Coming from a family of educators, Jennifer Roye decided the last thing she wanted to do with her life was become a teacher. Being a single mom, her job as a restaurant manager for about 15 years was comfortable, but she decided to change career paths, eventually becoming UTA’s assistant dean for simulation and technology in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. After her sister gave birth, Roye was in awe of the nurse caring for her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that her calling was in the medical field. After finishing nursing school, she tried a labor and delivery rotation, but ultimately ended up in pediatrics. She said having a good experience with an “awesome” nurse is what swayed her into the career. Roye was a nurse practitioner for about 16 years at Cooks Children’s Hospital in Mansfield when someone convinced her to take a clinical group when she graduated with her masters. She was able to see the joy that got her to follow in her family’s footsteps and work in education. “I was like ‘what the heck, let’s see what it’s like,’” Roye said. “And I loved it. I loved working with students and just seeing that ‘a-ha’ moment when they actually get something.” While she was in her practitioner program, the instructor she was researching with inspired Roye to try her hand at clinical instruction. “She talked me into trying it, just trying to be a clinical instructor. ‘See if you like it and if you don’t like it you can do it one time and be done with it,’” Roye said. “That involvement before my graduation, and then that great experience with my first clinical group just kind of made me stay here, it stuck.” She was torn with which path to take once she became a clinical instructor. She was practicing and educating at the same time. With a deep love for each career, she continued to do both for years. In 2010, Roye became a program manager at UTA which she continued for eight years before the opportunity to teach simulations came around. When Roye became the assistant dean, she had three wishes she wanted to come true: to improve CONHI with a new building, a mobile simulation unit and the integration of the Electronic Health Record ethic. The first one recently came true with the construction of the School of Social Work and Smart Hospital building, which she considers her proudest accomplishment at UTA. Jeanean Boyd, clinical assistant professor for undergraduate nursing, has worked with Roye for 20 years, saying Roye is one of those individuals that constantly mentors people around her and always has a “can-do” attitude that lights up a room. “When you talk with [faculty] about their specialty, they light up, and when the light turns on all of a sudden the creativity turns on,” Boyd said. “[Roye] just has that way of wanting everyone she comes in contact with to enjoy being in simulation.” Boyd said Roye is someone who likes to build, plan and develop, which are traits that’ve made her successful. Roye shines in innovation, growth and creativity, which is why she excels in simulation technology, she said. Roye and her team are always looking for ways to keep education up to date with current practices in the nursing and healthcare world, Boyd said. She was one of the first to figure out a way to bring simulation education online. “Once she had done that, when we were looking for someone to take over the Smart Hospital in the old location, we all looked at each other and went, ‘It’s gotta be Jenny Roye,’ because she’s our tech girl,” Boyd said. “She’s our simulation girl; she’s always had a knack for it.” Boyd said they’ve been asking for a new building for 10 years, and because both CONHI and the SSW needed to move out of their previous buildings, the decision was made to combine both colleges, which she said works “beautifully together.” “That’s one of the things I think we can contribute to [Roye], she was on the planning committee from almost day one. When we realized that the building was actually going to be built, she sat in every planning meeting and she sat with the construction folks,” Boyd said. “She was instrumental in helping to select room space and how it was going to be used.” She said Roye and her team are intentional about ensuring all the details needed to make students feel like they are in a real life situation. Whenever Roye has time, she makes sure to go into a control room to watch students go through their simulation scenarios, and she’ll throw in a “monkey wrench” to make the simulation move at a realistic pace, Boyd said. This ensures students are prepared for hospital’s unpredictability. Meagan Rogers, associate chair and professor of Undergraduate Nursing, has worked with Roye since 2011. She said in an email that Roye is one of the most creative thinkers she’s ever met and has a great passion for simulation. She has watched Roye grow as a leader, especially in the transition from the original Smart Hospital into the new one. She said Roye’s office was often used as a “command center” where faculty would come to her for advice or assistance in troubleshooting issues. She always had enough coffee for everyone and the room eventually became the unofficial break room for CONHI, Rogers said. Throughout the construction of the SWSH building, Roye was constantly advocating and recognizing her team members, which drove important strategic initiatives to improve instructional quality, she said. “There is no question the undergraduate nursing department would not be where it is today without [Roye’s] innovative spirit and leadership,” Rogers said. “[Roye] is a true ambassador for our program and has played an instrumental part in our preeminence as the largest and best nursing program in the country.” @_.amandaaldridge._ news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu