Leadership Testimonial: Bernadette Melnyk
An ultimate dream has finally come to fruition.
“Nothing happens unless first we a dream” is a famous quote from Carl Sandburg, and the dream for added unique space was born early in my term as dean of this phenomenal college. The opening of our beautiful new Jane E. Heminger Hall culminates seven years of persistence through many character-builders to accomplish this dream.
The building is a living tribute to our vision of thinking and doing the impossible to transform health and improve lives. We wanted Heminger Hall to symbolize not only a new chapter in our college’s journey, but also a promise to new generations of nurses and healthcare leaders to provide the education and tools they need to lead with vision, innovation, purpose and passion. This is the new gateway to the health sciences campus and the first WELL-certified building at Ohio State, which creates an environment to enhance the health and well-being of our faculty, staff, students and alumni so that everyone can thrive. We so welcome the interprofessional collaboration, imagination and innovation that we know will be developed here to create a healthier world.
As I begin my 12th and last year as dean of this wonderful college, I am so excited and optimistic about our fantastic future. We have grown our national and international leadership in academics, cutting-edge research, evidence-based practice, innovation and diversity and inclusion. We are strong financially and have a terrific, sustainable culture that actively promotes wellness, which is recognized as a national role model. We are transforming health and improving lives every day, and I am so very proud of each and every one of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners who give of themselves and share their brilliance and talent to LIVE WELL and make the world a better place.
I have no doubt that this fabulous college and the people within it will keep dreaming, discovering and delivering a healthier and brighter future. Go Buckeyes!
Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN
Dean
Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor of Evidence-based Practice
Vice President for Health Promotion
University Chief Wellness Officer
Executive Director, the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for EBP
Laurel Van Dromme
Dean Melnyk often says that she started dreaming about an additional building for the College of Nursing when she first joined the college in 2011. A team effort at every step of the way has made this dream a reality as we formally open in Autumn Semester. As Chief of Strategic Partnerships and Special Projects for the College of Nursing, I have enjoyed being part of this exciting project from start to finish.
First a dream, then focus groups
In 2014, I hosted focus groups with students, alumni, faculty and staff for architects to learn what everyone wanted in a new building to support our innovations in teaching and research. Many asked for a lot of windows to let in natural light and collaborative spaces for learning. Dean Melnyk started fundraising for the new space in earnest that year with these elements in mind, and the university gave the college the go-ahead for a serious design study in 2015.
A boon from the state
In 2019, the State of Ohio recognized the need to educate more nurses and set aside $7 million in its biennial capital budget towards our project. Brian Perera, associate vice president for state affairs with the office of government affairs at Ohio State, visited legislators and staffers at the Ohio Statehouse every day in June during the final negotiations to ensure our appropriations remained intact.
Pandemic challenges
The onset of the pandemic in March 2020 postponed our April Groundbreaking event to December. Almost every week of this $30.7 million project has entailed rethinking timelines due to delays in manufacturing and/or delivery of materials and then rescheduling subcontractors. I met weekly with Josh Kranyik (the university’s senior project manager and my partner in all decisions) and with leaders from Ruscilli (the building contractor) and MA Design (the lead architecture firm). The group’s ability to reconsider our options and think creatively was invigorating as we figured out how to address each character-builder.
Opening on time
Delays that continued through this summer were alleviated by visible progress each day. We kept our eye on the goal of being ready for our students toward the beginning of Autumn Semester and to thank and recognize our donors and alumni, who have made this possible with their support, in addition to Dean Melnyk’s leadership and vision.
Laurel Van Dromme, MA
Chief of Strategic Partnerships and Special Projects
The Ohio State University College of Nursing
Staff Testimonial: Rachel Muredzwa
With the last few weeks of construction on Jane E. Heminger Hall and then renovations to the first floor of Newton Hall ahead of us, this fall stands to be the beginning of a new era for the College of Nursing’s infrastructural commitment to inclusion. Among many choices drawn from human-centered architectural principles, significant additions include gender-neutral bathrooms, greater accessibility to elevators from the ground floor entrance and respite rooms, which are ideal for individual, spiritual or religious practice. These deliberate design choices will support generations of historically marginalized or underserved groups, whether a member of the college community or as a guest.
