Over the past ten months, we have welcomed three new leaders to the College of Nursing. Daniel Crawford, DNP, ARNP, CPNP-PC, CNE, FAANP became associate dean for graduate practice programs in April; Tracie Harrison, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN joined the college as associate dean for research and scholarship in July; and Mary Tobin, PhD, RN began her position as associate dean for undergraduate and Master of Science in Nursing - Entry into Practice (MSN-EIP) programs on January 2. We are excited to leverage their vast experience on behalf of our students, and look forward to seeing where the college goes under their leadership.
We recently sat down with each new associate dean to learn more about their journey to the college and their plans for forging new paths. Conversations have been edited for length and clarity.
Mary Tobin, PhD, RN
Associate dean for undergraduate and MSN-EIP programs
What drew you to the position of associate dean for undergraduate and MSN-EIP programs at the College of Nursing?
I've been in nursing education practically my whole life. I served as a department chair at Coe College and Iowa Wesleyan and taught early in my career at community colleges. I have the skills to develop modern, accredited pre-licensure programs, a passion for accreditation, regulation, and curriculum, and enjoy applying theories to organizations to help them to be more effective.
I have a PhD from the UI College of Education, but my master's is from the College of Nursing, and it gave me the skills I needed for a vibrant nursing career. I loved my education in the College of Nursing and thought this would be a great opportunity to give back.
How did you get started in the field of nursing?
It was a tangled route into it, actually – I was interested in everything. I went to Iowa State for as an undeclared major and I think I changed my major six times. I think it's important that students navigate everything that's possible at colleges to find the area that is their passion, and that's what I did.
Obtaining a nursing degree was a great decision. I have been able to do so much with my career and really enjoyed it both on a micro and a macro level.
What are your initial plans for the position?
Health care is shifting right now in fascinating ways, and I think overall we want to work to equip nurses to lead in the shifting health care terrains. My master's at Iowa had a community health flavor to it and it's so exciting to me the way health care is now migrating into understanding how we need to equip nurses to serve in communities and prevention. I think the College of Nursing has a strong focus in that. It's going to be fun to get creative and empower our faculty to empower our students with what they need in contemporary health care.
As a nurse, I know you assess first, so I want to lean in, listen, and learn. I understand that collaboration is key and want to stimulate a collaborative, innovative environment where all voices are heard.
What would you like to see happen over the next few years?
It’s important that we affiliate curriculum and teaching strategies with the changing health care terrains. [The college is having some] wonderful conversations about how to operationalize the new essentials, and I cannot wait to see what they've come up with.
As a native of Burlington, Iowa, I have deep roots in the state and I want to understand what the state of Iowa needs and expand statewide partnerships. I also look forward to meeting alumni and hearing their stories of how Iowa helped them succeed in their career.
My favorite concept I learned in my time at the University of Iowa was the concept of empowerment. I think it's so important that you empower faculty to empower the students, and I'm looking forward to helping them. I have a servant leadership mentality at this age; I want to serve others to keep the bus moving and I want to move the bus to an even higher level.
There's nothing you can't do with a nursing degree, and I think we want to help people find their passion in the field. I found my passion for regulation and quality at the University of Iowa, thanks to amazing professors like Dr. Kathy Kelly. We all have our own passion, and when we bring that piece to the puzzle, it just makes for a beautiful image all put together.
Tracie Harrison, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN
Associate dean for research and scholarship
What drew you to the position of associate dean for research at the College of Nursing?
I was a full professor at University of Texas, Austin, with tenure, when I was recruited to go to University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as an endowed chair and they had a reputation for being highly successful in gerontology, so I went. A couple of years later I heard from Keela [Herr, UI College of Nursing professor], and she suggested I apply for the associate dean for research (ADR) position. It all worked out and I was offered the ADR position.
There are brilliant scholars at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. I had experienced their impact in gerontology as a postdoctoral fellow working with Toni Tripp-Reimer when she was the ADR at the college. Knowing the reputation in nursing, I have always been pulled toward Iowa. I made a great decision.
What does it mean to be the associate dean for research? What have you been working on in this position?
My vision for the position and the Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship (ONRS) is to deliver strategic resources and services that embolden innovation in health research and scholarship as well as inspire the next generation of nurses in Iowa and the nation.
I had been in positions as faculty utilizing the resources of an ADR, but not delivering them, and the models that I have had were not as fully developed as the model here. I was looking at the overall scaffolding of the reporting structure and organizational structure of it all and thinking, ‘wow, this is truly amazing. How do I come to a position where I don't micromanage what’s going on but enhance, motivate, and lead?’
