She will represent Sigma Theta Tau at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio +20 in Brazil in June.

Sigma Theta Tau, an associated nongovernmental organization of the UN, is working with the UN to address global issues which affect health. These include such things as reducing child mortality, combating diseases and eliminating hunger and poverty.

In the fall of 2010, the Aiken native enrolled at CSU declaring biochemistry his major. Inspired by a Chapel performance by the Annie Moses Band, with no prior music experience, Franco changed his major from biochemistry to music and worship leadership, a radical act of faith.

“It was kinda scary actually,” he confessed. “I didn’t even know what sharps and flats were.”

In January, as he began adjusting to his new life in the classroom, Franco took another leap of faith after attending Passion 2012, the four-day Christian conference at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. He was one of 45,000 college students from across the country who attended the event that redefined modern-day slavery. Passion officials reported there are 27 million slaves worldwide — sex trafficking and forced labor topping the list.

“It was so inspiring,” said Franco. “I could feel the Holy Spirit moving there.”

Before the conference, Franco said he was like the majority of the world, knowing slavery was alive but believing it lacked relevance in today’s culture. “I was, admittedly, thinking if I didn’t see it then I wouldn’t have to deal with it.”

Passion’s modernization of slavery helped raise $3.3 million and lit a fire in Franco. With the images seared in his memory, the stories of slavery lingering in his mind, Franco knew he could not just walk away. When Franco returned to Charleston he began praying daily, asking God for guidance.

“What if this were your brother or sister – or your own child – that was taken away from you?” he said. “Being sent to a camp to work, feeling completely hopeless. That’s when it really hit home for me. All those things I take for granted.”

Prayer led to action. He decided to go barefoot, adopting the Tom’s Shoes campaign concept of “A Day Without Shoes.” Franco said living barefoot is about awareness.

“I really don’t think I am starting a movement,” said Franco. “It was just me trying to sense a little bit of the pain they feel. They [slaves] can’t afford shoes themselves, so I thought, maybe if I walk in their shoes – or not in their shoes – for a day I’d realize how painful it is for them.”

Franco has walked across campus barefoot in the rain. He’s stepped on trash and pebbles, stubbed his big toe on brick walkways and wiped his feet clean in the grass (he carries a pair of flip-flops in his bookbag to wear in the dining hall, where students are required to wear shoes for health and safety reasons).

“Every time my feet start to hurt, I am motivated to pray … to pray for the people who don’t have shoes; all the people who go without,” he said. “I felt if I suffered with them, I’d feel more of their pain and more motivated to give whatever I have so that they can be blessed. It keeps me in constant awareness of it.”

Franco lifts his left hand, revealing gal 5:1 scrawled in black ink on the back of his hand. It’s a reminder of the Bible verse Galatians 5:1: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, so don’t take on the yoke of slavery.

He points to the index finger on his left hand where he’s carved another verse in ink. This one is 1 John 3:17: If someone has worldly possessions and sees his brother in need, but doesn’t help, then how can he have the love of God in him?

Two more reminders of the lessons he learned in Atlanta. Besides his feet, his hands and fingers, Franco shared his story on Facebook. Friends and classmates started sending back text messages and comments.

“This isn’t about me, it’s about them [slaves],” Franco replies. “It’s not about the cause, it’s about the effect. It was really unexpected because I wasn’t doing it for anyone to see me doing it, but when they do I am able to tell them more about it.”

Franco said he doesn’t have a START and STOP date adding, “I didn’t know how I was going to help. I still don’t know how I will help. It’s just one person at a time, one life at a time that can change.”

Want to learn more about slavery? Visit these web resources:

http://slaveryfootprint.org/#where_do_you_live

http://www.callandresponse.com/

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

http://love146.org/

Take a moment; let that sink in.

This essentially boils down to this basic mathematic formula: 1,000 miles divided by 30 days equals, roughly, 33 miles per day. For the record, a marathon is 26.2 miles. What Mangini is attempting is 38 marathons in 30 days.

Simple math – with a calculator; interesting – if you are reading this over lunch; inspiring – on paper; easier said, calculated and plotted, than done.

Mangini, a full-time student in Charleston Southern University’s College of Adult and Professional Studies and a member of the Board of Visitors, is the Chief Executive Officer of SweetAngelGifts.com, a philanthropic online gift company whose mission is to partner with charities to cure and/or control disease and make a significant impact on society.

