Nine provincial awards of excellence will be presented to nursing faculty, students, staff and health program partners by the Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing (COUPN) later this week. The awards, which were created in 2008, focus on four key areas – excellence in teaching, innovation in research, student excellence and partnership support.
“Ontario nursing programs are committed to ensuring not only excellence in our teaching to prepare our students to provide the best health care for Ontarians, but also to innovation in our research to advance education and health care,” says Dr. Kileen Tucker Scott, Chair of COUPN and Director of Ryerson University’s Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing. “This year’s award winners are but a small sampling of the many dedicated individuals and organizations province-wide that work collectively to support this commitment.”
The Excellence in Teaching Award celebrates Dr. Sue Coffey, Associate Professor in York University’s School of Nursing, for her holistic approach to teaching as well as her co-ordination of the BScN program for internationally educated nurses; and Dr. Tucker Scott for her continued dedication as a teacher in tandem with her dynamic roles as an administrator and nursing advocate. The Teaching Innovation Award honours the University of Western Ontario’s Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing for the group’s pilot project that simulated a nursing environment enabling the delivery and assessment of new clinical learning opportunities for nursing students.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit, an applied public health research and education unit, will receive the Agency Recognition Award for integrating theory and practice to educate undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Margaret Duff, the University Health Network’s Nursing Education Co-ordinator, will be recognized with the Award for Strategic Contribution to Nursing Education for her ongoing work in advancing college-university partnerships and facilitating clinical experiences for students.
Also receiving awards at the April 30 Toronto reception will be:
- Dr. Patrick O’Byrne (Doctoral Dissertation Award) from the University of Ottawa;
- Jason McCready (Master’s Student Award of Excellence) from the University of Western Ontario;
- Hilary Hall (Award for Excellence in Professional Nursing Practice at the Undergraduate Student Level) from the University of Toronto;
- Dr. Michael McGillion (New Tenure Stream Faculty Contribution Award), Assistant Professor from the University of Toronto; and
- Ms. Deborah Walker (Preceptor Recognition Award), RN from the Hamilton Health Sciences who was nominated by McMaster University.
COUPN, an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), works in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to deliver the highest quality nursing education to prepare students for practice and to support the province in meeting its human health resource needs.
– 30 –
For further information and interview opportunities, please contact:
Audrey Danaher
Senior Policy Analyst
COU’s Office of Health Sciences
416.979.2165 ext. 226
adanaher@cou.on.ca
Kileen Tucker Scott
Chair of COUPN
Ryerson University
416.979-5331
ktscott@ryerson.ca
Assistant Jan Tramov: jtramov@ryerson.ca
