College of Nursing and Health Professions
Karen Allen, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, Valpo’s dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions, was recently installed at the University’s Opening Convocation service in the Chapel of the Resurrection.
Karen Allen, most recently a professor of nursing at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, joined the faculty as dean effective July 3, 2017. In her role as dean, she focuses on strategic leadership, coordination and guidance of the College, and continued development of recently added health care programs.
New offerings include health care leadership, physician assistant studies, public health, and health administration. Also recently launched is a doctor of nursing practice program, the first such degree program offered at an Indiana university. “I am thrilled to join the community at Valparaiso University and the College of Nursing and Health Professions,” Dean Allen says. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the talented faculty and staff to build upon the College’s accomplishments and continue its trajectory of growth and innovation.”
Dean Allen has an expertise in substance abuse and addictions treatment, as well as various leadership experiences and research specialties. At Andrews, she served as chair of the nursing department for 17 years, during which time the department established a doctor of nursing practice program with an emphasis in family nurse practitioner. Dean Allen’s leadership experiences include four years as the president of the International Nurses Society on Addiction, seven years as a member of the National Advisory Council for the United States Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and five years as a member of the board of directors of Adventist Health Systems Sunbelt Corporation.
Dean Allen earned her Ph.D. in nursing sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago and both her master’s in nursing administration and bachelor’s in nursing from Andrews University. Throughout her career, much of her research has focused on substance abuse and addiction. Because of her work in this area, she had the opportunity to assess the design and function of evaluation programs implemented in federally funded women and children’s substance abuse/addiction treatment programs across the country. Dean Allen has also authored numerous refereed and non-refereed journal articles, as well as books and book chapters. Her awards include the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Innovator Awards for Women’s Substance Abuse Treatment and the Michigan Nurses Association Carol E. Franck Nursing Leadership Award.
The Valpo community is thrilled to welcome Karen Allen as dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions!