can be recorded and viewed at students’ convenience.

Application Development All Application Development work is under the direction and oversight of Samana Upadhyaya, FNU’s Process & Application Developer. Core focus currently is integration of the new Banyan Tree portal (Liferay), Canvas, PowerCampus, Proctorio, and Google API for delivering mature online integrations. These integrations are the foundation to deploying new web-based applications improving our student and faculty online experience.

Reporting and Analytics

Frontier Digital Depot

Accurate and accessible data on student learning outcomes, student retention, demographics,and other metrics are key to our evaluation and continuous improvement. Chris Hall, FNU’s Process and Reporting Analyst delivers reports and data insights through custom report and query statements, allowing insight into all the database stored information available. These work products helped deliver actionable information to our faculty and staff in the operation of the FNU model online.

Additionally, FNU was able to utilize the services to take a deep-dive investigation into FNU retention metrics. FNU strives to base all decisions on evidence and relies heavily on the report output from our IT department.

The FNU Library faculty and staff, led by Billie Anne Gebb, Director of Library Services, continued work to develop the Frontier Digital Depot. This online repository makes select instructional content and scholarly publications accessible to Frontier students, faculty, and staff. All completed Capstone projects by Frontier post-master’s DNP students are housed in the depot, as well as important historical photos and information, back issues of many Frontier publications, and faculty and staff publications. The Depot is searchable by key terms.

The Frontier Digital Depot, staffed by Jennifer Howard, Digital Resource Coordinator, will continue to be enhanced by inclusion of innovative teaching strategies and examples. We hope for this to be a dynamic and centralized resource for Frontier information and innovation.

Here’s what students and faculty are saying about Frontier’s IT Team: “Elliott was so professional, polite, and helpful! It was really quite a delightful experience!”

“Excellent as always. I never knew Tech support calls could be such a pleasure until I started at FNU!” “I was stressed and he called me back promptly on a Sunday. Thank you!”

“Misty is always so quick to help and very pleasant to talk with! Thank you!!”

“Everyone in IT is so helpful and patient. I have never had a bad experience with our IT!” “Excellent; Chad is very professional, knew how to quickly fix the problem and I was up and running again.”

frontirer nursing university president ’ s 2015 annual report

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2015 strategic goals

8

Strategic Goal 8: Continuously improve and maintain facilities to meet the needs of students, faculty and staff.

Facility Maintenance

The local choir sings beautiful carols for the holiday party attendees; right: The new wooden staircase

The Big House Celebrates its 90th Anniversary

frontirer nursing university

The “Big House” at Wendover, Mary Breckinridge’s original log home and now the Wendover Bed & Breakfast Inn, celebrated its 90 year anniversary in 2015. A Christmas party was held in December and the entire community invited to attend. The local choir sang beautiful carols; FNU staff hosted arts and crafts for the children; drama students played the roles of Mary Breckinridge and the Frontier nurses; and Santa even came to visit. It was a great celebration of our National Historic Landmark, the Big House, where it all began.

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Unfortunately, celebrations throughout the year were temporarily placed on hold when we closed the Wendover campus in March due to an impending rock slide. The Wendover facilities remained closed to visitors until late July. After several professional opinions and surveys of the potential slip in the mountain, the final determination has been to close the parking area in the Pig Alley parking lot in inclement weather. Fortunately, no slips seem to be threatening any of the buildings. As an alternative means to access the Big House, a wooden staircase was built connecting the Big House to the former Wendover post

president ’ s 2015 annual report

office. This allowed students to continue the tradition of dinner at the Big House during their campus Frontier Bound and Clinical Bound sessions.

Campus facilities manager, Barb Gibson, and the entire team stayed busy with maintenance and improvement projects throughout 2015. In addition to the new staircase to the Big House, the stone walkway was also replaced to be more accommodating to guests and also all historic windows for the building were replaced. With support from several foundations, roofs were replaced at the Faculty House and Aunt Hattie’s Barn. A renovation of the Haggin Dormitory dining hall and kitchen is also underway thanks to the generosity of the Margaret Voorhies Haggin Trust. Many other smaller projects were completed in order to improve the comfort and function of our historic buildings for our staff and students.

