From the Desk of the Dean
Hello MRJCON friends, colleagues, and alums, Happy Montana spring! This issue of the Bobcat Nurse is full of exciting updates including success stories of our students, staff and faculty in academic, athletic and professional pursuits. We also share information about the upcoming grand openings of our four new nursing education buildings. The success of the MSU College of Nursing has attracted significant financial support from the historic $101 million gifted in 2021 by Mark and Robyn Jones to a recent gift from the Bedford Falls Foundation to fund need-based scholarships for Montana students. Your college of nursing is thriving – and dedicated to its mission to serve Montana’s nursing workforce needs. Spring commencement and the traditional College of Nursing pinning ceremony are quickly approaching. If you are interested in attending a pinning ceremony either this spring or in the future, please reach out to Pam Schulz (pam.schulz@montana.edu) for more information. Here are the highlights from this Bobcat Nurse:
- We are thrilled to share the dates of the grand openings of our four remaining nursing education buildings in Bozeman, Billings, Kalispell and Missoula. The events are set for September and October 2026, and all are welcome to join in the celebrations!
- The Bedford Falls Foundation gifted the MJRCON $2.5 million to fund need-based scholarships for Montana residents over the next five years. MSU is the westernmost university to be supported by this wonderful foundation.
- MSU nursing alum Alicia Crane, a family nurse practitioner on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, won a national AHEC service award to honor her efforts supporting rural health care.
- Angela Gopher, who graduated from MSU in fall 2025, shared her experience in the Caring for Own Our Program in the College of Nursing.
- Anna Pryce, a competitive Nordic skier and recent 2025 alum of the College of Nursing, competed for Team Great Britain at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. She credited the expertise and understanding of her nursing professors for her success.
- The Montana Office of Rural Health and Area Health Education Center created tailored resources to help support Montana’s rural EMS workforce as they face challenges such as recruitment and growing demand for services.
My sincere thanks for all you do to advance the efforts of our nursing program to serve the needs of all Montanans — we are honored to have your support and excited as we step into a new chapter of growth and service. Sincerely, Sarah E. Shannon, Dean and Professor
Student Spotlight:
The following students and faculty mentors were recently honored as part of the 44th annual Founders Day Student Awards. Honored students were nominated by faculty in their departments. Qualified nominees must have at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrated campus leadership and community service. We congratulate these students!
Livia Cole
Mentor: Jordan Bell Teller
Grace Ludewig
Mentor: Brandi Farnes
Catherine Rangel
Mentor: Tami Creek
Monique Summers
Mentors: Jennifer Sofie and Jordan Bell Teller
Faculty Spotlight:
Marg Hammersla
Marg is a professor in the MRJCON and stepped into her new role as Graduate Department Head in August 2025. Originally from Maryland, where her two daughters still live, Marg and her husband moved to Montana in 2020. Fun fact: she interviewed with MSU the same day that Big Sky Resort closed due to COVID-19. In addition to an active program of research looking at nurse-practitioner led solutions to rural healthcare access, Marg has several decades of experience as a nurse practitioner providing care in a variety of settings. Marg’s new role will encompasses curriculum oversight, faculty support, budget and resource management, and stakeholder engagement. In her limited free time, Marg will continue to care for her two dogs and pursue her hobbies of hiking and knitting. This is an exciting time for graduate education in nursing, Marg said, due to a new focus on simulation in the curricula, changes in state and federal health care policy, and investment into rural nursing education. Marg writes, "Nursing has always been the profession most connected to communities, helping them get the care they need in the way they want to receive it. The thing I have most enjoyed since coming to Montana and the MRJCON has been traveling around the state and meeting people... I have been able to do this in my role as a nurse researcher, and now I can do even more of it as the Graduate Department Head. Understanding the unique characteristics of health systems and communities is fascinating. I learn so much from everyone I meet."