For years, the College’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has hosted a variety of annual outreach events and educational activities that engage various constituencies including students, staff, faculty, community members, local and national audiences of high school students and their caregivers. One of our signature programs, the annual Summer Institute for Future Nurses, brings predominately underrepresented high school students to campus. Minoritized identities among the program attendees include racial and ethnic groups who are underrepresented in nursing, LGBTQIA+ youth, prospective first-generation college applicants and students from families whose incomes are below the federal poverty threshold. For many students, their time with us is their first time on a college campus, and for some a visit to their dream school.
The Summer Institute for Future Nurses is positioned to be enriched by our new building. It hosts approximately 40 students from the aforementioned backgrounds each June for three high-paced experiential learning days of nursing exploration. It is easy to imagine these students exploring healthy eating in the demonstration kitchen, enjoying their breaks on the west terrace, dreaming up new worlds in the Innovation Studio, marveling at the multi-floor expanse in the atrium and celebrating the closing ceremony in any of the flexible classroom and group activity spaces.
For many higher education administrators of recruitment activities, being able to offer vivid, exciting and engaging environments to prospective students begins the process of helping these students to develop a sense of belonging. This affinity for an institution can carry a young person from high school through to a terminal degree. The more a campus’ built environment and community can demonstrably welcome and meaningfully include identities and human needs, the more it creates affinity and aspiration from prospective members to matriculate to the institution and contribute to a truly inclusive community, with space for imagining new possibilities. Jane E. Heminger Hall and Newton Hall will function as exactly that: a welcoming home-away-from-home for visitors and college members alike.
Rachel Muredzwa (formerly Rachel C. Choto), MSW
Director of Equity and Inclusion
College of Nursing Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
June 14, 2022
Alumni Spotlight: Meet Maddy Davies
“I not only wanted to come up with programs that were going to help the health and well-being of our community, but I physically wanted to work with community members and figure out ways to engage and empower people to take control over their own health and I feel that’s what I do now.”
If you would like to support our new building, please contact Courtney Shaul, senior director of development at shaul.8@osu.edu or 614-688-1086.
Spotlight: Olivia Cotton, director of alumni and constituent engagement
The College of Nursing Advancement team aims to keep alumni and friends connected to the alma mater you love. We provide programming that bring alumni together to learn the latest college happenings and to network with one another.
Jane E. Heminger Hall provides our team with great potential to further build community, collaboration and cohesiveness among our alumni. This space opens up doors for alumni to volunteer directly with students, gather for events and experience first-hand how they can help us transform the future of health through philanthropic support.
We are excited to welcome alumni to Jane E. Heminger Hall for the first time this September at Homecoming. It brings our team joy to play an integral role in advancing the college’s initiatives forward through impact and connection.
If you would like to support our new building, please contact Courtney Shaul, senior director of development at shaul.8@osu.edu or 614-688-1086.
April 12, 2022
Student Spotlight: Meet three honors BSN students
[from left] Monicah Karera, Carolyn Zhang and Audrey Robinson are part of the Honors BSN cohort of students. Although they are graduating in spring of 2022, they already have their sights set on more higher education, and Jane E. Heminger Hall will be ready for them. Writing papers with their mentors and publishing their work, doing nursing research, and presenting at the Midwest Nursing Research Society have prepared them for their next degrees.
Audrey Robinson’s dream career is to be a pediatric nurse practitioner. “I know I’m going to go on to grad school,” she said.
Carolyn Zhang, who dreams of being a primary care nurse practitioner, sees more research in her future. She said her community health rotation last semester brought home the awareness that, “In the U.S., treatment is great—but there’s a large piece missing in terms of prevention and trying to get those health disparities down. That’s an area I’m interested in.”
Monicah Karera wants to be a floor nurse in labor and delivery and is excited about the research she has been doing with Shannon Gillespie, PhD, RN. “We’re investigating the association between prior miscarriage and pregnancy-specific distress in subsequent pregnancy among Black women,” Karera said. We know these three are dreaming big and will go far.
