The associate vice president for academic affairs at Winona State-Rochester will step into the role of acting college of nursing and health services dean at Winona State University.

Jeanine Gangeness will be serving, while the current nursing dean, Julie Anderson, is away on medical leave.

While working in Winona, Gangeness said she will continue to do her work with the Rochester campus.

“I’m doing the dean role, in addition to my other work,” Gangeness said. “Here, I am just working with the leadership in the college to make sure that everything stays on track until the dean comes back and so I’m just keeping everything running in the right direction.”

Gangeness has previous experience with this position. Before she accepted her position at Winona State-Rochester, she was a dean of Bemidji State’s School of Nursing.

“It wasn’t a big adjustment for me because I have done this work before in the system. So I was just happy to help out while the dean is out,” Gangeness said. “I’m just grateful that I’m healthy and well and able to help out a college that is really strong and has just fabulous programs. So I’m very lucky to have a strong leadership team and really great support staff.”

As acting dean, she said she has a few goals to accomplish.

“My goal is really two things: one is to make sure that we have a really strong record of communication for the dean during her time away and when she comes back. And helping out with the leadership as they grow their programs and become stronger,” Gangeness said. “And specifically, my skillset that I hope to bring to them is to really focus on how to read state budgets and be able to be empowered to really manage those themselves.”

Sandra Herron, department chair associate professor of nursing, said she is sad to see Anderson gone for the semester.

Herron said Anderson was a new edition to the college and her absence will be a loss because she has a strong vision. Herron said that vision is not lost, but it has been put on hold.

Herron said Gangeness brings an energy welcomed by the college.

“[Gangeness] brings a sense of energy and vitality that is also a welcomed approach to things,” Herron said. “We definitely appreciate that and that kind of evens out some of those other feelings and thoughts that we have.”

As acting dean, there are decisions that need to be made on her own, as well as in collaboration with others.

“In this particular instance, Gangeness and Anderson are working very closely with weekly updates on things that are going on within our college,” Herron said. “Gangeness gets the opportunity to make decisions on the spot, but long-range types of decisions will be made in collaboration with Anderson.”