We continue to promote tourism and visitors to the Wendover campus. Tours and overnight accommodations can now be made online at www.frontier.edu/wendover.

Despite the five month closure, we hosted 65 overnight guests and 352 luncheon and dinner guests during 2015.

Former Leslie County resident, Amy Pennington Brudnicki recalls her 2015 visit to the Big House: “ Sometimes in your travels, you come across a place that’s so special, you know that one trip won’t be near enough.I found this to be true recently when I returned to the Big House for a weekend visit with my Mom, sister and niece.

The Wendover Bed & Breakfast was decorated beautifully for Christmas, both the house and grounds. And just like my last visit, the meals were delicious.

Unlike my last visit, I brought my family this time—one of which was my eight-year-old niece. It was nice to share this experience with her because we weren’t immersed in technology. We played cards, walked down by the river, took pictures, and hiked the mountain around the house. When it was time for bed, we shared stories about events that likely happened in the Big House over the years. I was able to tell her about the legacy of Mary Breckinridge, about the saddlebags on the horses and how children used to think they bulged because they were holding babies, and about our family’s own first-hand experience with Frontier Nursing School.

I told her I really liked the Big House. She told me she really liked bacon. It’s the small things in life that make you smile and that certainly made me smile!

Then she said, “I like talking with you.” If you have kids, I don’t have to tell you how much that statement meant to me. My reason in sharing this is to point out the importance of stepping back and focusing on the genuine simplicity of things. The Big House is perfect for that.

You can’t help but to reflect when you’re surrounded by so much nature and history. Someday when my niece is older, she won’t recall an App or a video game. But she will remember this trip and the memories we made just enjoying the moment. I love technology as much as the next gal, but sometimes, it’s nice to get back to the basics, to get back to what really matters and make lasting memories.

The Big House has quickly become a favorite destination of mine. If you have an appreciation of Appalachia and discovering its genuine beauty, check out the Wendover Bed & Breakfast Inn. My hunch is that you’ll love it as much as I do. And just like me, you’ll make plans to return…”

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Reservations for the Wendover Bed & Breakfast Inn can be made online at www.frontier.edu/wendover.

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2015 strategic goals

9

Strategic Goal 9: Develop and implement programs designed to secure resources to support programs and operations.

Answering the Call

left: FNU Dean, Dr. Julie Marfell with Frontier staff and students at the AANP annual meeting reception; middle: Lees Breckinridge Yunits, Chair of the Frontier Boston Committee, with John Grandin during the annual Derby Party to benefit Frontier, hosted by Peter and Abby Coffin; right: Board member Robert Montague, with Belle Brent Duchin and Board member Marion McCartney - 2015 Washington DC Committee Tea

Answering the Call: Nearly $3.5 million in support to Frontier Nursing University Thanks to the generous support of friends, alumni, and private foundations, and ongoing federal funding, Frontier Nursing University secured nearly $3.5 million in support in 2015. Development efforts include direct mail and communications, social media engagement, events, grant applications, planned giving, and visits with donors. FNU seeks funding to support endowment, scholarships, faculty development, campus improvements, technology and many special projects. Fundraising efforts help us to keep tuition affordable for students and to offer more scholarships and services to students without passing the costs to them.

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Answering the Call: Alumni Give Back

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Alumni giving to Frontier has increased 123% over the last two years. We are sincerely appreciative of our alumni support which also includes precepting current students and Kitty Ernst with daughter Kate referring new students Bauer, grandson Darby, and to our programs. In Susan Stone, celebrate the 2015, we announced announcement of the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery a campaign to fund the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery. As more than 100 midwifery alumni gathered at the annual American College of Nurse-Midwives meeting, we announced the establishment of the Kitty Ernst Chair of Midwifery. More than $30,000 was raised that evening from alumni, and nearly $100,000 total was raised towards the effort in 2015. With an additional $1M designated from unrestricted giving, the Kitty Ernst Chair of MIdwifery is permanently endowed within the foundation. Fundraising to increase the principle of the fund will continue.

