HENDERSON – Nevada State College announced the hire of Dr. Douglas Turner as dean of the School of Nursing and Dr. Shartriya Collier-Stewart as associate dean of the School of Education. Both deans join the Nevada State College team with extensive backgrounds in education and years of collegiate leadership.
Dr. Turner brings dean, director and coordinator experience in schools of nursing and a strong interest for the field of caring science to his leadership role at Nevada State College. His most recent position was as a faculty member at Chamberlain University for over nine years. At Nevada State College, Dr. Turner will work to maintain regulatory requirements and staffing as chief nursing officer. Dr. Turner also plans to partner with other colleges in the state to create affiliation agreements and work to help create a master’s program at Nevada State College’s School of Nursing.
According to Dr. Turner, Nevada is one of three states in the nation without a magnet facility. His goal in partnering with other institutions in the state is that Nevada moves one step closer to magnet status.
“I saw this position as a great opportunity for me to lead a school that is heavily invested in caring science,” said Dr. Turner. “With the nursing shortage and shortage of nursing faculty, we are working to increase full-time faculty at Nevada State College’s School of Nursing so that we continue to grow, specifically the prelicensure program and the RN-BSN program, to support our students. From my short time here at Nevada State College, I have noticed that the faculty are so engaged. They don’t just teach caring science – they live it. They are modeling it for students, so they can go out and change the practice setting in the workforce.”
Dr. Turner holds a doctoral degree in international health with a focus in education from Touro University International and a doctor of nursing practice degree with a focus in healthcare systems leadership from Chamberlain University. He received his master’s degree in nursing from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in nursing from University of North Carolina in Greensboro, and his bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of the State of New York at Albany. Dr. Turner has led and participated in innovative program start-ups, including initial attainment of Board of Education, regional accreditation, and nursing specialty accreditation approvals.
In addition to Dr. Turner, Dr. Collier-Stewart has joined Nevada State College as associate dean of the School of Education. Before joining the team, Dr. Collier-Stewart was a faculty member at California State University, Northridge for over 12 years and was director of the Los Angeles Times Literacy Center while at the university. Dr. Collier-Stewart has a strong background in bilingual education and has taught courses on second language acquisition, diversity and equity.
“I look forward to continuing to build our programs and enhance what we are already accomplishing with my experience in higher education,” said Dr. Collier-Stewart. “Specifically, there are three areas I want to focus on – assessment, retention and strengthening our partnerships. I want to take the lead on making sure we have a strategic assessment plan for program enhancement, we have engaging field experiences available to students to increase retention, and we have strong relationships with our local community organizations.”
Dr. Collier-Stewart holds a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from Temple University. She received a master’s degree in bilingual and bicultural education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Xavier University of Louisiana.
For more information on Nevada State College, visit nsc.edu.
About Nevada State College
Nevada State College, a four-year public institution, is a member of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Nevada State places a special emphasis on the advancement of a diverse and largely under-served student population. Located on a developing 500-acre campus in the foothills of Henderson, Nevada, the college was established in 2002 as a new tier in the state system between the research universities and the two-year colleges. In this role, the college emphasizes high-quality instruction, exemplary service, engaging learning experiences, and innovation as a means to more efficient, effective outcomes in all corners of the campus. Since 2002, Nevada State has grown to offer more than 45 majors and minors, has received independent accreditation, and has expanded its physical campus. Today, the college serves approximately 4,800 students and has over 3,400 alumni, each representing a broad array of cultural and economic backgrounds. For more information, visit https://nsc.edu.
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