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We at the UNMC Alumni Association wish you all the best during this time. Please enjoy the contents of this e-newsletter to stay up-to-date on what’s going on at the UNMCAA, the College of Nursing and UNMC. Alumni News

Event Recap: UNMC in the Desert

In February 2020, the UNMC Alumni Association hosted events in Scottsdale, Sun City, and Gilbert, Arizona to connect with alumni and friends. Seven different UNMC professions were represented in the alumni who attended. Several members of the campus leadership also attended and provided college and campus updates and fielded questions from alumni. College of Nursing Dean Juliann Sebastian is pictured at left with nursing alumni.

Event Recap: Alumni Night on the Court

Hosted by the UNMC and UNO Alumni Associations, Alumni Night on the Court, held on February 26, tipped off with a pregame reception featuring snacks and beverages, a meal, door prizes and photo opps with Durango the Maverick mascot. Attendees could sit together in a section or down on the court behind one of the hoops. Congrats to the Mavs on the 84-83 win in overtime against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks! View event photos here.

Event Recap: Third Annual "I Love NU" Day Held

Tuesday, March 10, 2020, more than 200 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in Lincoln at the state capitol building to show the love for the University of Nebraska’s four campuses: UNMC, UNK, UNL, and UNO. Attendees had the opportunity to be recognized in chamber with the Nebraska Legislature, as well as meet with senators to share a thank you to them for their service and why they love their university. View pictures here.

Upcoming Events The UNMCAA has canceled or postponed all in-person events through the end of May due to Coronavirus (COVID-19). View UNMC's COVID-19 resources here. In the meantime, join us virtually through these weekly events: UNMC & UNO Alumni Virtual Lunch and Learn Facebook Live Events You do not need to have a Facebook account to watch these events.

• Tuesday, April 21 from 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. Caring for and Teaching Children at Home in the Time of COVID-19 Presented by Deborah Wisneki, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UNO Teacher Education Visit the UNMCAA Facebook page on that date and time to watch.

• The Wisdom of Elders in the Midst of COVID-19 Presented by Steven Wengel, M.D. '86, '90 and Julie Masters, Ph.D. Held on April 14. Watch a recording here.

• Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic Presented by Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. Held on April 7. Watch a recording here

If you would like a special way to give back and stay connected, volunteer to participate in our blog. Email kat.hamilton@unmc.edu for more. Also, we'd like to hear how you're doing at this historic time. Share how you're helping others, taking care of patients, conducting research and more, by sending us an email.

Alumni Reunion Weekend

October 23-24, 2020 in Omaha, NE For the Colleges of Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy and the Graduate Studies Program. Honor years are those ending in 5 & 0. Learn more. The Alumni Office is currently seeking volunteer class leaders. Learn more or volunteer by emailing Kat Hamilton.

*We are planning to go ahead with the reunion at this time, but will monitor all recommendations from officials to make decisions as we go forward.*

Thank You for Your Support of Nursing Students

The College of Nursing Innovation Fund provides a way for alumni to support students, alumni programming, your alumni association (where all alumni are members), and more. This also includes the annual white coat ceremonies that are held on each campus. This event and many others would not be possible without the ongoing support of generous alumni and friends. To see the impact of gifts to the CON Innovation Fund, click here and watch the thank you video to see how much your support means to students.

Donor Feature: Sharon Bonham Holyoke

The Sharon Bonham Holyoke Nursing Scholarship Fund

supports BSN students in their senior year in the College of Nursing.

Brianna Geis and Elizabeth Noble

the 2018-2019 recipients.

Madison Buettner and Caitlin Jordan

the 2019-2020 recipients.

College News Message from the Dean

Greetings: This message comes to you during an unprecedented time—a time when our world is experiencing a state of emergency due to the coronavirus, COVID-19. My hope is that you, your loved ones and colleagues are staying healthy and optimistic for better times to come. I want to take a moment to say thank you to each of you for the great work that you are doing on the front lines during this pandemic. Thank you also for the support of your College of Nursing and of the Medical Center.

In an effort to mitigate and slow the spread of COVID-19 the University requested that colleges transition to remote education (read more from Chancellor Gold here). Based on its long-standing experience with online and hybrid education delivery, the College was able to make this transition very smoothly and quickly. As of March 23, 2020, all classes are now being conducted via remote education strategies.

Our programs have been in regular communication with our clinical education partners throughout Nebraska and the U.S. to evaluate the status of clinical education, in light of the increasing demands being placed on providers, healthcare systems and resources. We also are mindful of the need to graduate students at every degree level to contribute to the care people need, to the education of future nursing students, and to the research needed to improve care, while we maintain the health and safety of students, patients, and other healthcare providers.