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An Alumni Advisory Council was formed in 2015 and we recognize and thank the following alumni for serving in this volunteer capacity: Susan Clapp, CNM - President, Class 81 Stephanie Lowe, CNM - Vice President CNEP Class 84 and DNP Class 12 Sheila Hinton, FNP - Awards Committee Chair, Class 106 Barbara Lancaster, WHNP - Development Committee Chair, Class 86 Cathy Cook, CNM - Nominating Committee Chair, Class 17 Tia Andrighetti, CNM, DNP, Class 9 and 2 Ed Gonzalez, CFNP, Class 79 Marcia Hoon Hanks, CNM, Class 1, post master’s WHNP Kelly Stemm, WHNP, Class 53 Lisa Stout, WHNP, CNM, Class 39

Answering the Call: Scholarships for Students We continue to encourage donors and foundations to support our students through permanently endowed and spendable scholarships. We were pleased in 2015 to award nearly $100,000 in endowed and private scholarships. An additional $800,000 was awarded to Frontier Nursing University through the Advanced Nursing Education Traineeship and Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students programs of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Nearly 200 students benefited from this support in 2015. However, with more than 1,600 students, 87% utilizing federal financial aid to pay for their education, we have a goal to establish many new permanently endowed scholarships to support students into the future.

We would like to thank the following individuals and foundations for their support of student scholarships in 2015: • Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation • Berea College Appalachian Fund • Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare • Grandin Family Foundation – Susanne Preston Wilson Grandin Scholarship • Richard David Stutzke Foundation • Van Sloun Foundation • Patricia Perrin Lawrence • Noel Smith Fernandez • Marguerite B. Howard Scholarship – established in memory of Marguerite B. Howard by her family • Mary Wilson Neel Scholarship – established in memory of former Courier Mary Wilson Neel • Kentucky Mountain Club • Virginia “Ginny” McAlister Scholarship – given in memory of alumnus Ginny McAlister through generous gifts of friends, family, faculty, students and alumni

Cindy Maynard Inez, Kentucky - Recipient of the Marguerite B. Howard Scholarship “ Receiving this scholarship alleviates much of the anxiety I feel about borrowing such a large amount of money that will have to be paid back once my education is complete. I currently work one day a week in a local after-hours clinic in Martin County. My dream is to grow this after-hours clinic and offer a multitude of services.

Expanding this clinic would mean many people who may not have the funds to travel would have access to healthcare closer to home.”

Answering the Call: Providing resources and guidance to support our mission In 2011, Frontier formed the Leadership Council to guide the fundraising efforts for FNU with a focus on building the endowment. These volunteers have continued to meet formally twice annually to receive updates on fundraising progress and the latest news and achievements from Frontier. Throughout the year, these individuals give their personal “time, talent, and treasure” to advocate for our mission and garner increased and new support for the campaign. Thank you for continuing to serve—the FNU endowment has nearly doubled since this Council formed.

Frank Hower, III, Louisville, KY Lindy Karns, Lexington, KY Fred Keller, Jr., Lexington, KY Elizabeth Kramer, Lexington, KY Marion McCartney, Washington, DC Helen Rentch, Midway, KY Linda Roach, Lexington, KY

Sandra Schreiber, Louisville, KY Terri Stallard, Lexington, KY Mary Clay Stites, Louisville, KY Mary Frazier Vaughan, Lexington, KY George Wallace, Lexington, KY Phyllis Leppert, Durham, NC Martha Copeland, Lexington, KY

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Betty Brown, Louisville, KY Jane Campbell, Berea, KY Michael Carter, Tumbling Shoals, AR Peter Coffin, Chestnut Hill, MA Greg Couch, Lexington, KY John Foley, Lexington, KY Susan Graham, Amherst, NY Nancy Hines, Shepherdsville, KY

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2015 strategic goals

Strategic Goal 9: continued Frontier Trustees In 2015, Frontier Nursing University reached out to all those individuals named as Frontier Trustees with an invitation to attend a first annual meeting of the Trustees. We are honored to have these individuals continue to serve in this role.