When you support Jane E. Heminger Hall, you give bright students like Monicah, Carolyn and Audrey a place to learn, grow and push themselves to their highest academic achievements. Go Buckeyes!
If you would like to support our exceptional students or the new building, please contact Courtney Shaul, senior director of development at shaul.8@osu.edu or 614-688-1086.
Faculty Testimonial: Megan Amaya, PhD, CHES
The Office of the Chief Wellness Officer and Buckeye Wellness aim to create a healthier campus community, state of Ohio and world! We provide innovative and evidence-based programs to help individuals optimize their well-being, based on the nine dimensions of wellness. We’re working hard to make healthy choices easier choices for faculty, staff and students through awareness and education, programs, services, activities and events.
The new building – as well as the renovation of existing Newton Hall – provides our team with the structure and opportunity to ramp up wellness efforts in the College of Nursing and across the university. We’re excited about the demo kitchen, where we can hold healthy cooking demos. The new learning spaces will allow us to deliver key programs such as Health Athlete, provide health and wellness coaching and continue our excellent work with the university-wide wellness champion team, the Buckeye Wellness Innovators. Future plans for Newton’s renovation include a fitness facility outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment in 2023 where we can offer health and well-being assessments to help people live a healthier lifestyle.
We are grateful and excited that wellness is at the forefront of the architecture and building plans and that we can continue our important work to help people achieve higher health and well-being!
Megan Amaya, PhD, CHES
Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing
Director, Health Promotion and Wellness
Co-Director, Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness
If you would like to support our wellness efforts or the new building, please contact Courtney Shaul, senior director of development at shaul.8@osu.edu or 614-688-1086.
Student Spotlight: Meet Madeline Ward
Maddie Ward is a senior BSN student at the College of Nursing. Ward is very actively involved. She is the student liaison for the NSPIRE student organization. Ward is also a team captain for the Nurses For The Kids BuckeyeThon team where she spent countless hours attending BuckeyeThon meetings, recruiting new members and organizing fundraising efforts. With Ward's leadership and dedication, the “Nurses For The Kids” BuckeyeThon team was one of the top fundraising teams for Nationwide Children's Hospital last year. Her passion is to support the fight in ending childhood cancer.
“This new building is an exciting addition to Ohio State’s nursing program,” Ward said. “It will allow for students like myself to improve on the quality of care we are learning to provide. These educational resources allow my peers and I to continue to experience exceptional learning opportunities.”
When you support Jane E. Heminger Hall, you help students like Maddie achieve their dreams.
Faculty Testimonial: Michael Ackerman
The new Innovation Studio in Jane E. Heminger Hall places innovation at the center of the college, both structurally and operationally. The Innovation Studio continues to thrive and will have permanent space in the new building, which will provide continuous and convenient access to College of Nursing students, faculty and staff. There will also be adjacent space for offices of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership, which will foster an enriched opportunity for collaboration in regard to innovation and leadership within the college. We are very thankful to be a part of the continuing growth of the college. What better way to dream, discover and deliver than through innovation!
Michael Ackerman, PhD, RN, FCCM, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN
Director, Master in Healthcare Innovation Program
Professor of Clinical Nursing
Director, Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership
Student Spotlight: Aarhea Hope
When my grandmother was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, I became her caregiver alongside my mother. Nurturing my grandmother to a state of comfortability and optimal health sparked my desire to become a nurse. I knew that the nursing profession would enable me to be of service to others. Choosing The Ohio State University to achieve my dream of becoming a nurse was an important decision in my life. I had to move to a new city, make new friends and navigate through college. Not only am I a first-generation college student, but I am also the only one in my family to choose the nursing profession. Though my family supports me in any way they can, I still faced a lot of challenges that my family did not understand.
