VCU news

Nancy Jallo, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Family and Community Health Nursing; Patricia Kinser, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Family and Community Health Nursing; Jeff Doucette, DNP, adjunct faculty member, Nursing Administrative Leadership concentration

Two full-time and one adjunct faculty member in the VCU School of Nursing will be inducted into the American Academy of Nursing this fall.

Jallo, Kinser and Doucette are among 195 distinguished nurse leaders selected as fellows. They will be honored during the AAN’s annual policy conference, “Transforming Health, Driving Policy,” set for Nov. 1-3 in Washington, D.C.

The AAN fellows, with the addition of this newest class, represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 29 countries. The AAN is comprised of more than 2,500 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research. Fellow selection criteria include evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and sponsorship by two current AAN fellows.

“Our faculty demonstrate each day that they’re committed to advancing our profession,” said Jean Giddens, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Nursing. “The fellow distinction validates that they’re among the top nurses nationwide making a real impact.”

In addition to demonstrating excellence as an associate professor, Jallo conducts biobehavioral research focused on developing and testing innovative, easy-to-implement interventions to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. Jallo is a board-certified clinical nurse specialist and family and women’s health nurse practitioner. She has received numerous awards and honors, including her current appointment as a VCU L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Office of Public Policy Outreach Translational Research Fellow. She is also chair of the Board of Directors of Physicians for Peace.

Along with her accomplishments as an associate professor, Kinser conducts biobehavioral research largely focused on enhancing women’s wellness across the lifespan, with specific focus on biobehavioral mechanisms of depression and the effects of complementary health interventions. Kinser maintains a practice as a board-certified women’s health nurse practitioner at Health Brigade (formerly the Fan Free Clinic) in Richmond, and serves on the board of the Southern Nursing Research Society as the director of awards. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, the most recent being her selection as a 2017-18 fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine Leadership Institute and her appointment by Gov. Ralph Northam to represent nurses on the Virginia State Board of Health from 2017-21.

Doucette, an adjunct faculty member in the Nursing Administrative Leadership concentration in VCU School of Nursing’s graduate program, is vice president of the Magnet Recognition Program and Pathway to Excellence? at the American Nurses Credentialing Center. He formerly served as regional vice president of clinical services and chief nursing officer for Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System in Hampton Roads. Doucette is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow and a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The three new fellows will join several current VCU nursing faculty members who already have been recognized as AAN fellows:

• Jean Giddens, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Nursing
• Debra Barksdale, Ph.D., professor and associate dean of academic affairs
• Deborah McGuire, Ph.D., professor and associate dean for research, scholarship and innovation
• Beth Rodgers, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Adult Health and Nursing Systems
• Victoria Menzies, Ph.D., associate professor

Susan Gooden, Ph.D., interim dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Gooden became the first person from the United States and the fourth woman to deliver the Braibant Lecture at the 2018 Congress of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, held June 25-29 in Tunis, Tunisia.

The IIAS Congress is an international scientific event focusing on public administration, administrative sciences, public management, governance, public policy and practice. It seeks to promote the exchange of knowledge on the main trends regarding theory and practice of public administration in all regions of the world, and facilitates dialogue between academics and public officials. Participants at the event represented more than 60 countries.

Gooden, a professor of public administration and policy and past president of the American Society for Public Administration, represented the ASPA at the IIAS Congress. Her lecture, "Nervousness in Governance: A Focus on Social Equity," will subsequently be published by IIAS.

“It was truly an honor to deliver this prestigious lecture and attend this global conference, which explored many of the issues that we at the Wilder School focus on every day,” Gooden said. “Public administration and policy are important topics that need to be addressed locally, regionally, nationally and globally.”

 The annual lecture, named for the late French civil servant and IIAS president and director general Guy Braibant, has been given since 2002.

 “This year's IIAS conference theme focused on resilience of governance systems across a spectrum of related issues,” said William P. Shields Jr., executive director of ASPA. “Dr. Gooden’s passion for public service as a bold and noble profession, particularly through the lens of social equity (one of our society's four core values), fits naturally into this theme. It was an honor for ASPA to be invited to provide the lecturer for IIAS and we could think of no better public service advocate to deliver it than Dr. Gooden.”

Thomas Briggs, assistant vice president for safety and risk management

Briggs has been elected president of the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association for a three-year term.

It is the only organization focused entirely on serving environmental, health and safety professionals in higher education.

“I feel that serving in this capacity is an opportunity to give back to a profession that has given me a very rewarding 26-year career,” Briggs said.

Prior to coming to VCU 2015, Briggs served as director of environmental safety at the University of Central Florida, director of environmental health and safety at City University of New York College of Staten Island, director of safety at Madison Square Garden and as safety coordinator for the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Mary Crabtree, workplace safety manager at the University of North Carolina and past president of CSHEMA, said of Briggs: “I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Tom for several years and was extremely thrilled that our membership elected him to serve as our association’s president. His wealth of knowledge and innovative ideas are invaluable to our association.”

Briggs said the organization acts as an advocate for its members.

“We run an annual conference, regional symposium and web-based training to support our members’ professional development,” he said. “Our goal is to build a knowledge base in our members as they progress from entry level to program administrators to leaders at their member institutions.”

Briggs served as vice president of the association last year and will continue on the board of trustees after his term as president.