Not long after SweetAngelGifts.com launched last fall, the company partnered with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s disease research. Instead of simply adding The Michael J. Fox Foundation to his list of partners, Mangini invested time in researching Parkinson’s, its fundraising efforts and the overwhelming effects the disease has on human life.

The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation reports more than five million people worldwide have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (60,000 are diagnosed every year); another two million are estimated to be living with the disease – but have yet to be diagnosed. An estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s disease.

The disease not only cripples people physically, but financially as well. The PDF states, “combined direct and indirect cost of Parkinson’s, including treatment, social security payments and lost income from inability to work, is estimated to be nearly $25 billion per year in the United States alone.”

The numbers were staggering as Mangini sat in his office pulling research off the Internet. “It shocked me,” he said. “I didn’t realize it affected so many people, and right now there is no cure. I just sat back in my chair and absorbed that.”

Mangini felt challenged. As his mind began thinking how and where he and his company could attack this problem, “the gears started turning,” he remembers. “Marathons seem to be very effective. I am in Charleston, South Carolina. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is headquartered in New York City, what if I was to run from here to there?”

His first call was to Katy Reitz, director of advancement for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. When he casually threw the idea out the phone went silent, a pause that seemed to last forever.

“This is fantastic,” Reitz finally replied. “I think this is heroic.”

“I figured she was thinking, this is either heroic or I am nuts – probably a little more nuts,” Mangini said laughing. “Team Fox is just an amazing organization of passionate people who are helping with communication and national media.”

After moving to Charleston two years ago and launching a startup company, Mangini decided to take care of some unfinished business, a college degree. He searched Google for Charleston colleges and enrolled at Charleston Southern’s College of Adult and Professional Studies.

“Two things really stood out,” said Mangini. “There is faith integrated into learning – as a Christian, that was huge – and the other was the flexibility of having an online, off-campus degree program. With my busy schedule I could work and still take classes online, on my schedule. The flexibility allowed me to run my own company and balance taking classes full-time.”

Mangini is balancing priorities — his business, life, marriage — and now, the rigorous college class work at CSU, taking 18 credit hours per semester. The journey will mean he’ll be gone 30-35 days, away from his wife, his life, his business and his school work. He called Daniela, his wife.

“I wasn’t sure how she was going to take it,” said Mangini. “When I first told her she was at work, and I said, “By the way, this is what I’m thinking of doing …”

The casual, “by the way …” query seemed to work. Daniela was encouraging and supportive.

Mangini began plotting his course on a map, figuring out ways to connect with the community along the way. The 1,000 Mile Marathon: Search for America’s Heroes will include stops in 13 major markets along the route to host fundraising events. The financial goal is $500,000, made possible by The Brin-Wojickick challenge; dollar-for-dollar fundraising match by Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, the search-engine company, and his wife, Anne Wojcicki, a co-founder of 23andMe, a genetic-testing company.

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Mangini plans to spend his spring educating, training and promoting 1,000 Mile Marathon: Search for America’s Heroes. Since going public with his plan, people in Charleston, customers and business partners across the country have begun to rally in support of the event.

Oh, one small detail: James Mangini doesn’t enjoy running – or even walking. At age 32, he has never run a marathon. He’s never run a half-marathon. The longest distance he’s ever run was five or six miles when he was in the military. He was 19 years old.

“I’m a strength athlete,” he said. “I enjoy working out with weights and just a little bit of cardiovascular workouts to keep your heart healthy, so this will be interesting.”

Mangini began planning his physical workout schedule with a call to Sam Fox [no relation to Michael J. Fox], who ran 2,250 miles in 61 days in support of Parkinson’s. Fox’s advice to Mangini was simple: practice like you’re going to play.

“ My goal and plan will be to mimic what I am going to be doing on the road, which is to jog a couple miles, walk a couple, jog a couple; the problem is the body – remember, this is the equivalent of one-and-one-half marathons a day – is not going to have time to recover,” said Mangini.

Mangini is expected to consume 8,900 calories a day. The terrain will be rugged; the journey dangerous. Mangini will have a support team trailing in a vehicle every step of the 1,000 Mile Marathon. But he must overcome more than physical endurance. This “journey” will require intense focus and mental preparation.

“You’re pushing yourself to a physical and emotional limit every day,” Fox said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. “You don’t have time to recover. Not getting enough rest. Not getting enough food; trying to catch up because you’ve fallen behind. All those things factor in. The emotional part is going to be the biggest challenge for me, especially on the road.”

