‘I Am WT’ Podcast Spotlights New Nursing, Health Sciences Dean

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s student-run podcast continues its second season Dec. 21 with an episode highlighting the new dean of the University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

 “I Am WT” host Thomas Rodriguez, a junior digital media and communication major from Katy, is joined by Dr. Holly Jeffreys, who also is WT’s High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation Professor in Nursing Leadership.

The episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud, as well as at wtamu.edu/IAmWTPodcast. New episodes will return in the spring semester.

Jeffreys, in addition to her work at WT, is a prominent Panhandle-area nurse practitioner and a WT graduate whose love of nursing developed while watching her father, a pastor and volunteer hospital chaplain, visit patients weekly.

Jeffreys earned her Bachelor and Master of Science in nursing at WT, and she earned her doctorate in nursing practice at the University of Texas. She previously served as head of WT’s Department of Nursing beginning in August 2020.

Jeffreys said she was drawn to the profession because of her desire to serve others.

“The reward of helping somebody and being their advocate — there’s nothing better,” she said.

Established in 1972 and graduating its first students in 1974, WT’s Department of Nursing in its College of Nursing and Health Sciences currently provides about 70 percent of nurses employed throughout the Texas Panhandle.

WT nursing graduates, over the past five years, have averaged a 97 percent score on the National Council Licensure Examination, required by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the United States and Canada. Nationally, the average is 85 percent; in Texas, it’s 87 percent.

The “I Am WT” podcast embodies WT’s commitment to people first, one of the key principles of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021— has raised more than $125 million and will continue through 2025.

In the biweekly episodes of “I Am WT,” student hosts interview WT faculty, staff, students and alumni about what WT means to them.

Audiences hear stories about how attending or working at WT changed the lives of the guests, and how they’re making a difference in their community.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—