2021 is coming to a close, which means it's time to reflect on all of the accomplishments and successes at Frontier Nursing University (FNU)! FNU is grateful for and proud of our entire community. This includes faculty, staff, board members, students, alumni, donors, and preceptors. We’ve collectively and individually hit many milestones this year that we should all be proud of, despite the unprecedented times.
FNU Accomplishments and Accolades
FNU received countless awards and recognition in 2021. We were named a 2021 Great Colleges to Work For®. This reflects our commitment to value the contributions of every employee. The university was recognized as a Gold COVID Stops Here Workplace. Because of our leadership in distance education, we received an International Distance Learning Award from the United States Distance Learning Association.
For the fourth consecutive year, FNU received the 2021 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. FNU has completed four pillars of the DOIT Certification process and is currently being considered for national certification. Meanwhile, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recognized FNU as a recipient of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability in Nursing Education Leadership Awards. These awards show our continued commitment to diversity and inclusion. It is an honor to be recognized for all our efforts, but we recognize that there is much more work to be done that we will carry out in 2022.
We are proud to have over 250 dedicated faculty and staff members. While adapting to working remotely during the pandemic, our staff continued to provide crucial support services to our students. Our faculty work tirelessly to be the best possible instructors to our students, while also remaining active in professional midwifery and nursing organizations.
Dr. Charlotte Morris, DNP, CNM, FACNM and Dr. Dwynn Golden, DNP, CNM were elected to positions with the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). Department Chair of Psychiatric-Mental Health, Dr. Jess Calohan, DNP, PMHNP-BC, was selected to be inducted into the 2021 Class of Fellows by the American Academy of Nursing. In September, Dr. Khara’ Jefferson, DNP, APRN, FNP-C was named the new Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.
Answering the Call and Remaining Connected
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
In continuing our work in addressing racial inequities and health disparities worldwide, FNU created several task forces and committees such as the President’s DEI Task Force, the Board of Directors DEI Committee, and the Antiracism and Bias Advisory Council. Composed of faculty, staff, students, and volunteers, these committees incorporate perspectives from all corners of the university.
The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hosted the 11th Annual Diversity Impact Conference. Over 100 people attended the 3-day virtual conference that focused on dismantling systemic racism and discrimination in healthcare.
The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) awarded FNU two grants this year totaling $4,140,000. These grants will allow us to expand on the important DEI work we are already doing and more.
FNU awarded more than $750,000 in scholarships and financial aid to our students this year. We served over 3,000 students in 2021.
We are always working to expand our services to better serve our students and set them up for success. Our Office of DEI expanded our mentorship program, coaching, tutoring and counseling offerings. All of these initiatives are furthering our mission to become an antiracist University.
More Reasons to Celebrate
We celebrated National Midwifery Week and National Nurse Practitioner Week by hosting virtual events.
Our expert faculty members presented sessions focusing on topics like antiracism, quality improvement, and substance use disorders. You can view those educational, insightful sessions by clicking the buttons below:
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).