Section I
About CU

The Student Handbook provides information regarding policies and procedures for students enrolled at the College of Nursing except for PhD students who follow the policies and procedures established by the CU’s Graduate College. The College of Nursing must conform to all CU policies. CU, however, leaves several options available to individual colleges/schools.

The policies listed in the student handbook complies with the guidelines of the University of Colorado System and CU Anschutz campus, including, but not limited to, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), CU Information Technology Services Rights and Responsibilities, CU Use of Electronic Mail Policy, and CU Anschutz's Student Rights to Educational Record Privacy.

The Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99, is a federal law that guides the release of students’ education records, of which disciplinary records are a part. For additional information about FERPA, see the US Education Privacy Program or visit the CU Registrar’s Office website.

CU is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. In pursuit of these goals, CU will not tolerate acts of sexual harassment or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. To report violations of the University Policy on Sexual Harassment or obtain additional information, you can contact the CU Anschutz Campus Office of Equity.

College of Nursing students are expected to be familiar with the content of the Student Handbook as well as the information in the University Catalog. A student is defined as any person enrolled in courses at the College, including non-degree courses. If any item in the Student Handbook or University Catalog is not clear, it is the student’s responsibility to seek clarification.

The Student Handbook is evaluated and updated by the Student Affairs Committee (SAC). The SAC includes undergraduate and graduate faculty members, student representatives, and other key individuals from CU Anschutz Nursing. Students and faculty are invited to give suggestions for improving the handbook by submitting ideas in writing to SAC representatives. This Handbook is published electronically annually with revisions as required.

This Student Handbook is intended to be a resource to assist you in your educational journey and provides information related to student policies and other important documents.

Students are to reference the Handbook for the most up-to-date guidelines and information. Any formatting or content discrepancies should be verified with a faculty member or Program Director.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Campus is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and recognized by all major accrediting agencies.

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program, Master of Science in Nursing degree program, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and post-graduate APRN certificate program at the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education.

The Master of Science in Midwifery program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME).

The College of Nursing maintains the following memberships:

• American Academy of Nursing;
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing;
• National Student Nurses Association;
• Colorado Nurses Association;
• National League for Nursing;
• Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma)

Updated 5/2026

University of Colorado Administration

Todd Saliman
President, University of Colorado

Donald M. Elliman, Jr.
Chancellor, University of Colorado Anschutz Campus

College of Nursing Administration

Elias Provencio-Vasquez, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAANP
Dean and Professor

Amy Barton, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Students
Professor, Daniel and Janet Mordecai Endowed Chair in Rural Health Nursing

Jessica Anderson, DNP, CNM, WHNP, FACNM
Associate Dean of Clinical and Community Affairs
Director of Midwifery & Women's Health Services 

Kelly Stamp, PhD, NP, RN, CHFN, FAHA, FAAN, FAAFN
Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Associate Professor
Loretta C. Ford Nurse Practitioner Endowed Professor

Teresa Hernandez, PhD, RN
Associate Dean of Research and Scholarship

Fara Bowler, DNP, APRN, CHSE-A
Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Clinical Simulation Science
Senior Director of Clinical Partnerships and Placement

Laura Rosenthal, DNP, ACNP, FAANP
Senior Assistant Dean of Academic Operations

Jacqueline Jones, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCNA
Assistant Dean of PhD Program

Traci Snedden, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, CNE, FNAP
Assistant Dean of DNP Program

Krista Estes, DNP, FNP-C
Assistant Dean of MS Programs

Tammy Spencer, DNP, RN, CNE, ACNS-BC, CCNS
Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs

CU Anschutz Nursing, as an integral part of CU, is dedicated to the pursuit of higher learning grounded in the arts, sciences, and humanities. CU Anschutz Nursing shares the missions of CU: (a) improving human health by educating health practitioners (i.e., education), (b) delivering exemplary health care (i.e., practice), and (c) conducting research in the health sciences (i.e., research). In pursuit of its three-fold mission, CU Anschutz Nursing focuses on nursing-specific education, practice, and research. CU and CU Anschutz Nursing serve diverse communities, recognizing and appreciating each and every culture’s unique value and rich history.

In service of the CU Anschutz Nursing educational mission, CU Anschutz Nursing faculty members instantiate their belief that higher education must prepare nurses for professional/discipline-related roles by developing, updating, and implementing a curriculum that emphasizes relational, reflective, responsive, respectful, and caring practice. Thus, the faculty believes in the equivalent importance of undergraduate nursing education, graduate nursing education, and education preparing entry-level nurses with a professional doctorate. The faculty believes that to benefit society, nursing education must perform the following functions: (a) prepare nurses who advocate for social justice; (b) be responsive to evolving social needs and changing local, national, and global healthcare environments; and (c) promote reflective practice and leadership for social change with inherent reciprocity among nursing practice, theory, and research in all educational programs. The faculty further believes that preparation for various nursing roles requires education in the arts and sciences foundational to nursing and substantive disciplinary knowledge regarding caring across the human health lifespan. Moreover, the faculty believes in articulated degree programs that incorporate lifelong learning, innovative educational technologies, and inter-institutional collaboration.