“If I am on the road 8-10 hours a day, what do I do?” Where is my mind at?” said Mangini. “There are some things we are going to do from a marketing perspective using technology to connect. But, I think, being mentally prepared, being mentally there during the trip and at the speaking engagements will be the toughest part.”

Daunting, certainly, but for Mangini this journey is a matter of the heart. Three years ago Parkinson’s was another disease on a long list of debilitating illnesses. Then Mangini’s father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and suddenly the disease had a face.

“When my father was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s it really didn’t sink in,” he said. “I didn’t see any of the symptoms, you know, the tremors and loss of body functions.”

When Mangini went home last summer the tremors were only noticeable in his father’s pinky finger. Then, last Christmas, James and Daniela traveled to New Jersey to spend time with his family. As they pulled up to the curb, James’ father came out of the house to greet them.

“From the time I saw him last summer, the disease has progressed quite a bit,” said Mangini. “His body movements, his facial expressions, there’s a lot of loss of control of movement and tremors.”

Daniela held back tears. It was in that moment James knew his father was physically in a fight with a powerful disease. “When we got out of the car to speak to him, we realized Parkinson’s also affected his ability to communicate.”

“That was tough,” he said. “In six months [since the last time he saw his father], it’s night and day. I’m still trying to put that together. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through.”

Mangini’s father has always been active and was a Little League umpire in New Jersey.

“The stages I’ve gone through, in terms of passion and level of energy for this project, obviously starts with my father, then the realization after seeing my father, it becomes personal.”

The second to the last stop on the 1,000 Mile Marathon: Search for America’s Heroes will be Hillsborough, New Jersey, Mangini’s hometown. He will have the opportunity to stop and see his father on the final leg of the journey. “I can’t even imagine what that is going to be like,” he said. “It will be really fun and emotional, but I hope we can raise awareness and honor my father.”

Mangini is driven by his father’s condition, but his relationship to Parkinson’s disease runs deeper. His father’s grandfather was diagnosed in the 1960s with the disease and lived the last 20 years of his life fighting the condition. Through his partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, he’s met and built friendships with people with Parkinson’s. Some of his customers have Parkinson’s.

“When I first spoke to my father about this he was speechless,” said Mangini, who told his father at Christmas. “He was so proud and honored. I think he’s still trying to digest everything we’re doing. The whole family has been extremely supportive.”

Pride. Honor. Courage. There are no numbers, no math, no words to define that.

###

For more information on the 1,000 Mile Marathon: Search for America’s Heroes, visit 1000milemarathon.org.

Daniel Bryant graduated in 2005 and is an art teacher for Dorchester School District 2. While at CSU Bryant created a cartoon drawing which has now evolved into Karate Dogs, a character building cartoon. “I came here, to CSU, as a seed. And as a seed I was watered, and I absorbed,” Bryant said. He in turn challenged the students to be seeds while at Charleston Southern so that they will become the people God wants them to be.

 As an R.N. at Roper St. Francis Hospital, 2008 graduate, Holly Branch Westbury, understands what it means to serve – it’s part of her job. However, recently she expanded her view of service when she asked herself, “How am I serving my coworkers and others I come in contact with?” 

Westbury encouraged the students, “We can serve God in any and all aspects of our lives. While at CSU I pray that you will take every opportunity to learn about new tools to serve Christ.”

When Joe Pye graduated in 1969 he knew he wanted to be the CEO of a bank. Six weeks after accepting a banking position, he resigned. “It just wasn’t for me,” he said.

The rest is history. Pye was encouraged to pursue education and moved from teaching positions to school principal then on to become district personnel director at Dorchester School District 2.  He then continued to advance to assistant superintendent and is now currently superintendent of Dorchester School District Two.

Pye accepted each new career challenge with an unassuming spirit, giving God the credit. “We need to cooperate with God,” Pye told the students. “We should constantly pray for God to take us where He wants us to go. If he opens the door, we need to go on in.”

He caught the football bug as a assistant head coach at Holy Cross High School in New Jersey, followed by a graduate assistant position at Temple University. He worked long days and nights hoping to climb the college football ranks and brand his name synonymous with the game.

Football stole his heart and became his identity; wins and losses were the measuring stick; his purpose in life was defined by a slice of brown pigskin held together by eight stitches. The game of football had assumed the place of God in Davis’ life.

