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DEVELOPING

NursesasChristianServants

he mission statement of the Harding University Carr College of


Nursing was developing nurses as Christian servants. Dean
of the College of Nursing Dr. Cathleen Shultz adopted this as
her personal mission statement in her career and life. Shultz spent
35 years building the nursing program at Harding into a beacon for
faith-based schools to emulate.
I had a very wise, older Christian woman say to me, Cathy, you
build things by staying, Schultz said. To build a program it meant
staying but making sure I stayed on top of things, which was very
difficult being in a rural state, a poverty state. I was at a university that
truly supported the nursing program but had never had one before.
Shultz had a bachelors degree in nursing from the University
of South Carolina, a family nurse practitioner degree from Emory
University, and a doctorate degree in nursing from Vanderbilt
University. In 2006, she became the first certified nurse educator at
Harding and was elected treasurer of the National League for Nursing.
She continued to rise in influence and became the president-elect of
the National League in 2007 and then president in 2009.
I think the greatest accomplishment has been embedding our
faith in our nursing practice in a very active way, and I think each
year its become stronger, Schultz said.
Shultz spoke of the faculty in the nursing program as active
Christian servants in the classroom and in the mission field, with
80 percent of the faculty having gone on missions abroad, and 100
percent of faculty working as missionaries in the community. Associate
Professor of Nursing Dr. Johnnetta Kelly was a colleague and friend
of Shultzs since she began teaching at Harding in 1995. Kelly taught
several courses as a part of the nursing program curriculum including

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LEADERSHIP

introduction to nursing, maternity and womens health nursing, and


the nursing capstone course. She described Shultz as a phenomenal
leader, well-respected colleague and dear sister in Christ.
Dr. Shultz has helped shape the character and the practice of
nursing through nursing education throughout the United States
and abroad, Kelly said. Touching the human community through
teaching, scholarship and research in nursing, Dr. Shultz has authored
alone and with colleagues 28 books, published more than 60 articles
in professional journals, and offered more than 145 professional
presentations to a wide variety of audiences, locally, nationally and
internationally.
Shultz significantly impacted the faculty of the Carr College of
Nursing as well as hundreds of students lives as they made their
way through the program over the past 35 years. Jenna Fox, a senior
nursing major, gained more than just a thorough knowledge of the
nursing profession. From her time under the instruction of Shultz
and other faculty members, Fox gained an understanding of how
her Christian faith could influence her career as a nurse.
Her years of experience and credentials aid in the teaching of the
students, Fox said. This wide range of knowledge together with
her Christian-based nursing practice teaches the students what the
nursing profession is all about: being a Christian servant.
Shultzs faith guided her through the entire process of establishing
a nursing program at Harding and all the good times and bad times
that went along with it. She continued to use her faith as a tool to
inspire and influence the faculty and students of the Carr College
of Nursing.
Marianna Woodruff

Dr. Cathleen Shultz, dean of college of nursing, wrote 28


books, published more than 60 articles in professional journals
and delivered more than 145 presentations. Janae Callicoat

Bryan Burks, D.B.A., Dean of College of Business


Administration
Warren Casey, Ph.D., Dean of Honors College/
Dean of College of Arts and Humanities
Monte Cox, Ph.D., Dean of College of Bible and Ministry
Tony Finley, Ed.D., Dean of College of Education

Jeffrey Hopper, Ph.D., Dean of International Programs


Cathleen Shultz, Ph.D., Dean of College of Nursing
Travis Thompson, Ph.D., Dean of College of Sciences
Beckie Weaver, Ph.D., Dean of College of Allied Health

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DEANS

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