Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2016 – Brockport: Beth Heavey

Dr. Elizabeth Heavey is currently an Associate Professor of Nursing and the Graduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Nursing at The State University of New York College at Brockport. She has developed and submitted a Master’s program with state approval currently pending. In her previous role she helped develop and then later served as the RN-BSN program director. After stepping in as the program director, she automated and streamlined the admission and registration process, more than doubled the enrollment numbers in the program in her first year, increased student retention rates from 66% to 97% in one year, and facilitated the design and development of online courses to increase the flexibility of RN-BSN program.

She taught and continues to teach Statistics for Nurses, Community Based Epidemiology, Evidence Based Practice Seminars and Public Health and Social Justice. In 2013 she was awarded the SUNY Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence and has been nominated for both the Faculty Advisement Award and the Roland Fontaine Award for Student-Faculty Engagement.

Dr. Heavey currently serves as the online coordinator for the nursing department and is a school representative on the College Technology Council and the Provosts Task Force for Excellence in Online/Hybrid Education. She is a frequently requested speaker on promoting excellence in the development of online learning environments which promote student engagement and active learning.   She also functions as a legal nurse consultant providing case reviews involving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. She has practiced as a registered nurse and as a certified nurse-midwife for twenty years with high risk urban populations in underserved communities.  She is an expert colposcopist and an ASCCP colposcopy program mentor. In addition, she has a Ph.D. in epidemiology and has completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Adolescent Medicine also at the University of Rochester.   She is the author of multiple clinical care articles, several book chapters and Statistics for Nursing: A Practical Approach, 2^nd ed. published by Jones and Bartlett.  She is an active member of the editorial board for NURSING 2016 and serves as a reviewer for multiple professional journals. She serves on several community advisory boards, provides expert consultation to community health service agencies and facilitates training sessions for professional nursing organizations.

Dr. Heavey has been teaching online for approximately 8 years. She believes that online degree programs provide both educational access to underrepresented groups such as those living outside major metropolitan regions and flexibility for working professionals.

“We will not see our nation reach our healthcare goals without providing high quality online education to working professionals. I strive to make my online courses as organized, engaging and informative as they can be to promote both critical thinking and a passion for the field. Ultimately, by engaging the professional nursing students and bring multidimensional learning to an online environment, I am contributing to better nursing care, improved patient outcomes and higher job satisfaction within the field. I love teaching and believe online formats provide significant opportunities for many who would otherwise not have access to them.”