UofL’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Dentistry each host a White Coat Ceremony encouraging students to enter into an inner, personal contract, accepting the obligations specific to their practice, as they are cloaked with a white coat.

University of Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD, gave the keynote address to more than 160 medical students during the School of Medicine Class of 2023 White Coat Ceremony on July 28.

“The ceremony is designed to clarify for students that a physician’s responsibility is to take care of patients, care for the patients and practice humanism in medicine,” said Toni Ganzel, MD, MBA, FACS, dean of the School of Medicine.

Nearly 50 doctorate of nursing practice students will receive a white coat on Aug. 15 during a ceremony on the UofL Health Sciences Center campus. Presiding will be Sonya Hardin, PhD, MBA, MHA, CCRN, NP-C, FAAN, dean of the UofL School of Nursing.

Finally, 120 dental and 30 dental hygiene students will participate in a White Coat Ceremony Aug. 24 at The Palace Theatre for the UofL School of Dentistry’s event.

David C. Johnsen, DDS, MS, dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, will give the keynote, with UofL School of Dentistry Dean T. Gerard Bradley, BDS, MS, DrMedDent, presiding. Johnsen, a pediatric dentist, will speak on critical thinking in learning and professional environments.

Hardin, formerly the associate dean for graduate programs and professor in the College of Nursing at East Carolina University, became a fellow in 2017 in the American Academy of Nursing, one of the highest honors of profession.

A nurse practitioner who specialized in care for older adults, Hardin said her goal is to ensure every individual who wants to be a nurse gets an opportunity. Hardin, whose mother and daughter are nurses, wants to instill five I’s into her students: have integrity, be innovative and influential, know how to work interprofessionally, and invest in themselves and others.

Early in the meeting, the senate voted to approve the proposal on implementing a masters of science in bioengineering, providing all engineering disciplines at UofL with bachelor’s and master’s options.

One senator stated that bioengineering is a rapidly growing field, and one of the goals of the degree program is to retain UofL students who have a bachelor’s degree in the field. That senator added that roughly 50 percent of students who complete their bachelor’s degree in bioengineering pursue a master’s degree.

Before reports from Faculty Senate Standing Committees, provost office designee Tracy Eells delivered status of an information item to the group. Eells spoke about a potential two-part event titled “Voice, Diversity and Governance: Managing the College Classroom in Today’s Political Environment,” with the goal to provide a forum for discussion about how faculty can manage discourse in the classroom.

President’s Report

Provost Beth Boehm provided a brief report on behalf of president Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, who was off campus for the day.

It was noted that Health Sciences Center items represented the largest share of time on the Benadpudi’s agenda.

Topics highlighted:

• Jewish Hospital is transitioning services to UofL Hospital. There was a question raised about whether there is enough space to accommodate increasing services.
• There is a plan to create a new university health identity, UofL Health, that is comprised of the hospital and physical health.
• Bendapudi noted a plan to provide a balance budget strategy for the School of Medicine.

Provost Report

Provost Beth Boehm offered an update on recent mold concerns raised by a student in Threlkeld Hall, informing senators that the Department of Health inspected multiple dorms and all passed. She added that the meeting between residents at the on-campus property and director of housing revealed minor issues, which were not reported previously. Maintenance attempted to address all issues immediately.

Boehm then noted the appointment of Dr. Aaron Thompson as the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary ����ֱ��’s fourth president. She stated that he wants to examine new out-of-state tuition costs and also have more discussion focused on mission differentiation.

After mentioning that all three candidates for the Chief Information Office were on campus recently, she established that search firms have been identified for two positions: Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation.

One final item Boehm spoke about regarded who on campus sets policy on political speech, including policy on using campus email for political views.

Reinstatement of Phi Kappa Phi chapter

Officials are working to reinstate the school’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society. It is open to undergraduate, graduate and professional students who rank in the top 10 percent of their respective classes.

Currently, officials are in search of four volunteers from faculty to hold positions. Boehm, speaking as a member, noted the career and networking opportunities as part of the society. In 1946, UofL became the 50th university to join the organization.

Other general interest items from the meeting:

• Roy Fuller said the Part-Time Faculty Committee is in the process of developing a document to help these employees, advocating for parking, development opportunities, and the value of retaining part-time faculty.
• David Owen stated that the Executive Committee is reviewing a policy that would ban all scooters on campus. He also noted that UofL signed on with business community partner CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion.
• Lazaro Donis-Munoz discussed Student Government Association initiatives, including prayer space for students of Muslim faith and additional areas for bikes to park on campus.

Hardin will start on Aug. 13, serving as acting dean until the UofL Board of Trustees approves her appointment.

“I am excited to join UofL,” Hardin said. “The School of Nursing has an exemplary leadership team, nationally-renowned faculty and an outstanding cadre of staff, students, distinguished alumni and supporters who are well positioned to impact the health of individuals, families and communities.”

Hardin will replace Marcia J. Hern, who in 2017 announced her plan to retire from the school after an 11-year tenure as dean.

“Dr. Hardin will expand upon the advancement that has occurred in the past decade at the School of Nursing, which has seen growth in programs, learning space and student enrollment,” said Greg Postel, MD, executive vice president for health affairs at UofL.

“Many thanks to Dr. Hern for agreeing to remain as dean during the search process. Under her leadership, the school added two graduate programs, established the only traditional nursing baccalaureate program in Owensboro and underwent significant classroom and clinical simulation lab expansion. Student standards have risen and pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses exceed the national average.”

Hardin is a nurse practitioner specializing in care for older adults, and her research has focused on symptom management and issues surrounding inpatient critical care of the geriatric population.

While at East Carolina University, she led a three-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services titled the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, which created a comprehensive approach to caring for older adults in the eastern region of North Carolina. Working with community partners, the initiative established an interprofessional education model, trained primary care providers to meet the needs of older adults and created community-based programs for rural older adults and their families.

Hardin has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and three books with topics focusing on geriatric care, critical care for older adults and chronic disease. In 2017, she became a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, one of the highest honors in the profession.

Incorporating entrepreneurship and technology into practice, Hardin worked with an engineer team at East Carolina University to create a device that quantitatively measures edema in the lower extremity. The group has received a provisional patent on the device.

“Dr. Hardin is an innovative leader with a proven record of providing strategic direction at academic medical centers and nursing schools,” said Toni Ganzel, MD, MBA, dean of the UofL School of Medicine, who led the School of Nursing dean search committee. “She brings a unique skill set to bolster the research mission and visibility of the School of Nursing, build robust partnerships and advance the school in educating the next generation of nurses.”

Hardin joined the nursing college at East Carolina University in 2013, where she started the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program and oversaw accreditation of the doctor of nursing practice, certified registered nurse anesthetist and midwifery programs. She previously had faculty positions at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Lenoir Rhyne College. Hardin started her career in 1982, working as a critical care staff nurse in several North Carolina hospitals and earned her adult nurse practitioner license in 2009.

Hardin has a PhD in nursing from the University of Colorado and master’s degrees in business and health administration from Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. She earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She also completed post-doctoral fellowships at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.