Nursing leader and mentor retires after 23 years at WSC

WILLISTON, N.D. - Linda Tharp, current Dean for Instructional Effectiveness and Curriculum at WSC, is retiring after working for the college since 1991.  

Tharp is extremely well known around the community and state for her work within the nursing industry, especially the Dakota Nursing Program (DNP).  

DNP is the first collaborative program in the North Dakota University System, joining up with Bismarck State College, Dakota College at Bottineau, Fort Berthold Community College, Lake Region State College, and WSC. It is the longest standing program at WSC that has successfully maintained other sites and managed to keep up enrollment.

  Tharp coordinated all of this distance education activity and was the first director for the DNP program. The initial academic officers and Tharp set the groundwork for this very successful DNP program, which is used as a model for many other nursing curriculums.  

Along with the DNP program, Tharp has developed the nursing program at WSC indefinitely.

The curriculum went from traditional to mannequins to now a simulation lab and is the largest program on WSC campus. There is a birthing room, adult room and pediatric room at the college. The pass rate for WSC nursing has been maintained at almost 100% every year and is above national average.

Tharp was coordinating the WSC nursing program from 1991 to December of 2012 and some of her specialties are in maternity, psychiatric, pharmacology, and nutrition.

Wanda Meyer, VP for instruction, says of Tharp, "It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Linda for all these years, both as faculty and as co-administrators. She has always been extremely gracious, held a high sense of integrity, and was a complete joy to work with."

"Linda has been a very good friend and mentor to me. She has great integrity and works very well with students. She is a great example to follow and has done so much for the program," says Janet Johnson, current nursing coordinator at WSC.

Not only does Tharp work hard at her job, but she works hard at home. "She is very much a family lady," says Meyer, "Her family is very important to her, and she is always there for them."

"She is truly a great person overall," said Johnson.

For more information about Linda Tharp's retirement, please contact Wanda Meyer at wanda.meyer@willistonstate.edu or 701.774.4231. For all other information about Williston State College, please call 701.774.4200, visit willistonstate.edu, or stop by 1410 University Ave.