By: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant
Nursing education at Indiana University dates back to 1914, when the Indiana University Training School for Nurses opened its doors in Indianapolis. Since that time, Indiana University has changed in many ways, including the expansion of the university to a total of nine campuses, many of which offer nursing programs.
The development of the regional campuses is a result of the leadership of many individuals. One individual to contribute immensely to the nursing program at IU Southeast is Lillian Yeager.
Dr. Lillian Yeager, dean of the Indiana University Southeast School of Nursing from 2002 to 2006, helped to popularize the nursing program. Dr. Yeager came to IU Southeast in 1973 as an assistant professor in nursing and over the course of three decades, her leadership contributed to the extraordinary growth of the IUS nursing program. Throughout her tenure, the nursing program become one of the most popular degree programs at IU Southeast.
Early Life and Education
Born in 1943, Yeager grew up in Alabama.[1] She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from the Tuskegee Institute in 1964 and earned her M.A. in 1972 from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. After earning her master’s degree, Yeager became an active leader in both academia and the nursing profession. She worked on committees and boards of rehabilitation hospitals and was a leader in the KYANNA Black Nurses Association.[2] In 2000, she earned her doctorate in education leadership from Spalding University in Louisville, KY.
Coming to Indiana University
Dr. Yeager came to New Albany to teach at IU Southeast in 1973. When she arrived at IUS as an assistant professor of nursing, the IU School of Nursing had only been an official school in the IU system since 1965, even though it had roots back to 1914 with the IU Training School for Nurses.
The associate degree nursing program on the campus differed in curriculum and accreditation from the programs on other IU campuses. This changed in 1974 when the IU Board of Trustees delegated the task of creating a statewide nursing education system to the School of Nursing. This reorganization resulted in a rapid expansion in nursing programs on the IU campuses.
By 1987, IU had a standard curricula for both associate and bachelor of science degrees in nursing on all IU campuses. No longer were the nursing programs on IU campuses accredited separately but rather, the system-wide nursing program received one accreditation by the National League for Nursing.[3]
Yeager’s early years at IU Southeast intersected with the beginning of a new era of IU nursing programs. In 1978, she received a promotion and became an associate professor of nursing.[4] Two years later, beginning in 1980, Yeager received tenure.[5]
She became part of the IU Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) in 1990, which was co-founded by IU South Bend professor Eileen Bender to recognize faculty known for their excellence in teaching and learning.[6]
On July 1, 1990, Yeager was appointed acting assistant dean for the school of nursing, and acting chair, division of nursing.[7] In addition to these new responsibilities, Yeager remained dedicated to teaching, both in and out of the classroom.
In 1995, she was the advisor for the IUS Student Nurse Association, which “contributes to nursing education in order to provide for the highest quality health care and to aid in the development of the whole person, and his/her responsibility for the health care of all people.”[8]
The Yeager Report: A Legacy of Leadership in IU Nursing
During the 1990s, Yeager was appointed chair of the Committee to Review Nursing to evaluate the university’s statewide nursing program. The findings and evaluations were compiled into a 1995 report.
Known as the Yeager Report, Yeager’s committee recommended a decentralized university school of nursing, allowing for regional campuses to regain some autonomy over their nursing programs and return to separate accreditation, with the university dean of the school of nurses ensuring the accreditation of the research campuses’ (IUB and IUPUI) nursing programs.
The university accepted the recommendation for regional campus autonomy over accreditation. This was bolstered by the regional campuses having core commonalities, including similar curricula. In 1997, the Indiana State Board of Nursing approved this plan to have the campuses achieve their own, separate accreditation.[9]
Throughout this time, working both as the chair of the committee and as an assistant professor, Yeager attended classes for her doctorate at Spalding University. She successfully defended her dissertation, “Mentoring: Perceived Benefits and Challenges for Mentors in a University Setting,” in 2000 and received her Ed.D.[10]
The year 2000 was a big year for Yeager for another reason: she was appointed as interim dean of the division of nursing and interim assistant dean of the school of nursing.[11] In 2002, she was appointed dean.[12]
Four years after her appointment as dean, Yeager passed away in New Albany, IN. She was buried in Louisville, just across the state border from IUS, the school she loved and led.[13]
In recognition for all of her hard work and dedication to the university, Yeager was posthumously awarded the IU Southeast Chancellor’s Medallion in 2009.[14]
Bibliography
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
- Angela Barron McBride, Lillian Yeager, and Sharon Farley. “Evolving as a university-wide school of nursing.” Journal of Professional Nursing21, no. 1 (2005): 16-22.