My first step was to think a little bit about each of the roles. I talked with everyone individually in ONRS. What did they do, what did they think about it, and what would make it better? I also visited with many of the tenure track faculty, ADRs in different departments and the leadership infrastructure. I realized that as long as I didn't try to do everyone else's job and did my job, I might be successful at this, and so that's what I've been trying to do. I want everyone to feel like what they're doing is enhancing their own mission and vision for their role and feeling like they can grow within their role.
I want all of our faculty to feel emboldened to try new things; not to feel like they're just chasing funding, but to be scholars. The money will come, in my rosy view of the world, if you truly believe that what you're doing is the best scientific process for your question. We will help you to get where you need to be, but we need you to have a question. That’s how I see my role in working with faculty – to get them to make the statements they need to make about their research, to ask the difficult questions, and to be innovative, and then help the staff who are working with those folks to be the resources.
We have these two centers, one in gerontology and one in classification, and a tremendous reputation in these two areas. One of my thoughts was, ‘how do I get to a point that I'm leveraging these two centers with this amazing infrastructure?’.
If we can use those two centers to catapult [our] scholars in the direction that they want to go using the resources of ONRS, that would be ideal.
The other thing that I've been working on is our connections with University of Iowa Health Care, and thinking about how we can make it easier for our faculty and the staff nurses to collaborate. What would it take to make these relationships work easier? How do we facilitate those relationships and at the same time bring those folks over here for further education?
What would you like to see in the future for research in the College of Nursing?
ONRS Director Linda Hand and I put together some strategies to build on what [prior Associate Dean for Research] Dr. Rakel has accomplished in getting folks strategically aligned with what they see as their research umbrella and seeking funding within that.
Some have just missed the funding line, and our initiatives have been focused on moving them across that line to gain the funding they need to do the work that they're motivated to do.
If you don't have the resources to do the research, it's all just pipe dream, so getting those resources to them when those ideas are really good is where we've been focused. If a faculty member receives a score that is close, we provide a little bit of funding to address some of the problems that were in their grant application so we'll get them across that line with their next proposal.
Also working with our mid-career folks to say, ‘You are key in this college to our growth. We need you funded; we need you moving in to the professor or senior level.’ We want them to get to the next level so that the college can grow.
Two of the wonderful things about being within this college are the resources and expertise available. It's not like anything I've seen before. Hopefully I can live up to it.
Daniel Crawford, DNP, ARNP, CPNP-PC, CNE, FAANP
Associate dean for graduate practice programs
What does it mean to be the associate dean for graduate practice programs?
The position itself focuses on the quality of our academic programs in the graduate practice programs. We have a long legacy of really strong graduate programs. I think this is a role that is entrusted to preserve that, but also to advance it; to continue to push towards the next level and to expand the quality. The overall reputation of our graduates and what we bring to the workforce and the broader profession is the central component. Accreditation ties to it as does having all the resources that we need to do things well, expanding partnerships with our clinical partners, and creating new opportunities for students – like our newer initiatives around rural health. All of these are key components, but the bottom line is the quality and the continuous pursuit of excellence with our academic programs at the graduate level.
What drew you to the position?
I have past experience in this type of academic leadership role, so I think I had a pretty firm understanding of what would come with it and ideas on how to do things well and how to do things differently. At the same time, we're in this place where curriculum is drastically changing. We have these new national standards for graduate nursing curriculum that radically shifts the way that we teach our students. As someone who's been a leader with a lot of the national initiatives around the nurse practitioner piece of the curriculum, I feel like the work that I was already doing aligned well with what would be needed in this role.
I'm the kind of person who is always looking for the next thing to do better, and so it was an exciting thought [that I could] bring my experience to a role where I know the work is going to be constantly changing, so we can keep doing and trying new things and keep working to make things better.
What have you been up to so far?
Working with our faculty governance structure and creating shared vision for curriculum change and where things need to go. We recently approved the new plan of study for the DNP programs and master's programs and now are building out what the courses are going to look like. With a new plan of study, it's all new courses and heavily revised courses.
Going along with that is also figuring out the resourcing, and how we make sure the right resources are in place to make this kind of change and be able to do things the way we want to.
Additionally, I have been working to redefine the role of our program directors; to empower them as leaders and give them more of a voice in the direction and future of their program.
What would you like to see in the future for graduate programs at College of Nursing?
Rankings are great and everybody loves to be number one, me included, but I think it's deeper than that.
I want to see our programs be nationally recognized, and I want to see the individuals who lead in those programs, whether that's formally as a program director or somebody who is meaningfully contributing, also have that type of recognition on a national scale for their leadership in that space.
I want to see us showcased as leaders and showcased as people who are embracing change and doing things differently, and who are always pursuing excellence.
It’s been an exciting year so far, and I'm definitely enjoying it. I find that our team at the college is a great community of people who are willing to try something new or to embrace change, even if it's not the most comfortable idea. I think it's really great being a part of the team that we have.