ACEN Elections

Brittney Humphres, MSN, RN, became a Registered Nurse in 2001 after obtaining her Associate of Applied Science in Nursing from Northeast Mississippi Community College. She furthered her education by obtaining a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Nursing, with an emphasis in nursing education, from the University of North Alabama. Her clinical expertise includes working in post-surgical cardiovascular step-down, intensive care, progressive care, and outpatient surgery settings.

Her career in nursing education began at Northwest Shoals Community College (NWSCC) in 2008 as a nursing training and recruiting coordinator/lab instructor. While in this position, she integrated high-fidelity simulation in all courses in the nursing curriculum. From 2009 to 2016, she served as a nursing instructor for practical and associate degree nursing students. Her specialties included medical-surgical, critical care, and health assessment. In 2016, she assumed the role of Director of Nursing Education, becoming the nurse administrator of the practical and associate nursing programs which span over two campuses. Additionally, in 2020, she was appointed the Executive Director of the Phil Campbell Campus and Nursing Education. As such, along with serving as the nurse administrator for NWSCC’s nursing programs on both campuses, she is responsible for the supervision and direction of day-to-day operations of NWSCC’s Phil Campbell Campus, in rural Northwest Alabama. She is an active participant in several NWSCC committees, including the President’s Executive Cabinet, the Student Services Council, the Cultural Affairs Committee, the Safety and Security Committee, and the Scholarship Committee. She was awarded the Alabama Community College System’s (ACCS) Award of Excellence as NWSCC Faculty of the Year in 2012 and the ACCS’s Award of Excellence as NWSCC Administrator of the Year in 2023.

During her time as nurse administrator, her team successfully navigated the following: a curricular change from a medical model to a concept-based model in the fall of 2016, an ACEN focused visit for curricular change in the spring of 2017, the initial ACEN accreditation for the practical nursing program in 2020, the many opportunities for growth and development in the pandemic and post-pandemic era, continuing accreditation of the associate and practical nursing programs in 2023, transitioning to the Next-Generation NCLEX, and the implementation of a hybrid practical and associate nursing program option. Additionally, she recently assisted the Dean of Workforce Development, Institutional Effectiveness, and Advancement in coordinating the physical reunification of the five Health Science Programs on NWSCC’s Shoals Campus and in identifying the location and assisting in procuring a grant for a Multidisciplinary Health Studies Simulation Center on the Shoals Campus. Currently, she is assisting in the leadership of a multi-million-dollar renovation of the Phil Campbell Campus, which includes state-of-the art nursing classrooms, skills laboratories, and simulation laboratories.

She is actively involved in the ACCS’s Nursing Deans and Directors group, which provides input and guidance in system-wide curricular and policy development for practical and associate degree programs. The networking among ACCS Nursing Deans and Directors group also provides mentoring for newer nurse administrators and a route of advocacy for nursing students and nursing education in the State of Alabama.

She has been happily volunteering with the ACEN since 2016 as a site visitor. In 2020, she began serving as team chair and as a member of the ERP. It brings her great joy to alleviate the stress that comes with having a site visit by exhibiting kindness and collegiality while assessing compliance with the ACEN Standards and Criteria.

When not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband of 22 years, their two young daughters, her extended family, and church family.

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B. Kent Wilson, MSN RN CNE, has 33 years of professional nursing experience in a variety of healthcare settings (primarily critical care and administration) and academia (practical nursing, associate degree, and baccalaureate level). Throughout his career, he has presented at local, state and national conferences, most recently as a Plenary Session speaker at the 2023 Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing Annual Conference titled, “Intentional Recruitment and Retention: Cultivating the Best Environment to Work and Learn.” He is a National League for Nursing (NLN) Certified Nurse Educator (CNE), National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award recipient, and Chancellor’s Leadership Fellow for the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia (CTCSWV).

Mr. Wilson has held the position of Dean and Nurse Administrator for the School of Nursing and Emergency Medical Services at BridgeValley Community and Technical College, located in South Charleston, West Virginia, since 2010 and implemented the state’s first and only Paramedic-to-RN Advanced Placement Option leading to an Associate Degree in Nursing. In addition, he’s created and implemented a 16-Month Accelerated Program Option, VoTech-RN Option, and an innovative High School-RN Program Option. Kent was a founding member of the West Virginia Consortium of Associate Degree Nursing Programs (WVCOADN) and helped design the state’s concept-based curriculum for its five member schools.

