The Committee on Faculty and Student Matters (COFSM) has announced its School of Nursing award winners for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Dr. Patty L. Hawken Faculty and Mr. Rudy Gomez Staff Awards are given to a faculty and staff member who possess and demonstrate caring, creative, comforting and nurturing qualities.
These individuals exhibit leadership qualities shown by Dr. Patty L. Hawken and Mr. Rudy Gomez. These recipients represent the School of Nursing’s values of Innovation, Diversity/Inclusion, Ethics/Accountability, Advocacy, and/or Synergy.
Dr. Kathryn Parke is the 2019-2020 Dr. Patty L. Hawken Faculty Award winner
The nominator for the winner of the Dr. Patty L. Hawken Faculty Award had this to say:
This individual epitomizes clinical and academic excellence. This person escalated the pediatric nurse practitioner track to a level never experienced by the program, an exemplar track coordinator. They led the pediatric nurse practitioner track to achieve a 100% pass rate in the National Certification exam for four years, which is above the national average for graduate nursing programs. As the chair of the search committee, she has orchestrated improvements for the process of reviewing faculty candidates. She is a certified Quality Matters online instructor. Her class instruction has been the model to emulate for outstanding instruction methods utilizing online presentation tools and interactive case studies. Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, Advocacy – This person is a standout trailblazer and expert clinician who has been identified as a leader at the School of Nursing. She provides evidence-based tailored population health care to adolescents at The Healy Murphy Center (HMC), a non-traditional high school, and children from its attached daycare. To meet the specific needs of the population, she adapted her care to target patients’ adverse social and behavioral determinants of health. She has introduced comprehensive screening to identify social and behavioral determinants that are known to affect health outcomes. She has introduced techniques developed to identify and then improve the health literacy of the students receiving healthcare at the clinic as many of the students have self-identified as having low health literacy. Synergy – This person works with a registered dietician, a licensed professional counselor, and school counselors to provide holistic health services to the students of The Healy Murphy Center. She works with a Texas Department of State Health Services dentist to provide the pediatric nurse practitioner students with oral health education and hands-on supervision in fluoride varnishing. Kathryn Parke epitomizes clinical and academic excellence.
Ms. Lauren Loper is the 2019-2020 Mr. Rudy Gomez Staff Award winner
The nominator for the winner of the Mr. Rudy Gomez Staff Award had this to say:
This individual supports undergraduate and graduate nursing students through academic coaching for content-related courses, the delivery of learning assessments and academic workshops, scholarly writing initiatives, and advancing the center’s graduate student services. She has demonstrated initiative as she designs student success programs in an evolving academic center, all the while maintaining exemplary work. Student evaluations have pointed to her keen ability to validate strengths while cultivating areas for growth. Innovation – This person designed and implemented a comprehensive writing support curriculum for graduate nursing students in the School of Nursing. Diversity, Inclusion and Advocacy – This staff member’s experience in working at Hispanic-Serving Institutions has afforded them the opportunity to expand educational opportunities for underserved and marginalized populations in higher education. This person has become a passionate advocate for student populations including the LGBTQIA, racially or ethnically underrepresented, low-income, and first-generation communities. Most recently, she contributed to a Department of Education Title V Hispanic Serving Institution $3 million grant proposal that addressed the expansion of resources into student leadership development and provides pathways for Hispanic students as they pursue graduate studies toward the Doctor of Nursing Practice or the Ph.D. in Nursing. She has proven to be an exceptional educator and promising scholar in the realm of higher education. Due to her leadership, she has helped advance student success initiatives and accomplishments in the School of Nursing. Lauren is an instrumental member of the Student Success team in the School of Nursing.
The recipient of the Nightingale Student Award demonstrates caring, creative, comforting and nurturing qualities and possesses the same leadership and critical thinking skills as Florence Nightingale. This student sets high standards by demonstrating values such as honesty, integrity, respect, and goodwill. The recipient performs actions above and beyond expected responsibilities as a nursing student and serves as a true advocate for the School of Nursing and the nursing profession.
Mr. Juan Zuniga is the 2019-2020 Nightingale Student Award winner
The nominator for the winner of the Nightingale Student Award had this to say:
This individual has been an integral part of the Student Success Center Peer Mentoring Program. He served as a peer mentor in the Spring of 2019 and the peer mentor champion in the Fall of 2019. He demonstrated caring and nurturing in both of these roles. He was consistently praised by his mentees for being available, kind, insightful, knowledgeable and a great role model to them. In addition, this student was heavily involved with the Hispanic Nursing Student Association as vice president and volunteered at the Pride and Refugee clinics. This person served as the nursing student representative for UT Health San Antonio at UT System Board of Regents meetings. With his positive attitude, professionalism and caring personality, Juan is the ideal student ambassador for our school. I am excited to see what he does as an alumnus of our program.