Our goal the past few weeks has been to ensure that students in the final year of their program are able to complete clinical education experiences to meet the required program and accreditation standards for graduation in May. This required adaptability on the part of our faculty and accrediting agencies, but most importantly, the tremendous commitment of our clinical agency partners and preceptors. I want to thank our many alums who serve as preceptors for your outstanding work on behalf of our students and programs. We have always valued how you contribute to the future of healthcare in this way, but now more than ever it is evident how vital your work with students is to sustaining the future. And speaking of graduation, the University of Nebraska has made the decision that all of our honor convocations and commencement ceremonies will take place online on either May 7 or 9, 2020. Those details are still being worked out.

We are immensely proud of you and the significant contributions you are making delivering care to your patients and communities in this time of great need. If you are not currently practicing, we thank you for all you are doing to keep your family, friends, and communities healthy. This is a time that requires each of us to work together with ingenuity and compassion while we focus on reducing the spread of COVID-19 and mitigating its impact.

My hope for you and all of UNMC’s alumni is that you also feel a sense of pride in UNMC and its clinical teaching partner Nebraska Medicine, and each of our clinical teaching partners at our campuses in Lincoln, Kearney, Scottsbluff and Norfolk. UNMC is on the front lines not only in Nebraska, but in the country and wor during the COVID-19 pandemic. National stories about some of this work can be found here and UNMC also has a central repository of information and resources pertaining to COVID-19 that you can look at here.

My very best to you,

Juliann G. Sebastian, Ph.D., RN, FAAN Dean, College of Nursing

College of Nursing Featured in National Rankings

U.S. News & World Report ranked the College's Master's of Nursing program 61st in the country, while the Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked 53rd. Read more. The College is also ranked among the nation's Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs. The graduate online nursing program is tied at 66th with eight other institutions out of 178 ranked schools. The nursing administration/leadership program, known as the LEAD program, was ranked 12th in online nursing administration programs in the U.S. Read more here.

Higher Learning Commission Review a Success

In November, the College of Nursing Northern Division in Norfolk was visited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and no areas were found to need attention. HLC visits include meetings or phone calls with college deans and administrators, academic deans, student services deans and personnel, library and academic support staff, faculty and students. The reviewer also assessed physical facilities, including classrooms, labs, libraries, and technology access.

The reviewer noted the use of technology, such as the MultiTaction iWall and Zoom, to allow for real-time collaboration among College of Nursing students throughout the state. Read more.

College of Nursing Taking Applications for Residency Program The uNParelleled Residency program will place nurse practitioners who specialize in primary care who have graduated within one year from a master's or doctorate program. In addition to the residency curriculum, residents will receive a full time resident salary and benefits, with the goal being long-term placement in the clinic. Learn more here.

Nursing Students Providing Outreach & Learning in Unique Settings

• The College has partnered with the People's City Mission Free Medical Clinic to offer free mental health services to those who live in Lancaster County and have no health insurance or mental health provider. Read more about it here.

• The College of Nursing West Nebraska Division in Scottsbluff held a Latina Red Dress Heart Healthy event in Gering in March with around 150 people attending. Read more here.

• Students at the College of Nursing Northern Division in Norfolk performed 180 hours of community service through the Healing Hands of Nebraska M25 Program to help a Norfolk man get a surgery he couldn't afford. Read more.

• Students in the College of Nursing Lincoln Division had the opportunity to solve high-risk obstetrics health emergencies in an "escape room" setting. Read more.

State Student Nurses Association Event Held at UNMC In Early February, about 100 nursing students and faculty advisers from 13 nursing schools across the state attended this year's Nebraska State Student Nurses Association Annual Convention on the UNMC campus in Omaha. Numerous awards and recognition certificates were presented to student nurses and their schools. Four UNMC nursing students were elected to the 12-member board:

Maria McDougall, first vice president, College of Nursing Kearney Division; and West Nebraska Division students Colin Wollaston, second vice president, Myia Hamaker, secretary, and Devin Beaver, treasurer. Read more.

College Launches New 'RN Huddle' Podcast This past fall, the college launched the RN Huddle podcast and Heidi Keeler, Ph.D. '10 serves as the host of each episode. Local and national nursing experts have been featured talking about pivotal information for nurses--including most recently, COVID-19. Read more here and here.