Making meaningful connections with my cohort at the College of Nursing helped me navigate many challenges. One challenge was not having a lot of guidance at the beginning of my journey, which made me feel lost and unsure about if I made the right decision. The relationships I have made along the way helped me achieve and set new goals for myself. The College of Nursing has fostered my growth as a student, person and professional. My experiences at the college have inspired me to continue to grow beyond my undergraduate career by giving me the confidence to apply to graduate schools. I will be the first in my family to have a bachelor's degree in Nursing and work as an RN in a primary care setting. In the future, I aspire to be the first to have a doctorate degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Being the first in my family to accomplish this type of goal is not easy, but it comes with many rewards. Putting in the work and finding others who can relate to and help me with my journey definitely enabled me to achieve a lot along my journey. Even though I will still face many challenges, I know that it will all pay off in the end. I am very excited for my future, and I am proud to be considered a trailblazer in my family.
When you support Jane E. Heminger Hall, you help first-generation students like Aarhea achieve their dreams.
Faculty Testimonial: Karen Patricia Williams, PhD
Our Martha S. Pitzer Center for Women, Children and Youth focuses on conducting, translating and implementing pioneering research that will improve the health and wellness of children and the women who bring them into this world. During the past academic year, the center’s renowned research faculty saw more than two dozen proposals funded, had more than 120 scholarly manuscripts published or accepted and shared their expertise through nearly 60 national and international presentations. Our new building will include a suite to house the Pitzer Center and propel its work to transform the future of health.
“Very few faculty, staff and administrators at The Ohio State University – or any other university for that matter – have the opportunity to see the construction of a building in which their office will reside. This is so exciting to be the first occupants of a building that will forever be part of Buckeye Nation.”
Student Testimonial: Samuel Fojas
Transforming the future of health means supporting student exploration, achievement and inspiration. College of Nursing graduate student Samuel Fojas explains why his experience with our college will be transformational for his career and life:
“As I’ve started my graduate career in nursing, I’ve been able to take part in community health education in a disadvantaged part of Columbus. The College of Nursing has provided the means for service opportunities and coursework, and as I’ve learned more about the process of providing nursing services in the community, I’ve become excited about the ways I can use my education as a future advanced practice nurse to help those who are economically disadvantaged.
From a young age I hoped to use my education and time outside of work to benefit individuals in need and nursing provides an abundance of opportunities to care for all.”
When you support the new building, you help students like Samuel achieve their dreams.
Testimonial: Lynn Gallagher-Ford
The Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare has continued to grow and thrive even during the pandemic years. We are energetically and enthusiastically working with clinical and academic organizations to change how healthcare decisions are made and clinical problems are solved. Our amazing team of EBP leaders, experts, and researchers are supported by an equally fabulous staff and together, we are leading this transformational work every day, across the U.S. and around the globe!
We are so excited to be moving back home to the College of Nursing building after being at our Kinnear Road location for more than five years! During those years (2017-2021) the Fuld Institute for EBP has held 76 immersions for 2,959 participants and continues to expand. In addition to providing the space we need, I believe that the move to the new building will give the Fuld great exposure and allow students, faculty, and the public the opportunity to see who we are, what we are doing and what they can do to help us accomplish our mission: to dream, discover and deliver a healthier world through transdisciplinary education, research and policy focused on evidence‐based decision making.
Meet Faith Metlock
Our new building will help us better serve our exceptional students like Faith Metlock, a senior in the BSN program with a passion for nursing research. “Researching with my faculty mentor, Dr. Timiya Nolan, on several health equity projects has been an invaluable addition to my nursing education. Now, as an aspiring nurse scientist, I am excited to use my nursing expertise to further investigate and design interventions aimed at improving healthcare outcomes in vulnerable patient populations,” Faith said.
“Through acting on my passion for transforming the future of health, I hope to develop innovative approaches targeted towards improving health and wellness through a lens of equity and inclusion,” she added. Faith will graduate with a minor in pharmaceutical sciences and a certificate in primary care. Her extracurricular activities include being a member of the inaugural cohort of Health Equity Scholars, Sphinx Honor Society and Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society; president of Nursing Students of Color and former overall committee co-chair for the African American Heritage Festival. She also created the website Black Health Explained to help make health information accessible.
Faith was quick to share her gratitude for the college. “The College of Nursing at the Ohio State University has equipped me with the skills and knowledge necessary to become an exceptional leader in nursing,” she said.
If you would like to support our exceptional students like Faith or the new building, please contact Courtney Shaul, senior director of development at shaul.8@osu.edu or 614-688-1086.