He has been a domestic and international Initial and Continuing Accreditation Site Visitor (since 2015), Team Chair (since 2017), and Evaluation Review Panel (ERP) member (since 2016) for the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). In addition, Kent has done both focused and verification visits. He is also the current Association of Deans and Directors of Nursing Education (ADDNE) / Nursing Education Foundation of West Virginia (NEFWV) President and President of the West Virginia Organization of Associate Degree Nursing (WVOADN).

He has served on several practical, associate, and baccalaureate degree advisory committees and has written two multi-million-dollar grants, and other grants, which has been used to fund a new nursing simulation wing at his college, for use to send faculty to local, state, and national conferences for continuing professional development, and to implement retention programs for students which has improved program completion.

In his spare time, Kent likes to travel domestically and internationally, watch tennis, attend college football and basketball games, is active in church, loves to landscape, swim, and camp with his with family and two very-spoiled, but deserving, Goldendoodles- Rusty and Gunner. In addition, he is an avid Boston Red Sox fan, West Virginia University football, basketball, and baseball fan, and is on a national search for the best local ice cream.

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Dr. Kathleen Zajic EdD, RN has accumulated extensive experience throughout her 40-year nursing career, emphasizing nursing education for the past 33 years. She currently serves as a Professor of Nursing at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska.

With nearly 15 years of active involvement in the Accreditation Committee for Education in Nursing (ACEN), Dr. Zajic has contributed as a Peer Evaluator, Evaluation Review Panel (ERP) member, and former Board of Commissioner (BOC) member. During her BOC tenure, she served as Vice-Chairperson and chaired various sub-committees, including a recent role on the search committee for the ACEN Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Her academic background includes a Doctorate in Education (with an emphasis in Health Professions) from the College of Saint Mary, a master’s degree in nursing (MSN) from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) from Creighton University. Dr. Zajic has held diverse leadership roles, such as Director of Undergraduate Nursing, Chair of Health Professions, and Associate Dean of Health Professions. Throughout her career, she has presented at local, national, and international forums.

Dr. Zajic credits her professional trajectory to her enriching experiences and strong ties with ACEN. While her career has taken various paths, her enduring passion lies in nursing education, accreditation, and public health. Beyond the classroom and clinical settings, Dr. Zajic dedicates her time to providing healthcare services to underserved populations in the Omaha metropolitan area and enjoys spending quality time with family and friends.

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Dr. Tracy Arnold, DNP, RN, CNE currently serves as a Professor and Director of the Hunt School of Nursing at Gardner-Webb University, in which she provides leadership for four levels of nursing education – associate, bachelor, master, and doctorate. With over 21 years of experience in the nursing profession, Dr. Arnold has held various clinical and academic leadership roles, including serving as a Nurse Manager, BSN Licensure and Program Coordinator, Chair of Pre-Licensure Nursing Programs, and Associate Director of the Hunt School of Nursing.

Dr. Arnold holds four degrees in nursing, including a Doctor of Nursing Practice, a Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in Nursing Administration, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and an Associate of Science in Nursing. She currently serves as Chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee at the University. She is a member of the North Carolina Nurses Association, in which she previously served as a DNP Council member, the North Carolina Council of Higher Education in Nursing, and Sigma Theta Tau. She has served as a Master Reviewer for Quality Matters for Higher Education since 2016 and as a Peer Reviewer since 2014. She completed the National League for Nursing LEAD program in 2018. In July 2023, Dr. Arnold received the 2022 Journal of Holistic Nursing Writing Award for Practice for her collaborative work on human trafficking with her DNP Project Student.

In her current role as Director, Dr. Arnold provides significant support to all programs related to meeting accreditation standards with both ACEN and the North Carolina Board of Nursing. She has served as a resource for other Program Directors in the surrounding community seeking accreditation. In addition, she has been an ACEN Peer Evaluator since 2014 and a Team Chair and Evaluation Review Panel member since 2018. Dr. Arnold enjoys collaborating with nursing colleagues through the accreditation process as we all advocate to support the interests of nursing education, nursing practice, and the public.