“Football was my God,” confessed Davis. “If anything got in the way of football, if anything got in my way of being a head football coach at a major university, whatever that might be, it was going to move out of the way. I was married to football.”

College football has its unwritten rules. To win, you must be focused. No distractions. When Temple learned Davis was married he almost lost the job. When he found out he prepared his wife, Lynette.

“If Notre Dame calls and they say I can’t be married, I’m leaving you,” he told her.

The comment wasn’t some offhanded wisecrack – it was a stone-cold promise. There was no way a relationship, a marriage, was going to stand between Davis and his dream job.

“My wife was devastated,” Davis said. “Our marriage was struggling because of my selfishness, and she showed grace. That was a defining moment in my life. To see her forgive and love and care for me, when I was self-centered … I praise God that he saved me from myself.”

A personal Grace Awakening

Davis was a believer. He sold himself to family, friends and the university as a Christian. But the truth was God was a red-shirt freshman who was praised after a big win or called on as a “good luck charm” during a close game. Davis would reach out to Him when a friend or family member was ill, when He didn’t respond as expected, bitterness took over.

It was 1992 on the University of Alabama at Birmingham football field Davis hit rock bottom.

“I remember it being the lowest point in my coaching career,” he said. “I’d never felt such emptiness. Here I was coaching my heart out – and feeling emptiness. I needed Jesus.”

This was his personal grace awakening. Davis rededicated his life in 1993 and continued to coach at Charleston Southern, but he was certain the Lord was preparing him for something new.

In 1998, Davis was offered a head coaching job at a junior college in Kansas. He turned down the offer. A year later he was offered the job as head football coach and director of athletic ministry at North Greenville, again, he said no thank you.

“Jon, you’ve worked your whole life for this, to be a head coach, what’s going on?” asked Lynette.

Davis said he felt God leading him into ministry.

“God began to slowly wean me out of football,” said Davis. “When God moved in, the Holy Spirit moved in, and I rededicated my life; I was not the same person. My idol was football. God was secondary, not a priority in my life. It just shows you the power of God.”

A verse comes to life

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. – Psalm 71:18

Psalm 71:18 is Jonathan Davis’s life verse. He believes God gave it to him while in seminary. Davis said he didn’t know why, or even what the significance of the verse was – it was just there. In his mind, his thoughts, his prayer.

In December 1997, Davis began pastoring Summit Church and later the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In 2003, he began teaching, adding assistant campus minister duties a year later. This past summer he was promoted to campus minister at Charleston Southern, replacing Clark Carter, who was promoted to dean of students.

“When I said yes that I would do this, it was a Tuesday,” said Davis. “That Tuesday night we baptized 45 people. That’s when I knew God’s hand was in it.

“I don’t know how else to describe the Holy Spirit except like Jesus said in John 3:8, ‘The wind blows where it chooses’ and to see the Holy Spirit just open our eyes and let us experience Him. I can’t imagine anybody that was there (Grace Awakening) not being able to look back at this and it be one of their top five spiritual mile markers in their life.

“To impart and declare the power of God to the next generation is what gives me hope. What we’ve seen with Grace Awakening, God is doing something with this generation. I see the believers in this generation that really want to learn from people that have been there. So, I see my life verse being played out before my eyes, and I just knew that God was in it.”

Fourth and Long

As campus minister, Davis is responsible for leading a campus dominated by young people. He is witnessing to believers and nonbelievers, some are teenagers, others adults. Davis defined his new role as campus minister as all-inclusive.

“Pastoring is not pastoring a church, it’s pastoring a community,” he said. “I’ve taken that mindset to campus, that I’m not just pastoring the ministries on this campus that I’m trying to pastor everybody on this campus, regardless of where they are in their faith, I’m going to try and pastor them. That’s my heart.”

According to Davis, the transition from coach to pastor at CSU was natural. The University’s vision of integrating faith in learning, leading and serving has been gaining momentum.

“There are some strong believers on campus among faculty and staff,” he said. “To see the encouragement on this campus, to see people fired up about God and see this as a ministry and not a job – it inspires me.”

Davis said today’s college students are entering into a season when they “make the biggest decisions of their lives.” Careers, marriage, responsibility, accountability, suddenly life takes a sharp 90-degree turn, an experience Davis is all too familiar with.