The Frontier Trustees are a group of individuals organized to support the mission of Frontier Nursing University through active engagement in University activities, playing an advisory role in strategic planning, providing thoughtful feedback to the organization, and acting as ambassadors of Frontier Nursing University in their own communities and fields. The active Trustees currently includes 30 members, representing Kentucky, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Maryland. The Trustees includes former Couriers, former Board members, Committee Chairs and members, and other volunteers. Thank you for your service!

Mrs. Tia Andrew, Bermuda Mrs. Betty Dabney Brown, Louisville, KY Ms. Sarah Bacon, Brooklyn, NY Mrs. Heather Bernard, Hamilton, NY Governor and Mrs. Steven L. Beshear, Frankfort, KY Dr. Wallace Campbell, Berea, KY Ms. Carlyle Carter, Evanston, IL Ms. Anna Carey, Hyden, KY Dr. Holly Cheever, Voorheesville, NY Mrs. Lois Cheston, Topsfield, MA Mrs. John Dawson, Little Compton, RI Mrs. John J. Dete, West Liberty, OH Mrs. Peter Ehrlich, Bedford, NY Mrs. Robert Estill, Raleigh, NC Mr. John Grandin, Chestnut Hill, MA Dr. Joyce Fortney Hamberg, Southgate, KY Mr. and Mrs. John Hodge, Berwyn, PA Mrs. Robin Frentz Isaacs, Lincoln, MA Mrs. Patricia Perrin Lawrence, Westwood, MA Mrs. Henry Ledford, Big Creek, KY Mrs. Marian Leibold, Cincinnati, OH

Mrs. Noel Smith Fernandez, Pomona, NY Mr. Theodore R. P. Martin, St. Louis, MO Mrs. Joan Lambert McPhee, Potomac, MD Mr. Wade Mountz, Louisville, KY Dr. Spencer Noe, Lexington, KY Mrs. Frank O’Brien, Boston, MA Mr. Dean Osborne, Hyden, KY Mrs. James Rawleigh, Louisville, KY Mrs. Helen Rentch, Midway, KY Mrs. John Richardson, Washington, DC Mrs. Linda Roach, Lexington, KY Mrs. Georgia Rodes, Lexington, KY Mrs. Sandra Schreiber, Louisville, KY Ms. Deborah Smith, Dedham, MA Mrs. Austin Smithers, Lyme, NH Mrs. Robert Steck, Arlington, MA Mrs. Mary Clay Stites, Louisville, KY Dr. W. Grady Stumbo, Hindman, KY Mr. Richard Sturgill, Paris, KY Mrs. Mary Frazier Vaughan, Lexington, KY Mrs. LouAnne Roberts Verrier, New York, NY Dr. Patience White, Bethesda, MD Mr. Harvie Wilkinson, Lexington, KY

The Banyan Tree Legacy Society

frontirer nursing university

Planned giving continues to be a significant source of support to Frontier Nursing University. We are honored to recognize members of the Banyan Tree Legacy Society. These individuals have informed us that Frontier is included in their estate plans. These future gifts will help to sustain Frontier just as the planned gifts received each year are sustaining us in current times.

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Kendra Adkisson Joselyn Bacon Connie Becker Marjorie Boetter Carlyle Carter

president ’ s 2015 annual report

Charlotte Clark Laurie Coursin Eleanor Earle Marybeth Gorke-Felice Thrygve R. Meeker

Elizabeth Miner Robert Montague Dorothy Morris Mudd Jean P. Owens

Courier Program: Answering the Call to Service The new community-based Courier Program, following in the legacy of our original 1500 Couriers’ contributions to the Frontier community, entered its third year with Frontier Nursing University with a terrific group of Couriers. Modern Couriers, usually undergraduate students, are assigned to do service at rural health clinics and birth centers in the Appalachian region under mentorship of FNU nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives.

