Earp selected as dean of ABAC School of Nursing

TIFTON — Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is gaining a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as its new dean of the ABAC School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Jaibun Earp will replace Troy Spicer, who is returning to a position inside the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, as dean of the discipline.

Jerry Baker, ABAC’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, said Earp will begin duties today. Baker said he believes her experience and expertise will be useful in leading the new nursing program since the former Bainbridge State College nursing program is now a part of ABAC.

“We believe that Dr. Earp has the vision and leadership skills necessary to address the challenges of combining two excellent nursing programs into one,” Baker said. “Her experience with curriculum development in her previous positions will also be important assets.”

Earp was born in Seoul, South Korea, and came to the United States for the first time in 1973. She received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Yon Sei University College of Nursing in Seoul. She went on to earn her master of arts degree in teaching nursing and her master of education in curriculum and instruction degrees from Teacher’s College at Columbia University in New York.

Earp finished requirements for her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. She also has a post-master’s family nurse practitioner certificate from the Florida State University School of Nursing and a certificate from the University of Alabama-Birmingham Gerontology Faculty Scholars program.

ABAC officials say Earp’s past experience working in the nursing and education fields will prove beneficial to the merging of the two nursing programs. Her most recent position was as an advanced nurse practitioner with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Tallahassee. She was a professor and associate dean in the undergraduate and graduate programs at the Florida A&M University School of Nursing and has work at Howard University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Tennessee at Nashville, Emory University, Columbus State University, St. Luke’s Hospital Center in New York, and the U.S. Army Hospital in Seoul.

Throughout her career, Earp has won Teacher of the Year awards twice and an Advanced Teacher of the Year award from Florida A&M. She also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Emory University School of Nursing.

Earp said she has had her eye on ABAC for a while and has big plans for her time there.

“Both ABAC at Tifton and ABAC at Bainbridge have high pass rates on the NCLEX-RN certification exam,” the new dean said. “I want to help our school become the school of nursing and health sciences others emulate.”

Earp predicted a bright future for students entering the ABAC nursing program.

“Even with 3.1 million registered nurses and 240,000 nurse practitioners, there is a continued shortage of nurses,” she said. “A nurse can go anywhere in the world and find a position. It’s a very demanding profession but also very rewarding.

Both ABAC at Tifton and ABAC at Bainbridge offer associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing. To find more information on their programs, visit their site at www.abac.edu/academics/schools/nursing.

ABAC