Two notable nursing alumnae lead UIC regional campuses

Two University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing alumnae have returned to lead the college’s regional campuses in Peoria and Springfield.

Elaine Hardy

Elaine Hardy, the new director at the Peoria campus, will also serve as clinical assistant professor of health system science. Cynthia Reese will direct at Springfield’s campus as a clinical associate professor of biobehavioral health science.

Both come to UIC from Illinois State University’s Mennonite College of Nursing and began their new posts this week.

Hardy, who received her Ph.D. in nursing from UIC in 2011, has received numerous accolades throughout her career. She was recently designated a Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy Scholar and was also recognized as an American Nurse Education Scholar by the American Nurses Association.

She is a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Cancer Education; founded the Central Illinois chapter of the Black Nurses Association; and previously served as co-chair of the Women’s Health & Transitions in Childbearing Section of the Midwest Nursing Research Society.

Hardy’s clinical practice is community-based, focusing on outreach and mentoring women of color in various community groups.

While at Illinois State, Hardy served as the faculty evaluator on a Health Resources and Services Administration nursing workforce diversity grant, focusing on recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups to the nursing profession. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed publications, and she has presented her research at national and regional meetings.

She received a bachelor of nursing degree from Indiana University Northwest and a master’s degree in clinical nurse specialty from Purdue University Calumet.

Reese, who received her master’s degree in medical surgical nursing from UIC, has five years of experience in higher education administration. From 2009 to 2014, she was associate dean of nursing at Lincoln Land Community College, serving as nurse administrator for the associate degree and practical nursing programs.

Cynthia Reese

During her tenure at Lincoln Land, Reese led major curriculum revisions and directed the implementation of a rigorous standardized testing program throughout the associate degree curriculum, resulting in an increase in NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) rates from 80 percent to 93 percent in one year. She has nearly 15 years of experience teaching pre-licensure nursing students.

Reese conducts research in clinical simulations, inter-professional education, and instrument development. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and books, and she has been a presenter at national and regional nursing meetings.

She received a bachelor’s of nursing degree from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in health systems from Indiana University.

Along with Peoria and Springfield, the UIC College of Nursing has regional campuses in the Quad Cities, Rockford and Urbana.