Board of Commissioners

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.