FNU President Dr. Susan Stone to Transition to Distinguished Chair of Midwifery and Nursing
FNU President Dr. Susan Stone announced that she will transition into the role of FNU’s Distinguished Chair of Midwifery and Nursing at or near the end of 2023. In that role, she will spend more of her time outside of the university as a national leader and advocate for the nursing and midwifery professions. Her experience, expertise, knowledge, passion, and well-earned reputation as a leader makes Dr. Stone a strong voice in the worlds of nursing, midwifery, healthcare, and education.
Frontier Nursing University Announced New Mission Statement
At the January 2023 Frontier Nursing University Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved a new mission statement for the university: “Our mission is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education that integrates the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We transform healthcare by preparing innovative, ethical, compassionate, and entrepreneurial leaders to work with all people with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities.”
FNU Held 13th Annual Diversity Impact Conference; Open to Other Universities for the First Time
On June 8-9, FNU held its 13th annual Diversity Impact Conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Better Together: Advancing a Culture of Identity and Belonging in Healthcare.” The two-day conference featured keynote presentations from nationally recognized leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This year, for the first time, the conference was available for attendees outside of FNU.
FNU Awarded $4 Million Maternity Care Nursing Workforce Expansion Grant
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded the Maternity Care (MatCare) Nursing Workforce Expansion Grant to FNU. Via the grant, FNU intends to increase the number and diversity of the nurse-midwifery workforce with a focus on increasing the Hispanic population of nurse-midwives.
A celebration gala was held for Dr. Susan Stone in October.
Paula Alexander-Delpech Named First Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success
FNU's current Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, APRN, was selected as the university’s first Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success. Dr. Alexander-Delpech was named the university’s CDIO in 2022. Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech was also name the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Network's (DEILN) Chair-Elect in 2023.
Dr. Tanya Belcheff Named Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
FNU announced that Dr. Tanya Belcheff, DNP, CNM, was selected as the university’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Belcheff has been an assistant professor in FNU’s nurse-midwifery program since 2016.
Dr. Kevin Scalf Named Department Chair of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Department
FNU announced that Dr. Kevin Scalf, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, CNEcl, accepted the position of Department Chair of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Department. Dr. Scalf had been serving as the interim Department Chair since October 8.
FNU Faculty Selected to Participate in the National League for Nursing’s 2023 Leadership Institute
Assistant Professor Dr. Joanne Keefe, DNP, MPH, FNP-C, CNE, and Associate Professor Dr. Vicky Stone-Gale, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP, were among 41 nurse educators and nurses in practice selected to participate in the National League for Nursing’s 2023 Leadership Institute.
FNU's Commencement Ceremony was held in September.
FNU Employees Participate in Inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs
Ten FNU faculty members participated in the University’s inaugural Nurse Educator Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Fellowship program. Through this initiative, which is fully funded by FNU, the faculty members attended a 12-week DEI training. The 10 2023 Nurse Educator Faculty Fellows were Drs. Tia Andrighetti, Joshua Barnes, Joanne Keefe, Heidi Loomis, Rebecca Lopez, Doreen Thomas-Payne, Audrey Perry, April Phillips, Kevin Scalf, and Erin Tenney.
Like the Nurse Educator Fellowship program, the Staff DEI Ambassador program aims to promote the acquisition of DEI-related skills, build DEI capacity within the University, and evaluate a peer-to-peer education model to improve staff knowledge and engagement in anti-racism work. Fifteen staff members are participating in the program: Shelley Aldridge, Stephanie Boyd, Megan Caldwell, Lisa Colletti-Jones, Susan Copley, Kendra Danae-Harris, Chris Hall, Debi Howard, Brittney Kinison, Christi Orr, Janice Ponstein, Caitlin Rivard, Audrey Stewart, Chris Turley and Jamie Wheeler.
FNU Received INSIGHT Into Diversity Health Professions HEED Award for Sixth Consecutive Year
FNU received the 2023 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for the sixth consecutive year. As a recipient of the annual Health Professions HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. health colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — FNU was featured, along with 64 other recipients, in the November/December 2023 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
FNU Nurse Practitioner faculty
FNU's 2023 Day of Giving
FNU raised $73,442 from 129 donors! Thank you to our alumni, friends, students, faculty, and staff who answered the call to raise awareness and support for advanced education of nursing and midwifery students. Save the date for FNU's next Day of Giving which will be held from noon to noon, October 22-23, 2024.