“If you’re not careful, when you’re in college it can become a very selfish time because it’s all about what I’m going to do with my life, what I’m doing, who I’m going to be with,” he said. “So, to get people to live outside themselves is the challenge – to see people, instead of being takers become givers. That’s really why I enjoy what I do, and I’m so thankful to the Lord and this University for giving me that opportunity.”

Three days later the phone call came, asking if she was interested.

It’s a warm, sunny late spring afternoon, a lot like the day she interviewed for the job, and Hulsey is sitting behind her desk in the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing at Charleston Southern as eager and excited as the day she started, July 1, 2007.

There is a framed poster above her head with a pencil sketch of young girl and a childlike scrawl in the upper right-hand corner that reads: When I grow up I’m gonna be a nurse.

“It reminds me constantly that this is what I always wanted to do,” she explained. “It’s interesting the students who come in that have that same feeling in themselves. I can’t tell you how many people see that the minute they walk in and make a comment.”

Hulsey remembers first seeing the poster while she was in middle school and thinking “that’s me.” When her grandmother passed away more than a decade ago, Hulsey found a note she had written to her as a child that said when she grew up she wanted to be a nurse.

“I’ve known I wanted to be a nurse since I was about four years old,” said Hulsey.

This is Tara Hulsey’s passion, her calling, for as long as she can remember. She thanks her grandfather, a minister, for showing her the meaning of service. “Growing up with my grandparents and being with him a lot when he was ministering to other people, I just believed it was what I was meant to do, and I was called to do it.” She said. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

She attended Willington Academy High School, a modest, private school in Orangeburg. Born in Georgetown, Hulsey would move and eventually be one of two dozen in her high school graduating class.

After being accepted to Clemson University, Hulsey packed up her framed photo and moved on campus to begin work on her four-year degree in nursing. After graduating, Hulsey spent one year as a nurse at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, then moved south and was hired at MUSC where she worked and later earned her master’s degree from the College of Nursing.

After working with and around research at MUSC, Hulsey decided it was time to earn her doctorate. She enrolled at the University of South Carolina where she traveled to-and-from one day a week, every Wednesday for four semesters, attending classes from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Hulsey was with MUSC’s College of Nursing for nine years when Charleston Southern recruited her to succeed Dr. Marian Larisey as dean of the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing.

“I was in a place where I couldn’t grow a lot,” Hulsey said. “It was not nearly as exciting as coming to a place where I can grow and feel like I can make a big difference in people’s lives that were coming into nursing.”

When the call did come, Hulsey knew it was God-inspired. She relished the idea of working in a Christian environment. “I really wanted to be able to live my life with Christ all the time, and not in segments, because in the secular academic world it’s very different,” she said.

She can’t resist a smile when the conversation shifts from personal to professional. This is Hulsey’s opportunity to brag about her team.

“It’s not a ‘me’ effort, it’s the team,” said Hulsey. “The team has done great work. I am really proud of them. The successes of the program, at least since I have been here, are not my successes, but the success of the faculty and the students.”

One of Hulsey’s first initiatives was a grant application to support a national initiative for quality and safety – only 15 colleges in the country would be selected. If the CSU School of Nursing was selected the initiative would bring national recognition for the program and allow the School of Nursing to serve as a consultant school for other schools across the United States.

“If I could bring that, what a great kick-off to show the potential of what we could be and what we have here,” said Hulsey.

The University won. The students won. The faculty won. Hulsey smiled and pushed forward.

She led the charge to grow the new undergraduate health promotion , transition the RN-BSN program to an online format, and add a master of science in nursing online graduate program. The program added new technology, the iStan simulator, to leverage CSU nursing students in education.

Record numbers of prenursing students enrolled this past year, and with the national nursing shortage, the opportunity has created more interest. This is attributed to the dedication of our faculty, our involvement in national and cutting-edge initiatives, the past support of donors and the overall high quality of our program.

This past winter, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to expand enrollments in the University’s nursing program. With School of Nursing completing the first phase of the planned expansion, Hulsey said, “The partners in the community are stepping up and saying, ‘we’ll give you the dedicated spaces, the clinical spaces that you need.’”

The success of the School of Nursing, and the college, has been built on the vision of integrating faith in learning, leading and serving, an initiative that Hulsey and the faculty have embraced, in the classroom and the community at large.

Hulsey said the faculty conducted a curriculum mapping of all the courses in the program. The team reviewed the course objectives and descriptions and responded with program objectives that reflect a Christian worldview.

