Announcement and Call for Search Committee Nominations: Dean of the UK College of Nursing

The following communication was distributed to faculty, staff and students in the College of Nursing on February 10, 2022. If you have any questions about the search, please contact Anna Chalfant (anna.chalfant@uky.edu) in the Office of the Provost.

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Colleagues:

As you may know, Dean Heath has informed me of her intention to retire. Since August 2014, Janie Heath, PhD, APRN-BC, FAAN, FNAP, FAANP, has led the University of Kentucky College of Nursing as Dean in its mission to envision, engage and empower the next generation of nurses. She has — from the beginning of her tenure at UK — created a culture of excellence to help save lives, transform communities and inspire hope through education, research, practice and service.

Under her leadership the College of Nursing has realized several notable achievements:

• Raised the academic program profile to national prominence among public institutions, including high rankings by U.S. News and World Report as well as the National Institute for Nursing Research.
• Expanded the college’s research portfolio to $36 million in active research and training awards.
• Increased the number of graduates from undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate certificate programs as well as an increase in retention rates for the undergraduate program.
• Achieved NCLEX first-time pass rates among the top in the state and the nation, averaging 98-100%.
• Prioritized diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, including increased undergraduate enrollment for under-represented minority (URM) students and increased recruitment of URM faculty.
• Expanded efforts related to rural health outreach, academic and clinical partnerships with organizations such as Eastern State Hospital and faculty practice initiatives, including operation of a Nurse Practitioner managed clinic in Wilmore, Kentucky.
• Focused on student, faculty and staff mental health and wellness through a program called Cultivate Practices for Resilience (CPR).
• Cultivated philanthropy, increasing the number of new gifts as well as the number of overall donors.

Again, I want to emphasize how appreciative we are to Dean Heath. I hope you will join me in thanking her for her service to the institution, as we work with her to create a successful transition.

We will soon begin a national search process for a new Dean of the College of Nursing starting this month. The first step in this process is a request for nominations for members of the search committee.

If you would like to nominate an individual to serve on the search committee, please send their name, contact information and a brief justification to Anna Chalfant (anna.chalfant@uky.edu). Please submit your nominations by Monday, February 21 at 5 p.m.

Thank you very much for participating in this important process.

Robert S. DiPaola, M.D.

Acting Provost