Associate Professor of Nursing
Director, Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Program
Area of Recognition: Teaching
Barbara Penprase is an outstanding teacher who has a passion to share her knowledge with students. She goes beyond simply teaching, offering a variety of different instructional strategies such as game playing, chat rooms, role playing and traditional lectures, as well as group testing. Penprase brings a wealth of clinical expertise to the classroom setting. She is noted for her approachable teaching style, yet also for the high quality work she expects from her students. She also is recognized for the time and energy she gives to students by offering extra review classes, online chat rooms and a tutoring program for accelerated students. Penprase was recognized in September 2004 by Oakland University’s Board of Trustees, deans and departments for her outstanding contributions to the School of Nursing. She was selected by that year’s graduating class to be class presenter in recognition of the excellent contribution she made to the students’ education. In addition, Penprase developed and implemented the Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Program, a 12-month curriculum for students who have obtained a degree in another discipline but want to pursue nursing. It is the first Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Program of its kind in Michigan. Penprase also was involved in helping to obtain more than 3.5 million dollars in funding to support the growth of the program. Additionally, Penprase is involved with the Helene Fuld Health Trust spearheaded by Duke University, a massive research endeavor that involves schools of nursing from across the nation. She has published an article in the Journal of Nursing Education related to the Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Program and has two other research projects in the data collection phase. Penprase was part of the original team who developed and implemented the online RN-BSN program, which was used as an exemplar through the United States as the first completely online nursing program.