Frontier Nursing University (FNU), the oldest and largest continually operating nurse-midwifery education program in the U.S., has launched a national search for a diverse pool of candidates to apply for the Department Chair of Midwifery and Women’s Health position. This certified nurse-midwife leader must demonstrate a commitment to FNU’s mission and values while leading a department of 60+ faculty members. There is a strong preference for applicants residing in central Kentucky, but remote location with the ability to do frequent travel will be considered. FNU encourages applications from underrepresented/underserved groups, women, the disabled, protected veterans and all other qualified applicants.
More than 50% of FNU’s 150+ doctorally prepared advanced practice nursing faculty members are certified nurse-midwives, and over half of them still actively practice. Our faculty members live all across the United States and have an average of 11 total years of graduate-level teaching experience.
FNU has been a leader in distance education for more than three decades and pioneered the first community-based nurse-midwifery distance education program in the nation. Today, graduating nearly 40% of the nation’s nurse-midwives, FNU utilizes this distance learning model with online didactic coursework and a clinical experience in the student’s own community. Students attend 1-2 brief on-campus sessions during their education program. Despite this distance model, there is nothing “distant” about the FNU community. As students learn and provide care in their home communities, FNU faculty are committed to being present and providing consistent support throughout the educational journey.
For a full list of the Department Chair of Midwifery and Women’s Health responsibilities and duties, visit the job posting.
“We are seeking a certified nurse-midwife leader and changemaker to guide our flagship program forward and join our talented department of 60+ faculty and more than 900 nurse-midwifery students.”
Joan Slager, CNM, DNP, FACNM, FAAN
Dean of Nursing
To qualify for this position, the applicant must be a licensed Registered Nurse in the United States; hold current certification by the American Midwifery Certification Board; hold a Doctoral Degree in Nursing or related area; have experience in graduate nursing andragogy, administration, clinical practice, and scholarship; knowledge, skills, and attitude for curriculum development and educational technology; strong analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills; as well as experience working with diverse populations. There is strong preference that the person reside in central Kentucky, but remote location with frequent travel to campus will be considered.
FNU is the oldest and largest continually operating nurse-midwifery education program in the U.S. and has more than 2500 students enrolled and over 400 nurse-midwifery and women’s health graduates each year. It is a leading distance-learning institution and was recognized for this by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) in November. FNU was named a “2021 Great College to Work For”, winning honors in ten categories: Job Satisfaction & Support; Compensation & Benefits; Professional Development; Mission & Pride; Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness; Confidence in Senior Leadership; Faculty & Staff Well-being; Shared Governance; Faculty Experience; and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging.
For the fourth consecutive year, INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, awarded FNU the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award. FNU is committed to emphasizing and valuing diversity and inclusion. The mission of FNU is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education to prepare competent, entrepreneurial, ethical, and compassionate leaders in primary care to serve all individuals with an emphasis on women and families in diverse, rural, and underserved populations.
Are you interested in joining a top distance-learning university as the Department Chair of Midwifery and Women’s Health? Learn more about this position today.
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).