Faculty Highlights

• Elizabeth Beam, Ph.D. '00, '04 '14, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, is the recipient of the 2020 William Rutala Scholarship from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. This award is intended to help support infection control professionals' scholarly activities in hospital epidemiology.

• Juliann Sebastian, Ph.D., Dean, College of Nursing, was featured in a February 2020 webinar entitled "The Health and Medical Dimensions of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults." Even though that webinar was private, you can read the new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that outlines the five goals that the health care system should adopt to help address the health and impacts of social isolation and loneliness. Read the report here. Read the full UNMC story here.

• Amy Hoffman, Ph.D., professor, College of Nursing, was honored by UNMC with a 2019-2020 Distinguished Scientist Award. Read more here.

• Claudia Chaperon, Ph.D., '97, '05, associate professor in the College of Nursing, was honored with an Impact in Education Award by UNMC for 2019-2020. Read more here.

UNMC News U.S. Again Reaches Out to Nebraska During Health Crisis

With the spread of the novel coronavirus, the UNMC Global Center for Health Security has been working constantly with federal, state and local partners. The list of initiatives involving biopreparedness on the med center campus is extensive. The Global Center for Health Security features the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC), National Disaster

Medical System (NDMS) training and the recently opened Training, Simulation and Quarantine Center (TSQC), just to name a few. The TSQC is a facility designed to train federal personnel to treat highly infectious diseases and to create a place to monitor people who may have had a high-risk exposure. The TSQC, made possible via a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is not being used for monitoring in this case because of the large number of people involved. For up-to-date, science-based information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and/or UNMC websites.

UNMC Sets Another Record for Research Funding

UNMC set another record for research funding from external sources exceeding $138 million for fiscal year 2019. That is a 2% increase from the previous year's record total of $135 million, which was itself a 15.8% jump from the previous year. U.S. News ranked UNMC 62nd in research. Read more. Research translates discoveries into new therapies to save and improve the lives of Nebraska citizens and beyond. The FY 2019 research dollars included a 13.3% funding increase awarded to the College of Medicine, and the College of Nursing had a 30.5% increase from the previous fiscal year. Read more here. The College of Nursing has many great research projects underway. One is highlighted below and others can be viewed here.

• Amy Hoffman, Ph.D., professor of nursing, $583,281 (five-year, $2.8 million) National Institutes of Health grant for "Managing Fatigue Using Virtual Reality for Post-Operative Lung Cancer Patients."

College of Nursing Featured on NU Podcast The University of Nebraska has released a new episode of its "Leading Nebraska" podcast series, featuring UNMC's statewide reach in preparing the next generation of nurses and nurse educators.

The UNMC College of Nursing enrolls 1,100 students across its divisions in Scottsbluff, Kearney, Norfolk, Lincoln and Omaha, making it the largest of UNMC's health colleges. That statewide presence allows the college to meet students where they are, educating them close to home and preparing them to serve in the community of their choice. Read more.

NExT: A Nebraska Transformational Project

UNMC leadership have been working on a new initiative, the “NExT” project. NExT is a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity for the State of Nebraska to catapult itself into national and international prominence. This project will take place over the next decade with funding being provided by a series of public/private partnerships. The project will be based on the northwest corner of the current UNMC/Nebraska Medicine campus at an estimated core construction cost of up to $2.6 billion over a seven-to eight-year period. Read more here.

A New Way to Show Your UNMC Pride

UNMC has worked with the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to offer the specialty license plate featured above. This proposed plate has been approved by the DMV, but 250 applications are necessary for the state to begin manufacturing the plate.

If you are interested in learning more or requesting a license plate, please click here. Each applicant must commit to paying the $70 fee annually for this special plate. Please note that this is only available for those who live in Nebraska.

Ways to Stay Connected to the College, UNMC and the UNMCAA

UNMC Alumni Page College of Nursing Alumni Page

UNMCAA Twitter

UNMC Alumni Group

The UNMC mobile app is free to download, so check it out and connect with the University and your Alumni Association!

UNMC & UNO partnered with Apple to create the 1-Check COVID screening app. Read more about it here and download it for free from the Apple App store. Please note, it is not available for download to Android (yet).

UNMCAA Flickr: View and download photos from past events.

The Connections Project Blog is a place for UNMC Alumni to share real-world information and advice with students and fellow #unmcalumni. Information is shared in short written or video blog posts. Send us an email if you'd like to learn more or get involved. Alumni can participate in this from anywhere in the world, so connect with us today!

The UNMC Alumni Association | 985200 Nebraska Medical Center | Omaha, NE 68198-5200

alumni@unmc.edu