Alumni Newsletter December 2025
Holiday Happenings at UMass Nursing
By Dean Allison Vorderstrasse
Happy Holidays EMCON Alumni and Community Members!
As winter approaches and we'll be taking some time to enjoy time together with loved ones, I hope that you'll take pride in your UMass nursing community and the great work being done by alumni, students, and faculty, which I look forward to sharing with you below.
I do have some news to report that we are taking the next year to re-imagine the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum to better meet the needs of the students, national standards, and current nursing workforce. To accomplish this effectively, admission to the program will be paused for one year. We expect to reopen applications in the Fall of 2026. The current students in the program will be continuing on to graduate in January 2027 and have all of the necessary resources they need to graduate on time and be successful in their nursing careers.
We celebrated the Accelerated Bachelor of Science Senior Recognition Ceremony this past weekend, congratulating the graduates and welcoming them into our alumni family. I'll be sure to share pictures with you in a future newsletter. And as pictures tell 1,000 words, I'd like to share with you some awesome pictures of the recent happenings from the College.
Student Ambassador Ella Edic '26 welcome attendees to the 3rd Annual Massachusetts Healthcare Summit on November 12, 2025.
Jessica Zeidman, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, sharing comments during the "Out of the Box Solutions During Unprecedented Times" panel at the 3rd Annual Massachusetts Healthcare Summit on November 12, 2025.
In case your time is short, here's a few quick links:
- Pictures of Homecoming and the Scholarship Reception
- Assistant Professor Linda Koh '22 PhD honored by American Public Health Association
- Master's Program Director Gabrielle Abelard '97, '01 MS recipient of two awards by American Psychiatric Nurses Association and African American Female Professor Association
- Faculty/alumni write American Academy of Nursing's "Article of the Year"
Alumni News:
Karen Almussquaoui '25 is thrilled to be working at Massachusetts General Hospital on the thoracic and vascular surgery floor. She also will be mentoring students and will be an ambassador for UMassGives April 29-30 to encourage classmates to donate.
Emilie Mathias '20 DNP and husband Joe are doing great, living in Georgia. Emilie works as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Complete Cardiology in Atlanta, Georgia. Emilie sent this great picture below of Joe and daughter Everett, who is now 10 months old! Emilie says that perhaps Everett might even attend UMass Nursing when she is older!
Joe Mathias and baby Everett, husband and daughter of Emilie Mathias '20DNP relaxing on their porch in Atlanta with their Elaine Marieb College of Nursing baseball style hat.
Save the date:
Kaye Bemis '00 will be the first ever nursing panelist speaker at Women for UMass on March 25 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. This keynote event is titled "Conversations with Women at UMass" and is being held in Boston at the UMass Club. The event theme is: surrounding evolution and change in your career and life; how you adjust, adapt, and thrive in the face of change throughout your career and or life.
Please save the date - more details to come. View pictures from last year's event.
Seeking feedback from nurses who work in hospitals:
Martha A.Q. Curley '85, PhD, RN, FAAN is a graduate of our undergraduate program and currently works at Penn Nursing. She is conducting research to learn about the work contemporary acute and critical nurses do, for a blueprint which calls for major change in how nursing is measured in hospitals. She is seeking input on nine identified practice domains to determine whether they currently reflect the current practice of acute and critical care nurses in this brief survey. Please contact Martha at Curley [at] UPENN [dot] edu (subject: ) (Curley[at]UPENN[dot]edu) with any questions, and learn more about the study here.
Art of Questioning Event Encourages Curiosity to Drive Innovation in Healthcare:
Baystate Health welcomed Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation Co-Directors Drs. Frank Sup and Karen K. Giuliano as keynote speakers for the Art of Questioning event on November 21st. Students from UMass were part of the more than 100 participants in attendance to learn about how asking better questions leads to better solutions.
(Left to right) Honors Nursing students Jen Kalick '27, Jacqueline MacWhinnie '27, EMCNEI affiliated faculty and Baystate Health Program Director in Nursing Research and Holistic Nursing Cidália Vital '07 MS, '20 PhD, and Honors Nursing student Madeline Stamp '27 at the Art of Questioning event hosted by Baystate Health.
Brenda Nyarko '29 PhD who works with the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation, presents her research poster at the Art of Questioning.
Sigma Superstars:
At the very first Sigma Region 15 Conference, Cheryl Sabola '85 was honored with the Rising Star Award, and Nancy Thompson '73, '91 MS received the Living Legend Award. This was a UMass reunion, with emerita Dean Melanie Dreher providing keynote remarks. Congratulations to Cheryl and Nancy!
Cheryl Sabola '85 and Nancy Thompson '73, '91 MS holding their Sigma awards at the First Annual Sigma Awards Recognition Celebration in Burlington, Vermont on October 4, 2025.
Virtual Tour of Skinner Hall:
Want a tour of nursing from your home?
Accelerated Student Ambassadors Archer and Hannah take you on a four minute video tour of Skinner Hall. Watch here.
You might recognize Archer from volunteering for many nursing events, including Homecoming and the in-person Skinner Hall tour after the MA Healthcare Summit this fall.
Highlights include:
- New dedicated study space for students
- Students practicing nursing care in Simulation Lab
- Classrooms of all sizes
- Favorite alcoves and nooks around the building
- Where new students have orientation
In conclusion:
On Wednesday, our faculty and staff took time out of their day to attend a collaborative dialogue session, followed by a joyous holiday party. They work so hard every day to provide a stellar educational experience for our nursing students. I am inspired by their drive, positivity, and excitement to learn.
Nursing faculty and staff wearing festive wear at the 2025 Holiday Party held in the Old Chapel on campus.
To our alumni and community, thank you for coming to events, keeping up on the latest news, and sharing what is new with you. You enrich our nursing community. From all of us at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, may you have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Best wishes,
Allison Vorderstrasse
Professor and Dean
Elaine Marieb College of Nursing