Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD ’11, NNP, FNAP, FAAN, the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, gave her first State of the School Address in April.
Listening.
That’s how Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD ’11, NNP, FNAP, FAAN, the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), has spent her first year in the role.
Whether it has been listening to students, staff, faculty, or alumni — in Baltimore and at the Universities at Shady Grove — Ogbolu has spent the last 10 months engrossed in what she’s dubbed “thought-provoking conversations.” But even a year later, one conversation still sticks out to her.
“I vividly remember one unforgettable conversation. It was a student who came to my candidate interview,” Ogbolu said in her first State of the School Address, which was held April 23, 2024. “He gave me a glimpse of what it means to be a student here in the School of Nursing.
“He and his peers arrived very early in the morning. They had to get here about 8 o’clock in the morning to have an opportunity to be here for the interview. And he was well prepared,” she said, adding that the student came in with a long list of questions as well as potential solutions he had for how the school can better support students. “This early conversation really helped to prepare me for what was coming and left me with a sense of hope and optimism for the future.”