The goals of the modern Courier Program are to: • introduce Couriers to the value of public health, advanced practice nursing, and primary healthcare services to people living in rural and underserved communities • support clinical and other community sites by meeting critical needs that would otherwise go unmet • foster cultural humility through Courier engagement with diverse communities and fellow Couriers • facilitate Couriers’ experience of FNU’s mission in action and encourage them to embody the Frontier legacy in their later vocations and personal lives.

We were excited to host eight Couriers for the Summer 2015 program. These college students hailed from California, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Courier service sites included White House Clinic, McKee, KY; ARH Mary Breckinridge

Hospital, Hyden, KY; Hazard Clinic, Hazard, KY; Hospice of the Bluegrass; Lisa Ross Birth Center, Knoxville, Tn; Little Flower Clinic, Hazard, KY; and Red Bird Mission, Manchester, KY. The Couriers completed more than 2,000 service hours, nearly 1,500 clinical hours, and 558 community service hours. Couriers assist their clinical sites with a variety of duties, and they also choose a community project external to their work at a clinic site. In addition to logging many hours in service, the Couriers were able to enjoy the Red River Gorge area, Gabe’s Creek Falls, various festivals, a trip to Knoxville, hiking in the Daniel Boone forest, Oakwood Acres, horseback riding, visiting the first Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Coal mining museum, and visits to Berea, KY. The summer program was a great success and we are proud to continue offering this exciting summer internship for college students.

“ During this program, I have started to consider acquiring a Master’s degree in Public Health—a desire that had never materialized until I reflected on my experiences in Kentucky and knowledge gained from the nurse practitioners in my clinic. My time here has left such an impact on myself that I cannot simply end up a doctor plopped in the middle of the familiar suburbs serving individuals. I feel I must become involved in improving the public health climate, especially where it covers under-served populations.”

- 2015 Courier

Courier Unbridled Service Award

president ’ s 2015 annual report

frontirer nursing university

The Courier Program Unbridled Service Award is given annually to a former Courier who has carried the torch of Mary Breckinridge beyond the mountains, perpetuating the mission and spirit of Frontier in their own lives. The criteria for this award includes dedication to serving others; ongoing, longstanding stewardship of Frontier; and demonstration of personal conviction, courage and a zest for adventure.

We were excited to honor Mrs. Patricia Perrin Lawrence with the 2015 Unbridled Service Award. Patsy served as a Courier in 1947. She famously quotes her father as saying she went for six weeks and matured six years during her time as a Courier. Patsy’s service to Frontier did not end after her Courier experience. Patsy served as Chair of the Boston Committee for many years and is still actively involved with the Boston Committee events. Most recently Patsy made a generous gift to establish the Patricia Perrin Lawrence Scholarship at Frontier Nursing University. This scholarship will make annual awards to Frontier students into the future. This financial commitment will benefit countless Frontier students. We are pleased to honor Pasty for her dedication to the mission and spirit of Frontier.

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2015 strategic goals

10

Strategic Goal 10: Develop a long-range financial plan to support the strategic planning process.

Strategic Planning In 2015 we recruited additional board members with expertise in financial management and investments. Some of them have joined the newly formed board of Frontier Nursing Service, Incorporated, which serves as the charitable foundation for Frontier Nursing University. The foundation board oversees the finances and management of the foundation as well as the investment performance of the foundation’s endowment. In addition to these improvements in the oversight of the foundation, we have improved financial reporting to the Frontier Nursing University Board of Directors. The enhanced reporting package now includes the consolidated financial results and forecasts that encompass both the university and the foundation.

Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. (foundation) Board of Directors Peter Coffin of Chestnut Hill, MA and founder of Breckinridge Capital Investments, has joined the newly formed foundation Board of Directors and will serve as the Chair. He is joined by Fred Keller, Jr. (retired Merrill Lynch), Derek Bonifer (PNC Bank) and Peter Schwartz (FNU Board of Directors) to form this new board to oversee the investments held in the supporting foundation for FNU. We are thankful to have a dedicated Board of Directors with diverse expertise and unified passion for our mission to help guide the future of Frontier Nursing University.