In service of the CU Anschutz Nursing practice mission, CU Anschutz Nursing faculty members are committed to ensuring quality health care through direct and indirect delivery of health care services to individuals, families, and communities in local, regional, national, and international contexts. CU Anschutz Nursing faculty practice models (a) offer expert care and community service, (b) provide opportunities for developing innovative models of health care delivery, (c) improve access to care for underserved populations, (d) engage in clinical inquiry, and (d) test nursing theories. CU Anschutz Nursing faculty members practice nursing as theory-guided, evidence-based, and relationship-centered, informed by caring that facilitates health and healing.

In service of the CU Nursing research mission, CU Nursing faculty members champion the discrete disciplinary dimensions of nursing and dedicate their knowledge-generation efforts, in part, to the following: (a) capturing and quantifying human experiences of health, illness, and healing; (b) developing and testing explanatory models of health, illness, and healing to guide professional practice; (c) isolating and optimizing the environmental contexts of health and health care, including human/technology interface; and (d) promoting high-quality, cost-effective nursing care outcomes. CU Anschutz Nursing faculty members generate disciplinary knowledge through pluralistic forms of inquiry, continuous bilateral communication with nursing practitioners, and team science based on interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Extending from their educational, practice, and research missions, CU Anschutz Nursing faculty members engage in political leadership to improve the health and health care of the society they serve.

Approved by General Faculty 8/24/98; Revised 2/12/02; Re-Ratified 6/23/08; Implemented 7/1/08

Please see the University of Colorado (cu.edu) Mission, Guiding Principles, and Vision Statement.

Mission Statement: CU Anschutz Nursing prepares leaders in clinical nursing, research, midwifery, and community service; integrates the delivery of exemplary health care; and discovers and translates new knowledge to improve health in Colorado and beyond.

Vision Statement: To shape the future of health.

CU Anschutz Nursing has expected program outcomes for each of its programs. These outcomes build on one another such that completion of one program (e.g., Baccalaureate Program) lays the foundation for the next academic program if a student wishes to pursue further education. Please find below the program outcomes for the Baccalaureate, Master’s, and DNP programs.

BS Program Outcomes Approved 12-2017	MS Program Outcomes Approved 2-2018	DNP Program Outcomes Approved 2-2018	MS in Midwifery Program Outcomes Approved 5-2026
Display novice/professional nursing leadership qualities to promote quality and safe care.	Participate in an interdisciplinary healthcare team as a leader and an active member to promote quality and safe care at the patient, family, population, or system levels.	Lead interdisciplinary teams to improve the quality and safety of healthcare delivery strategies.	Apply the midwifery management process to independently manage the care of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
Engage in effective communication and collaboration in intra- and inter-disciplinary teams across a variety of contexts.			Apply the midwifery management process to independently manage the primary health screening and health promotion of women from the peri-menarcheal period through the lifespan.
Provide socially just, ethical, and inclusive care to diverse populations across the continuum of care.	Develop a professional, ethical, caring, and culturally sensitive approach when working with patients, families, populations, or systems.	Formulate scientifically based, ethical, caring, and culturally sensitive healthcare delivery strategies that meet current and future healthcare delivery system needs.	Apply the midwifery management process to independently manage the care of the well newborn immediately after birth and during the first 28 days of life.
Apply principles of healthcare informatics as a meaningful user of health information systems and technology.	Integrate patient care technologies to improve patient, family, population, or system outcomes.	Integrate patient care technologies to evaluate complex healthcare questions in specific practice settings, populations, or systems.	Evaluate, utilize, and disseminate research to improve the health and well-being of women in Colorado and the world.
Reference relevant theoretical frameworks to improve patient and population health outcomes across a range of settings.	Use theoretical frameworks to address patient, family, population, or system needs.	Integrate theoretical frameworks to guide the development and evaluation of healthcare delivery strategies.	Contribute to interprofessional health care teams as a member and a leader.
Integrate evidence-based practice into patient-centered care using the nursing process across a range of settings.	Integrate evidence-based knowledge into managing the care of patients, families, populations, or systems to improve and protect health and wellness in Colorado and beyond.	Implement evidence and evaluate outcomes for the improvement of health in specific practice settings, populations, or systems throughout Colorado and beyond.	Engage in the professional responsibilities of midwives to include the development of a supportive, professional community that promotes mental, physical, and spiritual well-being among midwives.
Articulate how policy, advocacy, finance, and regulatory environments influence health care delivery.	Formulate strategies to advocate for patients, families, populations, systems, or the nursing profession in Colorado and beyond.	Act as a health care policy advocate in Colorado and beyond.	Integrate ethical principles in the care of women, their families, and their communities.
			Demonstrate transformational leadership in the areas of clinical midwifery, research, community service, and health policy development.

Updated 5/2026