Dr. Inez Tuck serves as the Dean of the School of Nursing. She is responsible for the overall direction and management of the School. Working with the faculty, Dr. Tuck is responsible for the content, scope, and quality of the curriculum, academic standards, and the degree requirements of the programs, including both clinical and academic components. She hires, evaluates, and supports the development of faculty in teaching, scholarship/research and service. As a member of the Institute’s senior administrative team, she works closely with the Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs on the development and administration of the academic programs in the School of Nursing and in coordination with the other academic programs of the Institute. Additionally, she provides leadership in professional and academic areas through active involvement in external educational and professional organizations, representing the Institute in these endeavors.
Dr. Linda Andrist serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Program Innovation. She has broad responsibility for providing leadership in curriculum development, evaluation, and revision for all programs; for providing leadership in evaluation of all aspects of the SON; and in mentoring faculty in teaching, scholarship, and research.
Dr. Lussier-Duynstee serves as the Assistant Dean for Student Support and Clinical Facilitation. She has leadership and administrative responsibilities for: student recruitment, admissions, and retention, through purposeful student engagement, advocacy and advisement; oversight of academic support services and interface with faculty on student academic issues.
The Graduate Programs are led by Dr. Ruth Lopez, Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program and Dr. Patricia Reidy, Director of the Advanced Practice Level of the Master’s of Science in Nursing Program. Dr. Suellen Breakey is the Director of the Pre-licensure Programs at the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Generalist Level of the Direct-Entry Master’s of Science in Nursing Program. The Directors report to the Dean of the School of Nursing and are members of the Executive Leadership Council in the School of Nursing.
The Assistant Dean and Directors are responsible to the Dean for faculty team development, oversight for curriculum at their level of study, student and faculty liaison, faculty orientation and development, development and revision of nursing program policies and implementation of curricula, and resource projection and management for their respective programs.
The Clinical Education Department, consisting of Ms. Katherine Socha, Ms. Claire Sonnenberg, and Ms. Linda Henry develops contacts with a wide variety of clinical venues that serve as sites for student learning at both prelicensure and advanced practice levels to appropriately match students and clinical sites.
Specialization Coordinators are faculty with expertise and certification in a specific advanced practice specialty. These faculty monitor certification requirements for the specialization and provide guidance on curriculum and content issues appropriate to the specialization. The Specialization Coordinators are: Dr. Joshua Dion and Mr. Stephen Wood (Adult Gerontology Acute Care NP); Dr. Amy Bruno, Antonia Makosky, and Kathryn Hall (Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP); Dr. Clara Gona and Mr. Jason Lucey (Family Specialty NP); Dr. Mary Thompson (Pediatric Specialty NP); Dr. Susan Stevens (Psychiatric/Mental Health-Lifespan NP); Ms. Katherine Simmonds (Women’s Health NP and Dual Adult Gerontology/Women’s Health NP).
The overall organizational structure of the School of Nursing is summarized in the chart on the following page.