- “Campus Updates: IU Southeast Update,” FACENT: Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching, vol. 7, no. 1 (Winter 2007), pg. 7.
- “Honoree: Lillian Yeager,” Indiana University Honors & Awards.
- Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 01 September 1973.
- Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 08 April 1978.
- Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 04 May 1979.
- Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University,14 August 1990.
- Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 23 June 2000
- Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University,
- “Lillian Martin Yeager, Dean of nursing at IUS, dies of ovarian cancer,” The Courier-Journal, 25 May 2006, pg. B6-B7.
- “Requiescat: Lillian Martin Yeager, Educator, Episcopal Council Member,” The Episcopal Church News Service, 25 May 2006.”
- “Student Organizations-Student Nurses Assoc.,” The Horizon, vol. 50, no. 1, 29 August 1995, pg. 15.
Notes
[1] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. URL: https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=QQc46&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=IGKEEQTR6tVCRXst4nL3Sg%3D%3D&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=lillian&gsfn_x=NN&gsln=yeager&gsln_x=NP_NN&msbdy=1944&msbdy_x=1&msbdp=1&mssng=thomas&mssns=yeager&mssns_x=1&MSAV=1&uidh=qit&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=39702889&dbid=60525&indiv=1&ml_rpos=4.
[2] “Lillian Martin Yeager, Dean of nursing at IUS, dies of ovarian cancer,” The Courier-Journal, 25 May 2006. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/180732160.
[3] McBride, Angela Barron, Lillian Yeager, and Sharon Farley. “Evolving as a university-wide school of nursing.” Journal of Professional Nursing 21, no. 1 (2005): 16-22.
[4] IU Trustee Minutes, 08 April 1978, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington. URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1978-04-08.xml&chunk.id=d1e949&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e949&brand=iubot&text1=lillian%20yeager&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[5] IU Trustee Minutes, 04 May 1979, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington. URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1979-05-04.xml&chunk.id=d1e587&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e587&brand=iubot&text1=lillian%20yeager&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[6] “Campus Updates: IU Southeast Update,” FACENT: Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching, vol. 7, no. 1 (Winter 2007), pg. 7.
[7] IU Trustee Minutes, 14 August 1990, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1990-08-14.xml&chunk.id=d1e1990&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e1990&brand=iubot&text1=lillian%20yeager&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[8] “Student Organizations-Student Nurses Assoc.,” The Horizon, vol. 50, no. 1, 29 August 1995, pg. 15. URL: https://iu.app.box.com/s/198wxks452h0s3w0yuxrm6uqu30mwt0l/file/239588955837.
[9] McBride, Angela Barron, Lillian Yeager, and Sharon Farley. “Evolving as a university-wide school of nursing.” Journal of Professional Nursing 21, no. 1 (2005): 16-22.
[10] “Articles,” Indiana University Southeast: Faculty Research and Creative Activity, 2000, pg. 5. URL: https://www.ius.edu/publications/files/faculty-research-creative-activity/2000-rcar.pdf.
[11] IU Trustee Minutes, 23 June 2000, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=2000-06-23.xml&chunk.id=d1e304&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e304&brand=iubot&text1=lillian%20yeager&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[12] IU Trustee Minutes, 02 May 2002, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=2002-05-03.xml&chunk.id=d1e331&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e331&brand=iubot&text1=lillian%20yeager&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[13] “Lillian Martin Yeager, Dean of nursing at IUS, dies of ovarian cancer,” The Courier-Journal, 25 May 2006. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/180732160.
[14] “Honoree: Lillian Yeager,” Indiana University Honors & Awards. URL: https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=5815.