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Fall 2002 Volume 6 Number 1 |
Home » MSC Today Magazine » Fall 2002 » High Energy
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High Energy New Health Sciences Division Chair Brings Youthful Vigor and Impressive Track Record to Macon State College By Sheron Smith
Typical of most medical practitioners, however, she seldom took her own advice. “I really don’t know how to relax,” said O’Neal, Macon State’s new chair of the nursing and health sciences division. “I’ve always worked hard at everything I do.” And she has much to show for it. Still shy of her 36th birthday, O’Neal has earned a doctorate in nursing (a relative rarity in the field), gained a national reputation for her research in pulmonary medicine and landed on Georgia Trend magazine’s list of rising stars in business, education and politics. Macon State is not even her first stop in academic administration. As chair of the nursing and health sciences division at Gordon College in Barnesville for the past two years, O’Neal managed a $1 million annual budget and more than 30 full- and part-time faculty. Her abundant energy should serve O’Neal well as she assumes leadership of Macon State’s nursing and health sciences division. Besides overseeing four-year degrees in health information management and health services administration, as well as two-year programs in respiratory therapy and nursing, O’Neal will lead the development of the College’s new bachelor of science in nursing, or BSN, which the Board of Regents authorized earlier this year.
“We needed a division chair who could carry on the good work begun by Dr. Craine and others, and I’m confident that Pam O’Neal is that person,” said Dr. David A. Bell, MSC’s president. “She is a young and outstanding professional with an impressive academic track record. She has the leadership qualities Macon State needs to take the health sciences programs to the next level.” High-Tech, High-Touch A native of Southaven, Miss., just south of Memphis, Pamela Vickers O’Neal first thought of a nursing career when she was in high school. Her younger brother, Wayne, had Down Syndrome, and O’Neal often accompanied him on hospital visits, including a trip for heart surgery from which he later died when complications set in. While naturally saddened by her family’s loss, O’Neal said the “high-tech, high-touch” nature of nursing fascinated her. “Here were these nurses operating all this high-tech equipment in the intensive care unit,” she said, “but also doing warm, wonderful things for my brother, like bringing small stuffed animals he could hold in his hand.” In her senior year of high school, O’Neal received a prestigious Horatio Alger Scholarship, awarded to students who have overcome obstacles and are committed to using their college degrees for public service. In 1989, O’Neal graduated from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., with an associate degree in nursing.
“I’m an associate degree product, and I value that background,” O’Neal said. “I understand the importance of Macon State’s associate degree in nursing, and that program will remain strong and viable. At the same time, we’re going to give practicing nurses a chance to increase their knowledge and enhance their careers with a baccalaureate education. That’s going to result in an even better quality of care in this region’s health care facilities.” O’Neal’s appointment was welcome news to Central Georgia health care facility officials who have known her since her time at Gordon College. “She is the right person to build the four-year program,” said Barbara Stickel, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for the Medical Center of Central Georgia. “It is an enormous benefit to the Central Georgia community to have someone with Pam’s outstanding academic credentials and realistic viewpoint of professional nursing leading Macon State’s nursing program and the recently approved BSN. Her experience and readiness to accept this challenge are evident. I think she will ask for what she needs from the academic and professional communities and will systematically establish a quality program.” Reaching Out Two factors should help ensure a high-quality baccalaureate program for Macon State. One is the nursing and health sciences division’s top-notch instructors (“I’m amazed at the outstanding credentials and work experience we have among the faculty,” O’Neal said.). Another is the construction of the $16.2 million Nursing, Health Sciences and Outreach Complex. When completed by fall 2003, the complex will include state-of-the art teaching facilities for the nursing program, including a technologically advanced 10-bed “patient” unit where students will practice. All classrooms will be completely wired for information technology and distance learning. “I’m extremely impressed with the growth and development at Macon State, not just in the health sciences but campuswide,” O’Neal said. “It’s invigorating to be a part of this environment.” O’Neal will work directly with the Georgia Board of Nursing to develop Macon State’s upper-division nursing courses, which she hopes will be available by fall 2004. Her plans also include working with other Macon State departments to develop a high-profile marketing strategy for the associate and baccalaureate nursing degrees, as well as her division’s other health sciences degrees. “The nursing shortage is well-documented, and it’s my intention that the division will reach out to the Central Georgia community to come up with creative ways we can help address that shortage,” O’Neal said. “We’re going to look for community partnerships to provide optimal learning opportunities for allied health students and professionals.”
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Born:
In Southhaven, Miss., 35 years ago