A new academic leader joined the Oakland University community this summer, as the School of Nursing welcomed Kerri Schuiling, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM as its dean.
A Michigan native, Dr. Schuiling’s education and experience is both distinguished and varied. With a focus on women’s studies, she is active in women’s health research and collaborates with midwifery colleagues nationally and internationally.
Dr. Schuiling is pleased to make the move to Oakland, and to lend her vision to SON.
“Oakland University is recognized throughout the state as the university that is on the move. Its nursing programs are nationally recognized for their excellence and innovation. The faculty are energized and highly creative,” Dr. Schuiling said. “Students are central to all that OU does and that is a philosophy I embrace. I wanted to be part of the OU community because it is a very exciting place to be and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be here.”
This past year she was part of a team that developed global standards for midwifery practice that have been adopted by the World Health Organization for use in midwifery education throughout the world.
Dr. Schuiling is certified as a nurse-midwife and women’s health care nurse practitioner. Her appointment as SON’s dean comes on the heels of a post as a distinguished professor and associate dean and director of the School of Nursing at Northern Michigan University.
“Under Dr. Schuiling’s leadership, the School of Nursing will work to strategically locate its programs in the areas of greatest need using the technologic expertise of our faculty to provide a quality curriculum,” said Dr. Virinder Moudgil, Oakland’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.
“We envision the nursing programs being ranked within the top tier for their emphasis and success in developing skilled, caring clinicians who are leaders in health care,” he continued.
She has received several awards for her work in women’s health and was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). Dr. Schuiling is the founding co-editor-in-chief of the “International Journal of Childbirth” and is also on the editorial board of the Applied Nursing Research Journal. She is co-editor of the book “Women’s Gynecologic Health,” which is in its second edition and received the ACNM Book of the Year Award.
Notably, Dr. Schuiling was the first credentialed midwife at Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, as well as the first private practice midwife credentialed at Boulder Community Hospital in Boulder, Colorado.
She currently sits on the statewide Task Force for Nursing Practice and serves as chair of the Research Standing Committee of the International Confederation of Midwives.
Most recently, Dr. Schuiling was selected for induction as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing; which is one of the nursing profession’s most prestigious honors.
Dr. Schuiling was welcomed to the university at a reception this September, along with new academic leaders Dr. Judith Ableser, director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Dr. Graeme Harper, director of the Honors College, Dr. Adriene Lim, dean of Kresge Library, Dr. Dorothy Nelson, vice provost for research and Dr. Betty Youngblood, associate vice president for outreach and executive director of OU-Macomb.
To learn more about Oakland’s SON,
view the website.
