Shorter University's Mary Shotwell Smith elected Member at Large for Board of Directors of Southern College Health Association

April 18, 2011 - Shorter University’s Mary Shotwell Smith has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Southern College Health Association. The election took place at the association’s annual conference held at the University of Georgia. Smith is director of Student Health Services at Shorter University and has worked at Shorter for 15 years. She was elected to serve as a Member at Large. In that post, she will have a vote on the board and serve for approximately one year, ending March 2012. Smith was chosen to serve on the board to fulfill SCHA’s desire to have a registered nurse’s voice on the board. She will draw from her experience working in a nurse-directed clinic at Shorter and hopes to reignite the North Georgia College Health Nurses’ Roundtable so other college health nurse directors can meet annually with one another. Through the Nurses’ Roundtable, college health nurses can share ideas and find solutions.

 “The awareness of limits of the nurse-directed clinics is crucial because they carry the same liability as the health services departments at larger schools,” Smith said. “Nurse-directed clinics are often under-staffed because of the growth smaller colleges have recently seen. I am excited to contribute to the professional growth and support available to other nurses who find themselves in this type of role within healthcare in a college setting.”

Some of Smith’s duties on campus include serving as chair of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Coalition, Shorter’s Safety Council and the Wellness Committee. She also volunteers for the AIDS Resource Council and is a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner at the Sexual Assault Center. Smith obtained her RN license at Floyd College and her BSN from the University of West Georgia. She recently graduated with a Master of Arts in Leadership from Shorter University.

The Southern College Health Association (SCHA) is a regional affiliate of the American College Health Association (ACHA). ACHA has linked college health professionals throughout the nation and more recently around the world, forming a collaborative networking base. SCHA has approximately 138 colleges and universities represented in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Indies, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. SCHA’s mission is to represent and serve a diverse group of professionals who provide health services and programs to members of the higher education community.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christian University committed to excellence in education. Since 2003, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Shorter among the South’s best baccalaureate colleges. The University offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 48 major areas as well as undergraduate degree programs for working adults, the Master of Business Administration, the Master of Arts in Leadership and the Master of Accountancy.  Online courses and degree programs are also available. For more information, visit www.shorter.edu.

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