“At first we thought, ‘OK, we’re doing that. We role model, we say a prayer before students take a test.’ But that’s really not what faith integration is,” said Hulsey. “Nursing is a service. It’s a service to God. We serve Him through the people that we serve. If we can reach more people that can help our profession from a Christian perspective, it’s what I think we should be doing.”

The past four years have been a steady stream of success for the School of Nursing, making the program one of the most competitive and successful in the country. With the only traditional, four-year bachelor of science in nursing program in the Lowcountry, CSU nursing students have compiled a four-year average pass rate of 97 percent on the national exam required to receive a license to practice (NCLEX-RN). The 2007-2011 pass rate of 97 percent is the highest 4-year average of all accredited BSN programs in South Carolina.

But the work is not done says Hulsey. “I feel like we have not accomplished all the initiatives that we as a faculty have set out to accomplish. We are still expanding. I see more opportunities for us that will be in response to healthcare reform, that I feel the school needs to be poised to do and be a part of, seeing that through has not happened yet. And, our impact on this university, we’re not done yet, and I want to make sure we get to that point.”

When she arrived in 2007, Hulsey had a clear vision for the School of Nursing program: To be nationally recognized as one of the top Christian nursing programs in the country.

“I’m already starting to see it,” she said.

“Our program provides a significant value-based learning experience through a distinctly Christian curriculum with experienced faculty devoted to excellence,” said Dr. Tara Hulsey, dean of the School of Nursing.

The expansion marks the first time CSU has expanded the nursing program since 2007 when the University increased enrollment in the BSN program from 30 to 40 students. The move seeks to address increasing enrollment demand and the current nursing shortage.

Charleston Southern’s nursing program has 206 students enrolled in prenursing, 100 of them are actively in one of the current programs. As the program expansion begins, so will the need for more classroom space. The University is designing a formal plan to expand the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing facility.

The School of Nursing added a bachelor of science in health promotion degree in 2007. In 2009, the RN-BSN program was expanded to an online curriculum, and a master of science in nursing degree that focuses on preparing nurse educators was added.

The Charleston Southern nursing program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and is a member of the National League for Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Since enrolling its first class in the fall of 1995, the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing has experienced tremendous growth. Through funding partnerships with Roper St. Francis and Trident HCA, CSU has added faculty and cutting-edge technology, including the addition of the i-Stan simulator by Meti in 2008.

The School of Nursing has one the highest four-year pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) of all accredited BSN programs in South Carolina. Since 2006, Charleston Southern students have a combined 97 percent pass rate. This national exam is required to receive a license to practice.

“You can’t have pass rates like that unless you have stellar faculty,” explained Dr. Hulsey. “We have small faculty-to-student ratios, so the students get a lot of hands-on experience.”

Hulsey added that the integration of computerized assessment testing, given to students throughout the curriculum, has provided both the students and faculty with a regular measure of competency. The ATI exams (Assessment Testing Inc.), a set of unique, critical-thinking application questions, provide nursing students with the necessary knowledge to master the NLCEX board exam.

“ There are so many factors that contribute to our NCLEX pass rate,” said Hulsey. “We have students taking computerized tests using NCLEX-based test questions from the very beginning of the program.”

Each partner offers a unique resource and each plays a vital role in the success of the School of Nursing. “Our educational nursing programs would not be successful without the support of our community partners,” said Dr. Tara Hulsey, dean of the School of Nursing. “Not only do they provide our students with valuable clinical experiences but they have also given financial assistance to increase the resources in our program and have provided guidance, feedback and support in identifying areas in our community where we can fill needs related to the nursing profession.”

Crisis Ministries
Brad Cashman is the volunteer coordinator at Crisis Ministries, a local homeless shelter in Charleston that provides food, shelter and case management services to men, women and families. The ministry grew out of a soup kitchen in Grace Episcopal Church in 1984. Since that time it has evolved into a complete service agency with a goal of helping the homeless become self-sufficient again.

Crisis Ministries is a community partner with the School of Nursing. For some time the shelter has been the training ground for student nurses to learn about foot assessment techniques. “It is a mutually beneficial partnership – a learning experience for the nursing students and a service for those at Crisis Ministries,” said Dr. Jennifer Shearer, associate nursing professor, who works alongside the students at the shelter.