Della Deerfield and Jean Johnson join FNU Board of Directors

frontirer nursing university

Della Deerfield, CPA is the Vice President of Finance at Creative Lodging Solutions, LLC (CLS) in Lexington, KY. Prior to joining CLS in 2014, Ms. Deerfield spent more than 20 years as the finance executive at community hospitals in rural Kentucky.

As the chief financial officer at Marcum & Wallace Memorial Hospital in Irvine, KY and Saint Joseph – Berea (formerly Berea Hospital) in Berea, KY, Ms. Deerfield provided leadership for financial operations, health information management, information technology, provider practices, and corporate compliance. During her tenure, both facilities implemented information systems and processes to improve patient care and achieve operational efficiencies.

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president ’ s 2015 annual report

Dr. Jean Johnson is a Professor and served as Founding Dean of the School of Nursing (SON) at the George Washington University from 2010-2014.

Prior to serving as Dean, Dr. Johnson was Senior Associate Dean for the Health Sciences Programs. During that time she expanded the Health Sciences Programs from a small student enrollment to nearly 1,000 students. Throughout her career, Dr. Johnson has been committed to improving the health and well-being of people and communities, and has designed and launched a range of programs to improve access to nursing education and health care in rural and underserved communities. She has been extensively involved in national leadership around legislative and regulatory policy focusing on nursing issues. She has served as President of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and President of the American College of Nurse Practitioners. She has served on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Future of Primary Care.

FNU Faculty Janelle Komorowski, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Nicole T. Lassiter, MSN, CNM, WHCNP Course Faculty Amber Littlefield, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator Anna M.Louiso, DNP, FNP Course Faculty & Regional Clinical Faculty Dawn Lovelace, DNP, CNM, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Rachel H. Mack, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator &

Clinical Bound Team Leader Audra C. Malone, DNP, FNP Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Laura E. Manns-James, Course Faculty & PhD in progress, CNM, WHCNP Clinical Bound Team Leader Amy Marowitz, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Jacquelyn R. Martin, DNP, CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Linda R. McDaniel, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Alyn McGee, MSN, CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Niessa Meier, DNP (in progress), CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Barbara E. Moore, MSN, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Kathleen Moriarty, PhD, CNM Course Faculty Melanie P. Morrison, DNP, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Amy F. Nassar, DNP (in progress), FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Jackie Noland, MSN, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Michele L. North, DNP (in progress), CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Maureen M. Northway, DNP, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Denise L. Orrill, DNP, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Laura Orsetti, MSLS Instructional Designer Amy Palmer, DNP, CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Deanna C. Palmer, PhD, FNP Course Coordinator Julie A. Paul, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Nancy Pesta Walsh, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator &

Regional Clinical Faculty Allison G. Phillips, DNP, FNP, WHCNP Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Bunny K. Pounds, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Chaundel L. Presley, DNP, FNP Course Faculty, Regional Clinical

Faculty & Clinical Bound Team Leader Cynthia Reed, DNP, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Kathryn M. Schrag, MSN, CNM, FNP Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Heather A. Shlosser, DNP, FNP, PMHNP Course Coordinator Sarah Smith, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator &

Clinical Bound Team Leader Gail Spake, MA Writing Support Specialist Ann Stewart, MSN, CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Vicky Stone-Gale, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator Tanya Tanner, PhD, CNM Course Coordinator Ellen Urquhart, DNP, FNP Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Maria Valentin-Welch, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Melinda Webb, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator &

Regional Clinical Faculty Brian M. Webster, DNP, FNP, FAWM Course Faculty Nora Webster, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator &

Clinical Bound Team Leader Jan Weingrad Smith, PhD, CNM Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Sharon M. Weyer, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator Tammy L. Whitehead, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator &

