The Pulse
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Greetings from Milledgeville!
I hope you have had a great summer and are finding some time to get away and beat the heat. We have been busy on campus this summer preparing once again for record freshman enrollment. All of programs are doing well, and we are working to get the BS in public health CEPH accredited with work beginning on a self-study as we speak.
Nursing is doing very well for fall with new Lettie Pate Whitehead scholars coming in, and a robust simulation center operating at capacity! In addition to our two schools doing very well, we're making progress on our mobile health unit and anticipate a grand unveiling very soon.
Dr. Damian Francis worked very hard on this project, and we owe a debt of gratitude to Dean Stratton in the College of Business & Technology as well. He connected us to one of his leadership board members who helped us negotiate and secure funding for the mobile unit. Our own leadership board helped us with grants from AFLAC and Truist Bank as well. We're excited for the ability to provide health and preventive care outreach in our region and a major boost to our Center for Health and Social Issues.
More to come. But for now, take care, and when in Milly, please stop by and say hello!
Dean, Dr. Will Evans
GCSU Intern Improves Quality of Life
Senior public health major and sociology minor Blakely Queen knows the rewarding feeling that comes from volunteering and working for the public good.
She’s a public health community engagement intern this summer at Camp Kudzu, which serves children and teens with Type 1 Diabetes.
Queen learned about the camp from two close friends who attended as kids. During her senior seminar class in fall 2023, she spotted Camp Kudzu as Georgia College & State University’s approved work site.
“When I saw it on the list, I immediately knew that's where I wanted to go,” Queen said.
Camp Kudzu’s mission is to educate, inspire and empower campers and their families. There are approximately 180 campers attending the first summer session.
“I love to see an organization educate people on how to live their lives with Type 1 Diabetes without them feeling left out,” she said. “Sometimes a chronic illness can make people feel very isolated, so they don't talk about it much. Camp Kudzu creates that community to connect people, living with Type 1 Diabetes, to show they're not alone.”
Occupational Therapy Intern Serving Milledgeville
Bree Straight walked away from graduation this spring confident in her future. She was going to intern with Twin Lakes Physical Therapy, a Milledgeville-based physical therapy office that offers care like massage, pre- and post-operation care, sports rehabilitation and more.
“I get to hear what PTs and OTs are saying, but also get a formal relationship with clients and see their experience and their walk,” Straight said. “It's been cool to see just how different of an atmosphere it is being in a building like that compared to when you're in a class.”
As Straight took public health classes, she also discovered a love for community outreach and service. She and her intern team went to the home of a local resident, who is an outpatient of the clinic, to build a ramp for accessibility to their home.
“My classes helped me to get a better perspective, like how everyone has different ways of living,” Straight said. “It's helped me be able to better relate to them, talk to them and realize that everyone comes from different places.”
Nurse Honor Guard Services Expanded by GCSU Faculty
Three faculty at Georgia College & State University have created the Order of the White Rose chapter for the Georgia Nurse Honor Guard, which now spans the width of Georgia.
Assistant Professors of nursing Dr. Amy Malcom, Dr. Joyce Norris-Taylor and Dr. Catherine Fowler co-founded the chapter to expand free funeral and tribute services to 14 rural counties in Georgia.
A new program, the Georgia Nurse Honor Guard was established in January 2024 to provide funeral services to nurses, similar to those performed for law enforcement and military personnel. The guard’s chapters also offer living tributes to former nurses who live in hospices.
“It’s a way for nurses to honor other nurses,” Malcom said. “It’s a way to show unity. We’re all together, we’re all unified in what we do and we’re stronger together.”
Dr. Sheryl Winn: Best of Both Worlds
When she was a senior in high school, Dr. Sheryl Winn (Nursing ’82) sought the Lord’s leading for her future. She prayed specifically for clarity—and the next day’s mail brought a flyer from Pensacola Christian College, advertising the debut of its nursing program.
“I felt [that I had] the confirmation I needed [for] my life path—and it definitely was, as I have never looked back,” she said.
Over the years, Dr. Winn has held many positions including registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, RN in Cardiac Stepdown unit, and nurse practitioner in student health at Macon State College, now known as Middle Georgia State University. But today, she is a professor at Georgia College and State University’s School of Nursing, a coordinator of the DNP program at GCSU, and an adult NP at a clinic serving the homeless.
“Throughout all my positions in nursing, I have loved every one of them,” she shared.