“We have seen a direct impact on our guests who are diabetics and need proper instructions on how to take care of their feet,” Cashman said. “Shearer and her team always go beyond what is expected. For example, this year they had our men with serious foot problems fitted with a new pair of special shoes.” The nursing school is able to purchase special shoes and foot and nail care supplies through a grant awarded by the Charleston Exchange Club.

Cashman continued, “Homelessness is a community issue, and we are very lucky to have the CSU nursing program make a positive change in the lives of our guests. The CSU nursing students provide what everyone experiencing homelessness needs – someone to care for them with compassion.”

Trident Technical College
Marilyn Brady is the department head for nursing at Trident Technical College, and Muriel Horton is the dean of nursing.

Trident Technical College’s associate degree nursing program with 180 – 200 graduates per year is a feeder program for CSU’s RN to BSN program or the MSN program.

“We have collaborated with Trident Technical College to develop a seamless curriculum for students in the associate degree in nursing program to smoothly transition to CSU and complete the BSN or the MSN programs in the shortest amount of time possible,” said Hulsey. This arrangement falls right in line with a report released by The Institute of Medicine calling for 80 percent of all nurses in the country to be educated at the BSN level by 2020.

Trident Health System
Chief Nursing Officer Cheryl Goforth of the Trident Health System works very closely with Charleston Southern and sits on the Nursing Advisory Board. “We are very proud of the nursing students graduating from the nursing program,” Goforth said. “The nursing students are hired in our facilities postgraduation and make outstanding nurses. I attribute this to the excellent instructors and the use of the simulation stations for real hands-on scenarios with the patients.”

Approximately 90 percent of the nursing students remain in the Charleston area after graduation. This enables Trident to employ all their staff without using traveling nursing staff. Goforth states that this leads to continuity of care and provides high quality care because they are able to meet the supply and demand for nurses.

Summerville Medical Center
Lynn Singleton, chief nursing officer at Summerville Medical Center is chairperson for the spring Nursing Advisory Council. She is also a member of the CSU Board of Visitors.

Summerville Medical and the School of Nursing have an affiliation agreement for nursing students to complete clinical requirements at the hospital. Singleton states, “This gives the hospital the opportunity to invest in the students, which impacts the future of healthcare and ensures the medical center secures a competent, expert and compassionate future workforce that allows the hospital to continue their excellence in caring for patients and those the hospital serves.

“As we invest in the students of CSU, we create an environment that supports the well-being of the community and its population,” Singleton added.

Bon-Secours St. Francis Hospital
Pennie Peralta is the vice president of nursing at Bon-Secours St. Francis Hospital. She also serves on the School of Nursing Advisory Board.

The official hospital affiliation includes hosting clinical rotations within the nursing units and providing BSN instructors for the leadership students.

“Having the students here throughout the year is engaging for our staff, as well as gives us the opportunity to influence our future nurses,” Peralta said. “Our relationship with CSU has provided a mechanism for us to not only hire new BSN staff members but also has provided the opportunity for our current staff members to complete their degrees through the online programs.” Three RNs from St. Francis were members of CSU’s first master of science (MSN) in nursing graduating class this past December.

Peralta believes the most significant impact the CSU nurses bring to the community is the level of excellence in care they provide. “CSU nurses are well-prepared from a clinical perspective to care for patients but also have a holistic approach to compassionate caring as their education is integrated with spirituality from the beginning,” she said.

According to Peralta, Dr. Tara Hulsey was exceptionally helpful in participating on St. Francis’s Shared Governance Research Council. She credits Hulsey’s expertise in the field of nursing research as a key to the hospital’s success in developing their own research undertakings.

“During St. Francis’s Magnet site visit in June 2010, the survey team was extremely impressed with how CSU School of Nursing and St. Francis Hospital were working together on our research projects, increasing the numbers of BSN / MSN staff members, etc. I have no doubt that the relationship between CSU and St. Francis was instrumental in our Magnet success,” Peralta said.

Roper Hospital
Lisa Irvin is vice president of nursing at Roper Hospital. She, too, is a member of the Nursing Advisory Board. Roper also serves as a clinical site for CSU students.

“There is increasing evidence that demonstrates a positive correlation between hospitalized patient outcomes and nurses with higher levels of education,” Irvin said. She referred to the continued expansion of the BSN program along with the online RN-to-BSN program offered by CSU and how critical those are to Roper and the greater nursing community to elevate the level of nursing education.

