SALT LAKE CITY - Jane Dyer CNM, FNP, MBA, PhD, FACNM, Assistant Professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing has been selected as the University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) 2013 Hartland Scholar. This award is dedicated to university-community partnerships and the resulting inter-professional teaching and research that are the focus of the Hartland Partnership Center. It comes with a $10,000 grant to enhance Dyer's research within the University of Utah Hartland Partnership Center, which unites university faculty and students with community agencies and community members to co-design and implement mutually beneficial programs and relationships that promote systemic change and increase access to higher education for residents of Salt Lake City's west side neighborhoods. She is the first nurse midwife to receive the award.
"It is an honor to present the UNP/Hartland Scholar Award to Dr. Dyer. It is especially fitting to have this award go to a nurse midwife, because for many, Hartland represents new life and is a community that approaches health and well being from a family perspective," said Rosemarie Hunter, PhD, LCSW, director, University Neighborhood Partners. "In addition, this award reflects the successful integration of academic and practice knowledge with local knowledge and is leading the way in building on the strengths of the community while teaching the next generation of professionals. As the Hartland Scholar, Dr. Dyer supports a learning community where relationships are reciprocal and knowledge and understandings are co-created." According to Hunter, the scholar partners with faculty, students, organizations, and community residents to increase active research and publication opportunities with the University of Utah and UNP/Hartland. "Our goal in awarding the Hartland Scholar is to further tie teaching and research to the communities where we live and learn," she said.
"It is an honor to be named the UNP/Hartland Scholar, to have the confidence of the UNP family and to continue to learn from the west side community," said Dyer, whose program of research focuses on the impact of positive and negative health behaviors on the reproductive health outcomes of immigrant and refugee women. "Equal partnership between University students / faculty, especially in the Health Sciences, and community members will support innovative research that will positively impact the health of the community. The award provides me with the support and resources to ultimately, make a daily difference in people's lives."
For more than a decade, Dyer served as the director of the U's Nurse Midwifery and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program, helping the program achieve and maintain its position in the top 10 of nurse midwifery programs in the nation, according to US News & World Report. She has practiced full scope midwifery for more than 30 years and is a nurse-midwife in the BirthCare HealthCare faculty practice. With funding from the Health Resources Services Administration, Dyer lead the incorporation of simulation and technology for midwifery education at the U, as well as assured that students have cross cultural experiences within immigrant and refugee communities. "As a two-time graduate of our College of Nursing, longtime member of our faculty and strong advocate for underserved women in our community, Jane advances all aspects of our mission: research, education and practice," said Dean Maureen R. Keefe, RN, PhD, FAAN. "Her selection as the Hartland Scholar is a well-deserved honor and excellent recognition of her contributions to our community."
Head shot available upon request.