DOWAGIAC — Melissa Kennedy, of Niles, was named dean of Southwestern Michigan College’s School of Nursing and Health Services. She succeeds Rebecca Jellison, who retired after serving since 2012.

Kennedy, a 2008 SMC graduate, joined the faculty in 2011 as a part-time instructor, became full-time in 2015 and taught medical-surgical and pharmacology classes.

She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bethel University in Mishawaka and her doctorate in nursing practice from American Sentinel University in Aurora, Colorado.

“Dr. Kennedy was chosen from a group of three outstanding current SMC faculty with the School of Nursing and Health Services,” said Vice President of Instruction David Fleming. “Dr. Kennedy’s vision of unifying and growing both the nursing and health services side of the school should prove valuable to the college.”

Kennedy said her first step will be developing a strategic plan spanning nursing and health services.

“I know it sounds cliché, but this is home,” she said. “I was the first person in my family to earn a college degree. Now, all four of us siblings have bachelor’s degrees or higher. Without SMC, I couldn’t have afforded to go to college. I owe everything I am as a nurse and educator to opportunities SMC gave me.”

When Kennedy started as a Spectrum Health Lakeland cardiac nurse, she said she had no desire to teach.

“I thought I was content being a floor nurse, working 12-hour shifts three days a week,” she said. “Once I started teaching, I wasn’t happy being a floor nurse anymore. I wanted to be a nurse as a girl but also considered teaching high school English and literature, but decided against that.”

“In our nursing program you become a family of 40 the day you walk in the door,” she said. “Crying, laughing, you experience everything together. You see people born, you see people die. It definitely takes a special person.”

SMC is starting its second semester in the $9.6-million expansion of the Nursing and Health Education Building, which opened last January, doubling its size while adding interactive manikins to replicate clinical settings.

She said the expansion is exciting for students, such as its new commons.

“[It] is nice because all four semesters are arrayed,” Kennedy said. “Lower classmen are able to reach out more to upperclassmen and are more likely to connect. They’ve been amazed to learn with the new technology. We’ve got so many resources we didn’t have before, including a lab where multiple students can practice skills at once. Our office hallway encourages collaboration, too. We’re all together, which is great for camaraderie. Seeing students excited about the new building energizes the faculty.”

Kennedy was born in the area and graduated in 1995 from Niles Senior High School but grew up in Dallas. She was the second of four siblings.

“My big sister followed in my footsteps as a nurse,” she said. “My younger sister graduated with her business degree here through Bethel and does project management for Notre Dame [University’s] library. My brother moved back to Texas and, believe it or not, teaches English.”

Kennedy and her husband, Jim, have been married for 18 years and have three children. Her 17-year-old and 16-year-old sons will be dual-enrolled at SMC this fall. The oldest wants to be an electrician and also studies welding. Her daughter, 14, is a cheerleader. The children attend Edwardsburg Schools.