Assistant Dean at School of Nursing & Health Studies Honored for Work with Students

September 13, 2021 – Brian Floyd, an assistant dean at the School of Nursing & Health Studies, will be honored with a Georgetown University Faculty/Staff Career Champion Award. 

The award – given “to recognize your inspiration and impact on the lives of Georgetown undergraduates” – will be presented at a special luncheon on campus at the end of the month.  

“Working with our students majoring in health professions provides a unique opportunity to not only advise them on their respective curriculums but to also assist them in connecting what they are learning in the classroom to what is happening in real time in their chosen career field,” Floyd said.

Embodying Cura Personalis

Jodi Schneiderman, assistant director at the Cawley Career Education Center, described the positive ways Floyd collaborates with the students he advises and engages with the center, which sponsors the award.

“Dean Floyd encompasses cura personalis in his work as he goes beyond his advisor role by also serving as a mentor and advocate for students,” she said. “He has been a true partner with Cawley, and me personally, by continually referring students to speak with me about their career goals, inviting me to his classroom to explore career interests, as well as moderating a panel of Hoya alums sharing their career journeys.”

She said he is “collaborative, deliberative, and empathetic” and that she is “grateful to have the opportunity to partner with Dean Floyd to support NHS students.”

Supporting Student Formation

At NHS, Floyd advises undergraduate students and co-teaches a colloquium section for first-year students. He served as a founding advisor of the school’s Minority Health Initiative Council, which seeks to promote health equity and to support minority students in their academic and professional aspirations, as well as has advised students interested in studying abroad and in pursuing pre-health studies.

In addition, he and colleague Dr. Edilma Yearwood, chair of the Department of Professional Nursing Practice, are working together on an oral history to feature the first four African American women to receive the BSN at Georgetown. (Read more about the oral history project.) 

“I enjoy helping our students clarify, specify, and create a career plan alongside their academic plan while connecting them to the resources available on and off campus,” said Floyd, who is a longtime member of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions.

He has also served on a regional Health Equity Council of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and attended a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities course on “translational health disparities.” 

The 3-I Method

Floyd explained that he uses the “3-I method” as a framework when meeting with students to discuss their professional ambitions. Each “I” stands for a different aspect of the reflective conversation, including “inquire, inform, and integrate.”

“[My work] includes encouraging them to establish career goals along with academic goals, helping the students brainstorm, which might include a referral to one of the campus resources or to faculty members or alumni in areas of interest to gather more information about career fields,” he said.

By Bill Cessato