Irvin also mentioned the MSN program which prepares nurse educators who will help meet a critical shortage of nursing faculty as nursing faculty near retirement. “Roper Saint Francis has provided funding to support faculty expansion at CSU and continues to look for opportunities to work with their successful program,” she said.

There are many unanswerable questions about the changing face of health care. However, we can be sure that nursing schools will always need community partners to ensure quality nursing education.

Peralta said, “As healthcare becomes increasingly challenging with sicker patients, limited financial resources and the evolution of transparency, it will be the well-prepared, well-educated bedside nurses that make it all work. I believe that the CSU School of Nursing is doing their part to make that happen!”

In an increasingly globalized community the Internet brings people separated by time and space together at the mere click of the mouse. This keeps people connected with the world and yet leaves local communities relegated to Facebook pokes and writing on one another’s walls.

During spring semester Dr. David Naylor and Dr. Patti Hambrick’s class, Technology and Behavior, examined the technological research currently available . One distinctive about their class was a codesigning structure: they allowed students to look at a topic such as technology’s impact on globalization and to dig in where they felt most drawn. Hambrick said, “When you give people opportunity to make decisions and choices in their coursework, they really embrace it.”

The class’s unique design was highlighted by an unusual meeting structure. Because the class met during cafeteria supper hours, they ate while studying. Their classes were spent researching the progress of technology while sharing the oldest form of fellowship, a meal.

Sharing their studies in this intimate setting, students were challenged to a higher level of presentation and discussion. According to Hambrick, students were expected to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the data.

Naylor said, “Trying to learn about the Internet is like trying to make sense of how the ocean is put together. As you dive in, the ocean is doubling and tripling in size. So you have different people delving in at separate points in order to gain a better understanding of the whole.”

The class would look for the best 10 out of 100 articles or websites. Out of those 10 they would establish what the issue actually looked like online and gather information to form conclusions about the current state of research. According to Naylor, the class’s main focus was about taking a broad picture and focusing it.

At the same time Naylor and Hambrick were studying current technological research two other professors were beginning a social media research project. Dr. Rachel Walker and Dr. Susan Styles realized there is a void as to how social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace affect users’ behavior.

Walker is self-admittedly a Facebook user. She said, “I’m not as tied to it as the younger generation, but I am sort of in the middle.” This invested interest has led her to look at the connections between Facebook users’ posts and their personalities. Walker and Styles surveyed a group of CSU students about the frequency of their Facebook use and what type of posts they put up.

Facebook users often use their walls as a platform to post encouraging quotes, scriptures or positive news. Event planning is easy to do with the help of Facebook. It helps keep busy local people connected and also keeps people across the globe tied together on one social website.

Sometimes the amount of information that makes it onto Facebook seems like overkill. Walker noticed that those who post lots of info often are seeking a response.

Their research showed some people may use Facebook as a psychological tool to mediate social relationships. And, there may be a connection between negative posts and people struggling with depression.

The next stage of their research will look at a group of Facebook pages over a period of time and will analyze posts, comments and interests. Walker and Styles will work together with the help of three work-study students.

Walker and Styles will continue researching the effects of technology on behavior and relationships. Their research will no doubt add a helpful perspective on technology for Naylor and Hambrick’s students to examine during their next technology class.

“This name represents a deeper focus in who we serve and what we do,” said Dr. Jim Jones, dean of the College of Adult and Professional Studies. “A majority of our current students work full-time in a variety of industries throughout the Lowcountry. We believe this will enable us to meet the direct needs of the industries that our students serve.”

“Our students are looking for something they can use today in their jobs to solve a problem or to provide career advancement,” added David Britt, assistant dean. “The applied nature of our online degrees gives our students immediate, tangible ideas and action plans from real-world business practitioners.”

Along with a new name, Charleston Southern plans to offer an expanded menu of course offerings online, designed specifically for the nontraditional student market.

CSU continues cultivating a culture of faith integration, an enhancement that student Christopher Knox experienced firsthand.

“The professors openly connect scripture to business topics in the realm of ethics and management of people,” said Knox. “There is a freedom that everyone has to connect their faith to their learning.”

With a personal motivation to expand his knowledge of business, Knox came in to CSU’s online program with seven years management experience. The online program, its flexibility and outstanding faculty have helped him succeed.

“The difference is, the professors in CAPS are working in the business world,” said Knox. “There are no books, no lectures that can uniquely prepare you for the real world. Theory and practice are two different things.”