Suzanne Prevost Named Dean of UA College of Nursing

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Suzanne S. Prevost has been named the dean of The University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing, succeeding Dr. Sara Barger, who is stepping down in August.

Prevost is the associate dean for practice and community engagement and a nursing professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, a position she has held since 2008. Over the course of her 33-year professional and academic career, she has also held teaching posts and served in various nursing positions at medical facilities in Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Prevost will assume the dean’s duties at UA Aug. 16.

“Dr. Prevost has an outstanding background in nursing, teaching and university administration,”  said Dr. Joe Benson, UA interim provost. “She will bring excellent leadership to our College of Nursing.”

“I look forward to building new relationships and networks with many of the gracious people that I met during my visits to campus,” Prevost said. “I am anxious to work with the faculty, staff and the College’s board of visitors to grow the programs and facilities in directions that will continue to meet the changing needs of the community and the state.

“Dr. Sara Barger is an outstanding nurse leader who has developed a strong team and an excellent local reputation,” she added. “It is an honor to follow in her footsteps. I am anxious to build upon the foundation she has established to maintain the high academic standards and to promote the research, scholarship and national visibility of the faculty and the College.”

Prevost said her “technological proclivity, experience with the University of Kentucky’s doctor of nursing practice program, interprofessional experience and passion for community service, fundraising and philanthropy” are just a few of her unique strengths.

During her visit to the Capstone College of Nursing a couple of years ago as a member of the CCNE accreditation team, Prevost said she was impressed by the “excellent work of the students, faculty and leadership team,” and she said she specifically appreciated the “innovation, collaboration and the commitment to flexible program delivery that is demonstrated by the nursing faculty and the larger University.

“Though I was raised in Pennsylvania, my husband and I have grown to love the climate and culture of the Southeast,” she said. “We both enjoy living in a college town, especially one with a comprehensive, flagship institution, where the school spirit and enthusiasm is clearly evident from the undergraduates to the alumni.”

Prevost received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Villa Maria College in Pennsylvania, her Master of Science in Nursing at Medical University of South Carolina at Charleston and her doctorate at Texas Women’s University in Houston. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and was selected to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellowship in 2012.

“Nursing is a spiritual calling for me,” Prevost said. “As an adolescent I felt that this profession was a God-given direction for my life; and that feeling has been reinforced by my experiences in the nursing profession over the past 30 years. I am passionate about nursing, and I can’t think of anything else I would rather do.”

As the associate dean for practice and community engagement at the University of Kentucky, Prevost was responsible for managing the college’s faculty practice plan; managing negotiations and contracts for practice, research and educational partnerships; directing more than 100 continuing education programs per year; teaching in DNP and Ph.D. programs; developing and refining curricula; facilitating faculty service for the community and the profession; and growing international partnerships and study abroad experiences.

Prevost has also served in various leadership roles for multiple professional organizations, including the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, American Nurses’ Association, Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau – the International Nursing Honor Society, of which she is currently serving as the organization’s president.

Her community service activities involve work for the Refuge Medical Clinic, host parent for the International Hospitality Committee, a mentor with Kentucky Foster Care, a certified disaster relief volunteer with Baptist Disaster Relief and a lay counselor at Southland Christian Church.

“Since I was a first-generation college student from a very poor family, I have a passion for giving back to support others, in gratitude for the support I have received,” she said. “This background also empowers me to encourage others to give.”

Barger served as dean of the Capstone College of Nursing since 1995. Under her leadership, the College has grown both in faculty and students, started a doctor of nursing practice program, opened a nursing clinic in Parrish and built a new building. Barger is taking an academic year off and then returning to the College in a new role.