Susan Fetsch, PhD, MS, BSN

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  • 2006 Alumni
    Susan Fetsch

Dean and Professor, Retired

Avila University, Retired

Olathe, KS

Dr. Fetsch retired as Dean and Professor of Nursing at Avila University in Kansas City, MO in June 12015 after 21 years of service. She is looking forward to exploring new and continuing with some previous passions on a schedule she creates herself.  Dr. Fetsch has been actively involved in academic/service partnerships in the Greater Kansas City area.  One result is a systematized contract and clinical orientation agreement between hospitals and schools of nursing.  She also facilitated use of a common employer survey for nursing graduates.  Both efforts currently serve 17 programs of nursing and 26 area hospitals. 

She has served as chair of the Collegiate Nurse Educators of Greater Kansas City , the Missouri State Board of Nursing Task Force on Minimum Standards revisions, the Board of Directors for Kansas Action for Children (current board chair) and was a member of the Statewide Report Card on the Status of the Health of Kansas Children Advisory Board.  With competence in undergraduate curriculum development and outcomes assessment, Dr. Fetsch has served as curriculum and accreditation self-study consultant for several universities.  Dr. Fetsch serves as team leader/site evaluator for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). She completed a two year appointment to the CCNE Budget Committee in 2008 and serves on the CCNE Accreditation Review Committee (2009-2014).  She was recently appointed to the CCNE Standards Review Task Force. An active member in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), she  is a Grassroots State Liaison and was elected to the Nominating Committee (2009-2011). She has served as Program Committee member and chair of the Baccalaureate and Hot Issues Conferences planning subcommittees. In 2014-2015 she served on the AACN Futures Task Force.

Awards have included a sabbatical leave of absence to explore political advocacy and activism; the Nurse in Washington Internship Program with tuition scholarship; and, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Intensive Bioethics Course with tuition scholarship.