Alumni Spotlight:
Debbie Fischer MSN, RN
MSU Class of 1983
Campus Director Billings
In addition to Debbie Fischer’s impressive 33-year teaching career and 12-year tenure as Billings Campus Director, she is also an MSU alum! Debbie graduated with her BSN from the MSU College of Nursing in 1983. Her three children — Anna, Molly and Charlie — also graduated from MSU. Debbie grew up in Billings and began volunteering at age 13 at St. Vincent’s Hospital and then as a CNA in high school. After MSU, she completed her master’s degree in nursing from the University of Maryland and returned to Billings in 1993 to start her family. Faculty member Laura Lacey Rodriguez recruited Debbie to join the Billings campus and sparked her life-long love of teaching. Over the years Debbie has shaped the lives of countless students and taught many topics, including high-risk obstetrics and courses on leadership and management. Debbie writes: "Mark & Robyn Jones College of Nursing at MSU is special and unique. We have a saying that our hallways are 200 miles long. With our five-campus model it’s easy to feel distanced from our colleagues but our college is very deliberate in our ability to have a collaborative team approach, and much of the credit should be given to Dean Sarah Shannon’s leadership. I have been honored to teach at MSU for 33 years and I will miss the people the most, the faculty, staff and students. I am looking forward to retirement – it’s all about the fishing… I am a bit obsessed. Looking forward also to hiking, backpacking, skiing and cabin time with family and friends." Thanks for everything, Debbie, we’ll miss you!
Staff Spotlight
Porsche Riley
MRJCON IT Director
Porsche Riley is the information technology (IT) director for the MRJCON. She and staff member Craig Flint have played a key role in setting up the IT infrastructure in each of the five new nursing buildings. The work isn’t just relocating equipment, Porsche said, but is functionally building the technological foundation for how students, faculty and staff will teach, learn and provide care in the future. She is proud to help create an environment where students can train with tools and experiences that reflect real world health care. Porsche writes, "We could not do this without the support from our UIT team in Networking, other IT teams in locations across campus that support us while we are busy, and all the faculty and staff at MRJCON who are helping us with whatever they can. Everyone we are working with at MRJCON has incredible patience and understands that this is a huge project, and everyone is doing the best they can."
Have you considered going back to school?
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Degree: Nurse-Midwifery Option
Montana State nursing college receives $2.5 million gift from The Bedford Falls Foundation for scholarships, student success efforts
“This gift allows us to fundamentally change our scholarship awarding process in ways that will significantly reduce the financial challenges and debt burden of our Montana students with the most need,” Paul Swift, the college’s assistant dean for academic programs said. “Alongside our Montana Nursing Direct Entry Program, we have removed many of the traditional barriers to the nursing profession for Montanans.”
Montana State nursing alum Alicia Crane wins national service award for her health care work in rural Montana
Crane, a family nurse practitioner, is a primary care provider at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation School-Based Health Clinic based in Lame Deer and Busby, where she delivers essential primary care and health education in one of Montana’s most rural regions.
Future nurse Angela Gopher reflects on MSU as ‘home away from home’
Gopher, who is from Rocky Boy and is tribally affiliated with both the Chippewa Cree and Navajo tribes, is one of eight students who graduated this fall from MSU’s Caring for Our Own Program.
Montana State nursing college alum and Nordic skier Anna Pryce shatters Olympic expectations
“Few can fully appreciate the difficulty of balancing demanding nursing coursework, clinicals and the intensity of collegiate Nordic skiing,” Rebecca Rassi, a clinical instructor of nursing for the Bozeman campus, said. “Earning her nursing degree this past May and then now competing at the Olympics on one of the world’s largest stages in Italy is a testament to her incredible work ethic and spirit.”
Do you know a Montana high school student who wants to be a nurse?
Direct Entry for MT High School Graduates
Any student who graduates from a Montana high school is guaranteed admission to the nursing major at Montana State University. The Montana Nursing Direct Entry Program launched in 2022. The program the goal of preserving Montana students access to the best nursing education in the state.
Montana Nursing Direct Entry students must: 1) Continuously attend Montana State University. 2) Maintain a 3.0 GPA. 3) Achieve a C- or higher in all required pre-requisite courses.