Connie Gleim Bareford, PhD, MA, BS '73 is enthusiastic about taking on the role of liaison to her former undergraduate classmates.

As a member of the first graduating class of the Decker School, Bareford hopes to make contact with a majority of her classmates from 35 years ago. The 35th Anniversary of the Decker School provides what Bareford feels is an ideal opportunity to reconnect with old friends and to encourage a sizeable turnout at upcoming activities being planned throughout 2004-05 in honor of Decker's 35th Anniversary .

After graduating from Binghamton University with baccalaureate degrees in psychology and nursing, Bareford continued her educational pursuits. She earned master and doctoral degrees in nursing from New York University in 1976 and 1988 respectively.

Since 1987, Bareford has been a professor of nursing at William Paterson University (WPU) in New Jersey. Her clinical teaching focus is community health nursing for undergraduate students in urban and suburban settings. Barefords' theoretical (lecture) course responsibility is focused on community health nursing and advanced practice nursing, including nursing research and advanced practice role competencies at the graduate level. She provided clinical supervision of graduate students in preceptorships and was the director of the graduate program in nursing at WPU from 1999 to 2003.

From 1993 to 2002, Bareford served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve Nurse Corps. During 1993-1999, she also worked at Visiting Nurse & Health Services where her part time practice included home visits to elderly and medically indigent clients in an urban setting, including oncology and HIV/AIDs patients.

Bareford's research efforts while at WPU have been community-based, related to instrumentation and data triangulation, using qualitative methods to validate quantitative measures. WPU's Center for Research (College of Science and Health) intramurally funded Bareford's instrumentation of a community-based pain audit tool. The results of this research were published in a technical report through WPU's Center for Research, College of Science and Health (1999).

Most recently, Bareford renewed certification from September 2003 until 2008 as a clinical specialist in community health nursing from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

If you are a Class of 1973 alumnus who wants to participate in upcoming 35th Anniversary activities of the Decker School or who just wants to reconnect with your 1973 classmates, please contact Dr. Bareford via e-mail at barefordc@wpunj.edu .

Dr. Bareford and the Decker School of Nursing would love to hear from Class of '73 alumni and hope to see you at one or more of our 35th year celebrations and events!