Regional Clinical Faculty Kelly P. Wilhite, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Heather R. Wilkinson, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Penny R. Wortman, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Zach Young, MSLS Information Services Librarian Susan M. Yount, PhD, CNM, WHCNP Course Coordinator

president ’ s 2015 annual report

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Susan E. Stone, DNSc, CNM, FAAN, FACNM President Julie Marfell, DNP, FNP Dean of Nursing Anne Cockerham, Associate Dean of PhD, CNM, WHCNP Academic Affairs Lisa Chappell, PhD, FNP Associate Dean for Family Nursing Tonya B. Nicholson, Associate Dean for DNP, CNM, WHCNP Midwifery & Women’s Health Patricia A. Voss, DNP, CNM Program Director, ADN-MSN Bridge Jill B. Alliman, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Azra H. Alomerovic, DNP, FNP Course Faculty & Clinical Bound

Course Faculty Tia P. Andrighetti, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator &

Regional Clinical Faculty Rhonda Arthur, DNP, CNM, FNP, WHCNP Program Director Beki Asti, MSN, FNP Course Faculty & Regional Clinical Faculty Polly B. Astin, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Victoria L. Baker, PhD, CNM Course Coordinator Laura K. Baraona, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Rebeca Barroso, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Mary E. Biggerstaff, DNP, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Barbara P. Brennan, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Jacquelyne L. Brooks, Course Coordinator & DNP, CNM, WHCNP Regional Clinical Faculty Victoria H. Burslem, MSN, CNM Clinical Bound Course Faculty Shirley A. Bush, MSN, CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Judith M. Butler, DNP, CNM, WHCNP Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Marietta Cahill, MSN, CNM Regional Clinical Faculty Patricia Caudle, DNSc, CNM, FNP Course Coordinator Heather Clarke, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Ruth Coffman, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Linda Cole, DNP, CNM Course Faculty & Regional Clinical Faculty James C. Corder, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Kimberly A. Couch, DNP, CNM, FNP Course Faculty Julie L. Daniels, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Sarah A. Derrick, DNP, FNP Regional Clinical Faculty Eunice Kitty Ernst, MPH, CNM Mary Breckenridge Chair

of Midwifery Jana L. Esden, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator Rebecca A. Fay, DNP, CNM Course Faculty Cathy Fliris, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Heidi Froemke, DNP, FNP Course Coordinator &

Clinical Bound Team Leader Meghan E. Garland, MSN, CNM Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Billie Anne Gebb, MSLS Director of Library Services Mary Gillmor-Kahn, MSN, CNM Course Faculty Dwynn Golden, DNP, CNM Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Nena R.Harris, PhD, CNM, FNP Course Coordinator Jane F. Houston, DNP, CNM Clinical Director of

Midwifery & Women’s Health Lisa P. Huckaby, MSN, CNM Course Faculty &

Regional Clinical Faculty Sharon C. Hunsucker, PhD (in progress), FNP Course Faculty Diane Y. John, PhD, FNP Course Coordinator Diana R. Jolles, PhD (in progress), CNM Course Coordinator Mary K. Jones, DNP, CNM, FNP Course Faculty, Regional Clinical

Faculty & Clinical Bound Team Leader Irma O. Jordan, Clinical Director of Family Nursing DNP, FNP, PMHNP Deborah Karsnitz, DNP, CNM Course Coordinator Joanne M.Keefe, DNP, FNP Course Faculty Yasmine K. Key, DNP, FNP Course Faculty

