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Associate Professor, Nursing

Gay M. Varecka, PhD, APRN, CNP is an Assistant Professor of Nursing in the DNP program. She obtained a BS in Nursing from D'Youville College, an MS in Nursing from the State University of New York, and a PhD in Higher Education Administration and Policy from the University of Minnesota. Gay also completed a post-doctoral certification as an Adult Nurse Practitioner. She has more than 25 years of experience in both Family Practice and Internal Medicine managing the care of underserved patients with complex, chronic health problems from ages 16 to the elderly in Hennepin Health System.

Associate Professor, Nursing

Rebeca is an Associate Professor of Nursing at St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University in Saint Paul, MN. She is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota, Case Western Reserve University, and Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. Rebeca teaches in both the nurse practitioner and master's entry-level prelicensure programs. She has extensive clinical experience as a nurse-midwife. She has educated and precepted several generations of nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners throughout the course of a four-decade clinical career. As part of a multidisciplinary team, Rebeca served at-risk populations at Seton Catholic Charities Clinic until the closing of the clinic in 2016.

Associate Professor, Nursing

Lori Winchell, DrPH, CNP-FNP, CWP has been a provider of health and wellness services for over 40 years. She is a wellness practitioner and a licensed Advanced Family Practice Registered Nurse in Minnesota. Lori has extensive background and experience in education, public health, preventative care, health promotion, and disease prevention. She has provided direct patient care to diverse populations in a variety of healthcare settings.
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Assistant Professor, DNP

Teresa is an Assistant Professor in the NP-DNP program and has been teaching at St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ since 2019. She earned her MSN from St. Joseph's College of Maine and DNP from St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University. She is a certified family nurse practitioner and has a private practice in geriatrics. She is passionate about the care of seniors and has a special interest in geriatric cognitive disorders and in bringing holistic care to underserved patients. Teresa is a proponent of meditation and mindfulness in healthcare and education and is a certified meditation instructor.
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Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Graduate Clinical Nursing

Kara teaches in the BSN-DNP: Nurse Practitioner and DNP - post master's (DNP-PM) programs. She is also the program director for the AGNP, PNP, PMHNP, and DNP-PM programs. She is certified as a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner. Kara earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Valparaiso University in Indiana and her master's of science in nursing of children from Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her PhD in Nursing is from the University of Minnesota. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar. Her dissertation research study was titled, "Urban, low-income, African American Well-Child Care: Parent and Provider Experiences and Expectations.

Assistant Professor, Nursing

Dr. Beckmann is the track coordinator of the pediatric nurse practitioner program. She is a nurse scientist and practicing PNP with clinical expertise in pediatric hospital medicine and stem cell transplant. She is passionate about supporting parent family caregivers of children with life threatening and life limiting conditions. Her expertise and research interest focus on resilience, post-traumatic growth, and meaning making for patients, families, and healthcare providers. Dr. Beckmann earned her Master of Science in nursing from Duke University and a PhD in nursing from Vanderbilt University.

Associate Professor, Nursing

Maria Tice, PhD, RN, PHN, CNE is an Associate Professor at St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University in the MSNEL program. Dr. Tice earned her MSN in Nursing Education at St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University and her PhD in Nursing Education at the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Tice has over 20 years of combined clinical practice in mental health, pediatrics, geriatrics, and as a licensed school nurse; and 9 years as a nurse educator and community/mental health clinical instructor. Dr. Tice’s research interests are in competency development in nursing education, specifically how to develop foundational mental health nursing and intercultural competency for all nurses; and intentionality in nursing as a spiritual practice.

Janelle Jones, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Assistant Professor, Nursing

Associate Professor, Department of Nursing

Grace Gao earned her DNP degree in Nursing Informatics and Integrative Health, and PhD in Nursing from University of Minnesota. In addition, Grace is a public health nurse and ANCC certified Informatics Nurse. Grace has worked in a variety of roles in both public and private sectors across extensive health care settings, including case manager in home care, care plan coordinator in long-term care, staff nurse in hospital, nurse educator in the academic setting, and clinical informatics specialist and consultant.

Grace’s nursing experiences showcase expertise in public health, nursing informatics, and integrative health.

Associate Professor, Nursing

Renee Colsch has a passion and specialty in the area of neuroscience nursing. Her professional experience includes acute care nursing in the intensive care unit, emergency room, and the United States Air Force deployment in Balad Iraq, 2007. She teaches courses in undergraduate and graduate pathophysiology, leadership and serves as a DNP ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ mentor. She views the teacher as the facilitator of learning. Her teaching focuses on cultural awareness and sensitivity, holistic nursing, bringing technology into the classroom and practice, evidence-based practice, research, learning, and retention.

Associate Professor, Nursing

Jocelyn is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Nursing. She obtained a BSN from Villanova University, MSN from Yale University, and PhD from the University of Minnesota. She has been a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) in hematology for over 25 years, first at Boston Children’s Hospital then at Children’s Minnesota (CM). She was one of the first nurse practitioners at Boston Children’s Hospital and on the forefront of the pediatric AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, caring for children with hemophilia and AIDS.  Research interests involve quality of life in families raising a child with severe chronic illness.

Assistant Professor

Lori Ranney, DNP, APRN, C-PNP, CPHON joined St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University in 2023 in the Doctorate of Nursing Practice-Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program. She completed her Masters of Science of Nursing from University of Minnesota in 2007 and obtained her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in 2019 from Winona State University. She has been a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Children's Minnesota in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Clinic since 2008. Special interest include leukemia, lymphoma, fertility preservation, adolescent/young adult (AYA) population, and patient and family education.

Professor of Nursing

Cynthia is faculty in the College for Adults Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN CFA) and the Doctor of Nursing Program (DNP).  She is an Associate Professor at St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University and has been on the nursing faculty since fall 1999. She assisted in the development of a Unitary Human Caring Science BSN curriculum, which includes integrative and cultural healthcare curricular components. She is currently involved in the redesign of the holistic curriculum for the Baccalaureate Program. She is active in promoting healthy learning environments built upon safe interpersonal behaviors.

Coordinator DNP Post-Masters Program

Katrice Ziefle is a Professor of nursing at St. ´ºÓêÖ±²¥ University. She completed her Masters of Nursing Education at Bethel University and PhD in Nursing Education at Capella University. Dr. Ziefle’s research interests include generational theory and the impact of the environment on learning, specifically civility in nursing. Her teaching experience includes associate degree nursing, entry-level master’s degree nursing and doctor of nursing practice. Dr. Ziefle has a passion for teaching and learning strategies in nursing education and works to engage ´ºÓêÖ±²¥s at every level.
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