The Illinois Board of Higher Education recently selected Ashley Hasselbring, undergraduate clinical placement coordinator for the University of St. Francis, as a nurse educator fellow.
Hasselbring was one of 19 educators in Illinois to be awarded the $10,000 fellowship this year. The program was established to recognize nurse educators who have excelled in their areas of specialty, according to a news release.
She’ll use the fellowship award to fund the advancement of an online coursework series she is designing for adjunct clinical faculty members in USF’s Leach College of Nursing.
“Our adjunct clinical faculty play such a crucial part in nursing education, and we value them so much,” Hasselbring said. “This expanded program will provide an opportunity to collaborate with their peers, while also allowing them to grow in their respective areas.”
Hasselbring will research more technological components needed to design the program in the coming months and use the summer to create online video content. The program will launch this coming fall.
While the fellowship award is for one year, Hasselbring envisions her new program evolving beyond that window. She can also reapply in five years, the release said.
“I see this program developing into an important piece of how our clinical adjuncts acclimate to and grow within USF,” Hasselbring said. “I’m excited to see how it grows from year to year and plan to update it and enhance it as time passes and as feedback is gathered.”
Hasselbring has been at USF for three years.