FNU's Commencement Ceremony
FNU’s commencement ceremony honored the nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who have completed the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, Master in Science of Nursing degree, or Post-Graduate Certificate. FNU, which awarded 1,001 degrees in 2021 and 1,040 in 2022, awarded more than 1,000 degrees again this year for master’s, doctoral, and post-graduate certificate graduates. FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, gave the keynote address. Graduates and their friends and families enjoyed a celebration event on our campus following the ceremony.
FNU
Earned “Great College to Work For” Designation for Third Consecutive Year
For the third consecutive year, FNU was named one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to the Great Colleges to Work For® program. The designation is based on data and information collected from our faculty and staff, whose responses verify that we have established a proven culture of caring, fairness, and belonging. In turn, that allows Frontier to perform at the highest level in service to our students and our mission.
FNU Student Veterans of America Group Gained National Chapter Status
FNU's Student Veterans Group, one of six Student Interest Groups at FNU, was accepted into the Student Veterans of America (SVA) national network.With a focused mission on empowering student veterans, SVA is committed to providing an educational experience that goes beyond the classroom. Through a dedicated network of more than 1,500 on-campus chapters in all 50 states and four countries representing more than 750,000 student veterans, SVA aims to inspire yesterday’s warriors by connecting student veterans with a community of like-minded chapter leaders.
Frontier Bound
Frontier Nursing University Held Preceptor Celebration Week
FNU's first Preceptor Celebration Week was held August 14-18, 2023, to honor the important role that preceptors play in advanced practice nursing education. Preceptor Celebration Week also marked the beginning of FNU’s preceptor contest, with the three winning preceptors each receiving $500 gift vouchers. Nominations for outstanding FNU-credentialed preceptors will be accepted through June 1, 2024, at frontier.edu/preceptorweek.
FNU held first Homecoming on Versailles Campus
FNU held its first Homecoming event held on the Versailles campus. The event included the presentation of FNU’s annual service awards. Homecoming 2023 also included campus tours, a buffet lunch, a state-of-the-university address from Dr. Stone, and a Continuing Education course titled “Identification and Treatment of Mood Disorders” delivered by Dr. Kevin Scalf, DNP, PMHNP-BC, CNEcl. Plans are already underway for Homecoming 2024 on March 23.
The FNU community honored midwifery pioneer and cherished FNU alumna Kitty Ernst with a memorial service on campus.
FNU Community Members Recognized at 2023 AANP Conference
FNU faculty, staff, students, alumni and preceptors attended the 2023 AANP National Conference from June 20 to June 25 in New Orleans, LA. The AANP National Conference is the largest nurse practitioner conference in the United States. With a focus on "Restoring, Recharging and Renewing the Nurse Practitioner Community," the conference offered something for every nurse practitioner. Many FNU community members presented, received scholarships, and were recognized during this year’s conference. We commend all of these individuals for their excellent work as nurse practitioner leaders!
FNU Community Members Recognized at 2023 ACNM Conference
FNU faculty, staff, students, alumni, and preceptors had the opportunity to attend the 68th Annual American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Meeting and Exhibition in Orlando, Fl. FNU is excited to highlight many of our community members who presented or were recognized during this year’s ACNM Conference. We commend all of these individuals for their excellent work as nurse-midwifery leaders!
FNU Relaunched Summer Courier program
After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, one of Frontier Nursing University’s oldest programs relaunched this summer behind the leadership of the Director of Annual Giving and Courier Program, Lisa Colletti-Jones. The Courier Program, which was operated from the Versailles campus for the first time, provided an opportunity for two college students to participate in an eight-week service learning internship within Woodford County, which is home to the city of Versailles and the FNU campus.
FNU employees enjoyed making memories with a Couch to 5K group.
Frontier Personnel Active in Local Community
As FNU has settled into its campus in Versailles, Ky., the university has become an active entity within the local community, from leadership programs to Go Red Luncheons to 5Ks. Staff members Te’sia Carter, Jelena Djuricic, Quincy Fuehne, Kendra-Danaē Harris and Rosalie Seitz graduated from the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce’s Woodford Leadership Academy in 2023. Staff members Eileen Frazier, Erica Schroeder, Megan Cadwell and Brittany Bachman are currently participating in a separate program called Leadership Woodford County. FNU is also a sponsor of and frequent presenter in the monthly Woodford County Chamber of Commerce Health & Wellness Round Table. Brittney Kinison graduated from Leadership Central Kentucky, a regional leadership program offered by Commerce Lexington, and Amanda Revely is currently participating.
Employees enjoyed making memories at the summer bash and with a Couch to 5K group. The Kentucky affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives hosted its first Miles for Midwives 5K on September 2 in Lexington, Ky. The event, which was sponsored by FNU, included several members of the Frontier community.
We are so proud of the FNU community and look forward to 2024!
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).