Welcomes Dean of the College of Nursing and Health
Dr. Michelle Collins joins Loyola from Rush University College of Nursing
(New Orleans, February 22, 2021) is happy to announce Dr. Michelle (Shelli) Collins as the dean of the College of Nursing and Health. Dr. Collins comes to Loyola from Rush University College of Nursing, where she served as professor and associate dean for academic affairs until July 2020. She spent most of her academic career at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, ultimately serving as the program director for the Nurse-Midwifery Educational Program. She joined Loyola in early January.
As dean of the College of Nursing and Health, she will steer the , which welcomes its inaugural class in Fall 2021, and the university’s nationally ranked online post-licensure nursing education and graduate programs for nursing. Dr. Collins will also oversee the Loyola Institute for Ministry, an online higher education program in ministry, and the university’s Department of Counseling, which launched a community-based mental health clinic in 2019.
“The pandemic has further confirmed the critical roles nurses play in the healthcare system and the importance of having a well-rounded and holistic approach to nursing and healthcare education,” said Loyola Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Tanuja Singh. “We are pleased to have Dr. Shelli Collins leading the College of Nursing and Health as we grow our offerings and provide new opportunities for students. The Search Committee and I were impressed by Dr. Collins’ enthusiasm and natural warmth, her aspirational and unifying vision for the College of Nursing and Health at Loyola, her impressive accomplishments, a stellar academic record and leadership qualities.”
A registered nurse and certified nurse-midwife in clinical practice, Dr. Collins received her Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tenn. She credits her passion for nursing and caring for the mind, body, and spirit of her students and patients to her Jesuit education at Marquette University, where she received her MSN degree.
A nationally-respected academic, she has extensive experience in creating and running innovative programming to benefit students and patients. She is a board member of the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education; member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives/American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists joint interdisciplinary education initiative; appointed member of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus committee on Research Issues in the Assessment of Birth Settings; and a member of the American Academy of Nursing Expert Panel on Maternal and Infant Health.
Dr. Collins has authored over 40 peer-reviewed and invited papers and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing. She has delivered over 150 research presentations at national and international conferences and published numerous pieces in the lay media as a contributor for the National Op Ed Fellowship. She is a sought-after media expert for the American College of Nurse-Midwives, and Fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the American Academy of Nursing, and a Distinguished Scholar Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.
Aside from “catching” babies, one of her most enjoyable activities is guest blogging for the national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network for the series Call the Midwife.