College of Nursing alumni board president aims to increase alumni activity

Augusta University College of Nursing Alumni Board President Shena Gazaway, PhD, officially attended her first meeting as president this February after being voted in last fall. Gazaway has served on the alumni board since 2021.

In 2020, she was awarded a National Institute of Nursing Research Diversity Supplement Award. Her most recent research focuses on optimizing an early palliative care intervention for advanced heart failure patients. The goal is to help patients and caregivers communicate better and to motivate them to be more empowered within a clinical context.

Gazaway took health occupation science classes in high school, where she received training to become a certified nursing assistant. She fell in love with being able to help others and credits her teacher with inspiring her to become a nurse.

“I have been blessed with wonderful mentors who saw a lot in me, often more than what I saw in myself,” said Gazaway, who is currently a tenure track assistant professor and associate scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She teaches in the PhD program, instructing on foundations of qualitative research.

While attending Brenau University to get her BSN, she was told she would be a good teacher and should go back to get her master’s degree, which she received in 2009.

She later received her PhD in Nursing in 2017 from Augusta University, where she studied professional socialization and newly licensed nurses. Since graduating, she has maintained her relationship with AU, becoming a pre-licensure professor on the Athens Campus. Her experiences as both a student and faculty member give her unique insight into how she can enhance the impact of the alumni board.

On her agenda for her term as president is understanding how to serve CON better.  Specifically, she wants to mobilize alumni in a way that benefits the school, including creating a network of preceptors for the Doctor of Nursing Practice program or post-master’s certificate.

“It can be extremely difficult for faculty and students to find preceptors for DNP clinical hours,” Gazaway said. “Having a network of individuals who understand the AU programs and have an allegiance and connection to the school will enable faculty to empower themselves and students by tapping into that network of individuals.”

Gazaway also recognizes the importance of staying active and engaging with all alumni, regardless of location. Being out of state herself, Gazaway’s goal is to have members everywhere.

“Having been a faculty member at Athens, I recognize how important it is to have that presence across campus,” she said. “We want to represent that CON has state and national reach. This gives more recognition for the college, what we are doing, and what graduates are doing all over the state and outside of it.”

Despite her distance from Augusta, Gazaway is dedicated to being present for the board’s biggest events, but she also knows having active alumni in various locations allows CON to be represented at more events.

“I have a commitment to serve, and the alumni association is willing to meet me where I am,” Gazaway said. “We only meet once a quarter, so we’ve been very proactive about handling my calendar, but Dr. Judy Glaser can go to an Athens event if I can’t attend, and I can ask Dr. Darrell Thompson to represent us at a Macon event.”

Gazaway invites participation and input from fellow alumni and aims to grow the organization and its impact, starting with the upcoming Alumni Weekend April 25-27.

“If you have a heart to serve, let me know,” she said. “I am open to new ideas and planning for the future. I want to figure out how the alumni group can help you and how we can represent Augusta University in as many places as we can.

“Because of the encouragement of Judy, I started attending while I was on faculty,” Gazaway continued. “I’ve been to about three now and have really found them to be fun, family-friendly and a great way to come back and reflect on how far you’ve come since graduation.”