The Dr. G. Clifford and Florence B. Decker Foundation has endowed two professorships at Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Decker Chair in Community Health Nursing
Since its conception in 1994, four people have served as the Decker Chair in Community Health Nursing. Mario R. Ortiz, dean of Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is the current chair. He was appointed in July 2023.
The Decker Community Health Chair uses the position and office to:
- Facilitate and influence existing nursing programs, curricula and clinical practice throughout the college and the community
- Focus on creating new and emerging systems of delivering nursing care
- Help to teach students how to create new systems of healthcare
- Test and measure the effectiveness of care delivered to communities
The Decker Community Health Chair is involved in the following types of activities:
- Help improve community health nursing practices in Broome County
- Develop new models of care by working with local human services and community health agencies
- Promote research into nursing and its practices to help educate the next generation of students
- Act in a teaching capacity for both undergraduate and graduate programs
- Present an annual, open and free lecture/demonstration and/or symposium in conjunction
with graduate students to local nursing faculty, nurses in practice and the general
public
Decker Chair in Rural Nursing
The Decker Chair in Rural Nursing was established in 2001. Pam Stewart Fahs, professor of nursing at Decker College, was appointed the first Decker Chair in Rural Nursing in 2007 and she continues in that role today.
The Decker Rural Chair uses the position and office to:
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Support the identification of differences in healthcare delivery, professional nursing practice and needs of individuals, families, and communities in rural settings
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Teach students how to develop care specific to rural patients
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Test and measure the effectiveness of care delivered in rural areas
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Develop and test programs that improve the health of rural populations
Help professional nursing and healthcare organizations appreciate the healthcare needs of rural people
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Provide substantive support to the Decker School of Nursing in the area of rural health.
The Decker Rural Chair is involved the following types of activities:
- Supporting healthy living of rural populations
- Programs to reduce cardiovascular risks of rural populations
Promoting healthy diet, exercise and reduction of tobacco exposure. - Programs to support healthy aging in rural communities
- Directing activities to facilitate the identification of health care needs in rural areas
- Designing nursing strategies to meet the needs of rural populations
- Acting as a resource for information about healthcare problems in rural areas
- Supporting inquiry and scholarship for nursing students and faculty.
- Supporting a mechanism for dissemination of scholarship on rural healthcare, rural nursing and rural health policy
