Denver School of
Nursing (DSN) has recognized Michael Ruschival, director of student services,
with the nursing college’s Diversity in Action Award, designed to reward a
faculty or staff member for their new ways of including and addressing
diversity in the curricula or on campus, said Dr. Cathy Maxwell, president of
DSN (www.denverschoolofnursing.edu).
With the
Denver School of Nursing since 2010, Ruschival provides guidance to the student
body, serves as liaison to career services and coordinates campus-wide
activities, programs and services that foster students’ academic, personal and
professional development. He directs these services to create a stimulating and
supportive environment that enhances the personal development, learning, educational
success and career preparation for all students, Maxwell said.
In
nominations submitted by faculty, staff and students, Ruschival was cited as
“always available for the students; always going above and beyond to helping
students of all different backgrounds, often above his normal job duties.” Other nominations stated “he works with all
students to assist them with their many needs.
He shows kindness to everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status,
and his work with the Student Nurse Association also supports his approach to
diversity at DSN.”
He holds
his master of science in organizational leadership from Colorado State
University-Global Campus, his graduate certificate in health informatics from
the University of California-Davis Extension and his bachelor of arts from
Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN.
DSN’s
student population represents a variety of racial backgrounds, including a male
enrollment of 13.5 percent, the highest ratio in Colorado. DSN created the
Diversity in Action Award in honor of the first black woman to complete nurse’s
training in 1879 in the United States. Mary Mahoney, a nurse, and a women’s
rights and civil rights activist, was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in
1976 and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
About Denver
School of Nursing (DSN)
Denver School of Nursing, 1401 19th St., Denver, is a private,
post-secondary college that provides educational programs and training for
nursing professionals. The college specializes in offering rigorous
curricula, clinical site-based academic programs toward associate and
bachelor degrees in nursing and distance-delivered academic programs toward a
bachelor degree in nursing. DSN is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission
(HLC), (www.hlcommission.org), (800-621-7440).
Its associate and baccalaureate programs are accredited by the Accreditation
Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), 3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850,
Atlanta, GA 30326 (404-975-5000). DSN is granted full approval for its
associate and bachelors nursing programs by the Colorado State Board of
Nursing. National Council of State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA)
approval is maintained through the Colorado Department of Higher Education. For
more information, call 303-292-0015 or visit www.denverschoolofnursing.edu.