School of Nursing is Again Designated as Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership for Next Four Years

September 2, 2010


To the School of Nursing Community,

It is with a great deal of pleasure and appreciation that I announce that we have once again been designated as a WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership! This designation is effective as of July 15, 2010 for four years, 2010-2014. Our new Terms of Reference (TOR) upon which we received this redesignation are as follows:

1.) Work with WHO to contribute to the development of primary healthcare based systems by strengthening nursing and midwifery human resources to address the Millennium Development Goals.

2.) In collaboration with WHO, systematically promote sustainable interprofessional education and collaborative research.

3.) Assist WHO in fostering development of human resources by working to reduce nurse shortages and to improve work environments for nurses.

We feel that these terms of reference best capture the expertise and interest of the greatest number of our faculty while reflecting the future directions of our international mission.

There are a total of 44 WHO Collaborating Centers globally. Of these, 11 are in the United States. Our Center was first designated in 1988 under then-Dean, Claire Fagin. It was the second School of Nursing in the country (after the University of Illinois) and the fifth institution to be so designated globally (after Helsinki Research Institute in Finland, University of Illinois at Chicago, Maribor Nursing Health Center in Slovenia, and Yonsei University in Korea).

I want to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Muecke and Geri Grosso for their diligence and commitment in developing our redesignation proposal and effectively meeting every requirement throughout the process. I would also like to extend our deep appreciation to Mrs. Silvina Malvarez, of the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO). She has been a phenomenal partner during this time and we look forward to her ongoing guidance and support as we seek to achieve our terms of reference goals.