Doctor of Nursing Practice students in the Maloney Hall simulation lab. Photograph: Caitlin Cunningham听

Every student who passes through the Connell School of Nursing encounters the principles of formative education that serve as the core of Boston College鈥檚 tradition: care for the whole person, rigorous inquiry, critical thinking, and service to others. Although they are rooted in Jesuit pedagogy, these principles have broad applications, and they shape the ways our alumni approach nursing care. For those who also become leaders, they offer a roadmap.

鈥淭he best leaders tend to be lifelong learners who use their gifts and their access to education in service to others,鈥� says Connell School Dean Katherine E. Gregory, who is herself a 2005 graduate of CSON鈥檚 doctoral program. 鈥淔ormative education excels at fostering these qualities: reflection, deep curiosity, and servant leadership.鈥�
Three of her fellow Connell School Ph.D. alumnae are now deans at very different institutions鈥攖wo state university nursing schools on opposite coasts, and Texas鈥檚 oldest Historically Black College and University (HBCU). In this Q&A, they shared their insights on how formative education guides their leadership in a fast-changing world.

Meet the Alumnae Deans

Allyssa Harris, Dean and Professor, Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing

Dean and Professor, Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing

As dean at Prairie View A&M, Allyssa Harris leads the nursing school of the oldest state-supported HBCU in Texas. An authority on adolescent sexual risk behaviors and Black women鈥檚 health, she earned three degrees at Boston College and taught at CSON for 14 years, serving as department chair and program director for the Women鈥檚 Health Nurse Practitioner program.

Barbara Wolfe, Dean and Professor, University of Rhode Island College of Nursing

Dean and Professor, University of Rhode Island College of Nursing

An expert on intervention and relapse prevention for women with disordered eating, Barbara Wolfe was named dean of the University of Rhode Island (URI) College of Nursing in 2016. Prior to joining URI, she served as professor and associate dean for research at the Connell School, and as a lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

Lin Zhan, Dean and Professor, UCLA School of Nursing

Dean and Professor, UCLA School of Nursing

Before coming to UCLA, Lin Zhan held deanships at the University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing and the School of Nursing at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health. A leading researcher on health equity and the promotion of diversity in higher education, she is also an honorary professor at 10 universities in her native China.

Maroon dividing line

Q:听听What does formative education mean to you?

CSON students in the Brown Family Clinical Lab

CSON students in the Brown Family Clinical Lab

Allyssa Harris: Formative education is about helping people understand who they are, who they want to be, and where they belong in the world. It鈥檚 not just about being a good nurse, it鈥檚 about being a good human being.

Barbara Wolfe: I think of formative education as having three pillars: scientific inquiry, academic excellence, and student formation, which develops students鈥� minds, talents, and unique personhood. The ultimate goal is service鈥攈elping students flourish so they can help others flourish.

Lin Zhan: Formative education, to me, is reflective education. It happens through ongoing engagement and communication, and by placing the learner at the center of the classroom. For faculty and leaders, it鈥檚 about listening to your students and asking, 鈥淲ho are they as people? Is my approach helping them learn?鈥� In my experience, most students want not just to know things, but to be able to synthesize what they know and conduct in-depth analysis. Formative education is about teaching those big-picture skills, too.

听

Q:听 How can formative education inform patient care?

AH: As a nurse, you don鈥檛 just treat the disease; you treat the whole person. A patient might have hypertension, for example, but to provide good care, you need to understand their situation holistically. Maybe they don鈥檛 have access to money or decent food. Maybe they can鈥檛 pick up their medication because the city changed the bus line. Formative education prepares you to get to know your patients and understand what they鈥檙e going through.