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Dr. Demica Williams has dedicated over 20 years to the Nursing profession. She received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and her Master's of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Adult Acute Clinical Nurse Specialist from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA. She completed a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Nursing Administration with an additional Nurse Educator track at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Williams has over 15 years of experience as a nursing professor in associate, practical, baccalaureate and master’s degree programs. She also has several years of experience as a Department Chair of Nursing for ACEN accredited nursing programs. She has served as a peer evaluator for the ACEN since 2015 and has participated in evaluation review panels for the ACEN. Dr. Williams has experience with grant writing; specifically, to assist nurse educators with professional development and certification. In 2016 she received a grant for faculty to attend a CNE review course which resulted in over 90% of her full-time faculty becoming certified nurse educators. Dr. Williams also became a certified nurse educator due to this endeavor and has contributed as a published author to CNE exam preparation review materials.

Dr. Williams transitioned from academia back to the nursing practice environment in 2017. Currently, she is the Director of Allied Health and Nursing Partnerships at Piedmont Augusta in Augusta, GA. During her tenure with the hospital, she has been able to participate in the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP) as a facilitator for new graduate nurses. She spearheaded opening and educating a Discharge Center to assist with patient flow in 2019. She went on to publish an article in Nursing Matters, the hospital newsletter about the logistics of the new center regarding patient throughput. She also has collaborated with nursing administration to develop programs that focus on the retention of new graduate nurses and nursing support staff. These include the development of a cadre of inpatient staff nurses who also now work as adjunct faculty to support clinical training for nursing students. This promotes a seamless process to transition new graduate nurses to nurse extern positions, and ultimately roles as new graduate nurses.

Currently she leads the partnership that exists between the Piedmont Augusta Hub and the area’s largest technical school; Augusta Technical College, in an effort to increase the number and quality of nurses and allied health professionals in the community.

Dr. Williams has maintained a professional relationship with the ACEN as a peer evaluator representing nursing practice. She continues to work as an Adjunct Professor for Augusta University. Her professional memberships include the Association of critical care nurses (AACN), the Georgia Nurses Association (GNA), the South Carolina Nurses (SCNA) and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Her role on the Board of Commissioners represents the collaborative relationship between nursing practice and academia .

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With 25 years of accreditation experience, including service on three accreditation commissions and leadership roles in site visits and self-studies, Ronald Hunt brings a wealth of expertise to the Accreditation Commission on Education in Nursing (ACEN). Retired from a distinguished career in academic dentistry administration as a board-certified public health dentist, his passion for voluntary association work has led him to focus on accreditation over the past decade.

His accreditation service includes roles on the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) from 2004 to 2008, the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) from 2015 to 2020, and the Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education (ACATE) from 2020 to 2024. Notable achievements include leading comprehensive site visits for CODA and serving as ACATE Chair, along with receiving recognition for his outstanding contributions as a site evaluator.

In his academic leadership roles, including as Associate Dean at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Midwestern University Arizona, and as Dean at Virginia Commonwealth University, he successfully guided dental education programs through self-studies and accreditation cycles.

His commitment to sharing knowledge is evident through numerous presentations and publications on accreditation topics. Additionally, he has held leadership positions in professional organizations such as the American Dental Education Association and the Dental Quality Alliance, further demonstrating his dedication to advancing dental education and quality assurance.

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FairahSolomon has been a nurse since 2005 working in a variety of settings fromphysician offices to labor and delivery and the neonatal intensive care unit.She completed her nursing education journey by working her way through all thedegree options from Licensed Practical Nurse to associate degree to bachelor’sdegree, and finally master’s degree in nursing education. She began her careerin nursing education in 2014 as a part-time clinical instructor and then in2017 as a full-time faculty at a large state university. In 2019 she moved intothe role of AAS Program Coordinator and assists faculty, staff, students, andcommunity stakeholders with any needs related to the program.

Fairah is a site visitor for the ACEN and has completed five site visits with asixth planned for Spring 2024 as well as serving the ACEN on the EvaluationReview Panel in Spring 2024. She has enjoyed presenting at the ACEN conferencesseveral times and is looking forward to serving the ACEN in the capacity ofNominating Committee member if chosen for this role.

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