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FNU Staff Accounting

Facilities Vice President of Finance

Michael Steinmetz, MBA

Controller

Laura B. Davis, BS

Facilities Manager

Barb Gibson

Maintenance Foreman

Larry A. Morgan

Jane E. Itzel, BA

Senior Accountant

Lonnie Brown

Cecily M. Riley, BA

Senior Accountant

Tyler Smith

Starla G. Selby, BS

Senior Accountant

Dustin R. Howard

Security/Maintenance

Robin P. Smith, BA

Senior Accountant

George D. Morgan

Security/Maintenance

Admissions & Financial Aid Rainie Boggs, MBA

Director of Enrollment Management & Financial Aid

Jessica N. Baker, BA

Academic Resource Coordinator Financial Aid Officer

Kaleena M. Burnett, BA Chasity N. Collett, AA

Senior Admissions Officer

Andrew T. Dezarn, BA

Assistant Director Financial Aid Admissions Officer

Sharon G. Feltner

Financial Aid Officer

Christopher Hendrix, BS

Maintenance Security/Maintenance

Joshua G. Napier

Security/Maintenance

Jack D. Robertson

Security/Maintenance Security/Maintenance

John R. Wooton

Campus Services Coordinator

Mary A. Smallwood

Housekeeper/Cook

Betty C. Bowling Hallie F. Hall

Housekeeper/Cook

Natasha Howard

Housekeeper/Cook

Samantha A. Joseph

Housekeeper/Cook

Angela D. Maggard

Housekeeper/Cook

Vickie Mosley

Housekeeper/Cook

Barbara A. Jones

Admissions Officer

Thelma J. Napier

Housekeeper/Cook

Katherine J. Moses, BS

Admissions Officer

Barbara J. Roberts

Housekeeper/Cook

Linda S. Sawyers

Housekeeper/Cook

Advancement Office Denise Barrett, MBA

Director of Development and Alumni Relations

Angela L. Bailey, BA

Associate Director of Development Grants Management Officer

Cynthia M. Byars, MA Anna V. Carey, M ED

Courier Program Development Assistant

Michael J. Claussen, BA Amanda Hancock, MA

Development Officer Courier Program Coordinator

Business Office Shelley M. Aldridge, BA Beulah F. Couch, HR Certificate Marilyn Lyons, MS Susan H. Morgan Eileen J. O’Donnell Christi J. Ohr Heather A. Ramey, BS

Chad Miller, MS

Director of Information Technology Process & Reporting Analyst

Christopher K. Hall, BS

LMS Coordinator

Cherie Lakes, LMS

Senior Infrastructure Analyst & System Integrator

Deborah D. Mincks, AS

Samana Upadhyaya, MS

Process & Application Developer

Christopher B. Coots, BA

Support Services Manager

Misty Baker, AS

Junior Support Analyst

Adam Caudill, AA

Junior Support Analyst

HR/Site Manager

Russel Smakal , AS

Junior Support Analyst

Assessment Coordinator

Curtis E. Fields, AA

IT Assistant

Andrew S. Jackson, AA

IT Assistant

Chief Operations Officer

Receptionist Administrative Assistant Office Assistant Compliance Officer

Library Services Jennifer N. Howard , MSLS

Director of Clinical Credentialing

Digital Resource Technician Library Technician

Aimee J. Niles, MSLS

Clinical Credentialing Jodi A. Dickey, BA

IT & Multimedia

Marketing

Brittany N. Bachman, MBA

Clinical Credentialing Coordinator

Amanda B. Bockelman, BA

Clinical Credentialing Coordinator

Brittney E. Edwards, MBA

Hollie A. Bradley, BA

Clinical Credentialing Coordinator

Stephanie A. Boyd, BS

Bridgett N. Lyall, BS

Clinical Credentialing Coordinator

Samantha Flood, BA

Director of Marketing & Communications Multimedia Communications Specialist Student Recruitment Coordinator

Student Services Abigail R. Hollander, MA Director of Student Retention & Records Sherri Davis frontirer nursing university

Lesia M. Holder, MA

36

Amanda K. Jones, BS

Professional Advisor

Carisa K. Kelsey, BS

Professional Advisor

Wilvena T. McDowell, MS Robby Morton , MPA, CPM Sarah M. Turley, MSSW Debra D. Turner, BS

Jamie E. Wheeler, MA

president ’ s 2015 annual report

Registrar Professional Advisor

Student Services/Pride Coordinator Professional Advisor Professional Advisor Student Services Coordinator Clinical Site Facilitator

Answer the call.

Campus: 195 School Street P.O. Box 528 Hyden, KY 41749 606.672.2312 Wendover: 132 FNS Drive Wendover, KY 41775