National League for Nursing President Earns Plaudits from National Educational Organizations

M. Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN, Named Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by CASE-Carnegie Foundation, Was Among Leading US Educators Recognized at November Awards Luncheon at the Willard InterContinental in Washington, DC

Dr. Tagliareni Also Receives Regional and National Honors from  Association of Community College Trustees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — December 17, 2008 — The National League for Nursing is proud to announce that League president, M. Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN, has gained national recognition for her impact as a nurse educator, winning coveted awards from eminent educational organizations. These honors reflect just how highly she is esteemed by her students, former students, and colleagues throughout higher education.

Most recently, in November, Dr. Tagliareni was named 2008 Professor of the Year for the state of Pennsylvania by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She is one of four national and 44 state winners chosen for their impact on and involvement with undergraduates; scholarly approach to teaching and learning; contributions to undergraduate education in their academic institutions, the community and profession; and support from colleagues and former and current undergraduate students.

Earlier this fall, Dr. Tagliareni received the 2008 Northeast Regional Faculty Award and the national William H. Meardy Faculty Award from the Association of Community College Trustees at the groups annual Community College Leadership Congress in New York City.

Dr. Tagliareni, who was elected president of the NLN Board of Governors in 2007, is professor of nursing and Independence Foundation Chair of Community Health Education at Community College of Philadelphia, where she has worked for 25 years. Community College of Philadelphia was recognized in 2007 as an NLN Center of Excellence. The foundation supports work at the college that serves vulnerable populations in underserved areas of metropolitan Philadelphia.

She also is the principal investigator on a national project funded by the Hartford Foundation to advocate for the inclusion of geriatric nursing into associate degree programs. The college leads this national project, working with the American Association of Community Colleges, the Indiana University School of Nursings Center for Research and Scholarship, and the Independence Foundation.

In the 1990s as the principal investigator for a project funded by the Helene Fuld Foundation, Dr. Tagliareni was instrumental in facilitating the integration of community-based care into nursing curriculums for more than 250 associate degree programs across the country.

Reacting to her award from ACCT, Dr. Tagliareni said she realized early in her career the importance of building connections between students and their communities. "My ultimate goal is to assist in the development of graduates who are able to use the knowledge and skills gained through the program to provide safe and competent nursing care," she said. "Teaching nursing is about making a difference in the lives of my students and enabling them to make a difference in the lives of their patients."

The US Professors of the Year Awards Program, launched in 1981 by CASE, is the only national initiative to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring. As the programs primary sponsor, the Carnegie Foundation hosts the final round of judging by top educators and other active participants in the field of higher education.

Referring to her CASE-Carnegie Foundation Award, Dr. Tagliareni said, "I am so honored by this recognition and the opportunity to highlight the interests of undergraduates. As one who works in a community college setting, I see daily the powerful impact that teachers can and do have on young women and men just setting out on a career path. It is so important to me to be a positive role model for my pre-licensure nursing students, understanding how they may, in time, become a force for change in patient health care."

"I join CASE, the Carnegie Foundation, and the Association of Community College Trustees in saluting my beloved colleague," said NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. "These organizations are publicly acknowledging what those of us who work closely with Dr. Tagliareni already know: she is a teachers teacher, a true exemplar of the NLNs core values of caring, integrity, diversity, and excellence. On behalf of the NLN, I extend congratulations on these well-deserved honors."

Dr. Tagliarenis first teaching job was at Greenfield Community College in Western Massachusetts. Among her previous honors are the prestigious NLN Mildred Montag Award and the Lindback Foundation Award, CCP. In other professional commitments, Dr. Tagliareni has chaired and been a board member of the National Nursing Centers Consortium and a member of the Board of Governors of Holy Ghost Prep School. She earned a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University; a masters of science from the University of California at San Francisco; and a BSN from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Earlier NLN activities include chairing the NLN Foundations Scholarship Review Panel; and serving on the Executive Committee of the NLN's Nursing Education Advisory Council (NEAC), the NLN Think Tank for Preparation of Nurse Educators, the Editorial Board of Nursing Education Perspectives, the Nominations Committee, the Education Summit Program Planning Committee, and the Council of Associate Degree Programs (CADP).

Reporters/Editors: To arrange to interview Dr. Tagliareni, please contact Karen R. Klestzick, NLN chief communications officer, at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.

For additional information on the CASE-Carnegie Foundation US Professors of the Year Awards Program, log onto www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education, offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 28,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members.