Voss honored by students as College of Nursing Teacher of the Year

Jo Voss, an associate professor at the South Dakota State University College of Nursing’s site in Rapid City, wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. 

Conversations with her family, however, led her to pursue a career in the nursing profession. After all, her mother was also a nurse. 

Her passion and interest in education put her on the path to being named the 2024 Teacher of the Year for the college. 

The Teacher of the Year Award for the College of Nursing is decided on nominations and votes from students in the program. 

One anonymous nomination for Voss read, “Dr. Jo Voss is an exceptional teacher who extends past her knowledge. While maintaining standards and expectations, Dr. Voss is very empathetic and thinks outside the box to help her students excel and be successful. Offering ideas and introducing new concepts including HeartMath as a tool to help relieve anxiety and to improve focus is only a small way that Dr. Voss has such a big impact.” 

It's her passion for students and the nursing profession that motivates Voss. 

“I love my job, and I love teaching. I never wanted to leave SDSU, not even for a minute, Voss said. “I absolutely enjoy my students; every single one of them are awesome.” 

On receiving recognition for her efforts in teaching, Voss said she was “speechless, and that's pretty hard for me to be speechless.” 

“I kind of think that we all deserve this award,” Voss said of other educators in the college. “As I leave, this was a wonderful gift to give to me. To just verify that I've made a difference.” 

Training the next generation 

A 29-year educator, Voss has seen some changes to the nursing profession during her tenure, mainly in technology. 

She said while the technology has changed the field, joy of seeing a concept “click” in a student’s face has never changed for her. A challenge for Voss was teaching online classes without the face-to-face interactions that comes with in-person learning. 

It’s something she embraced and worked through to provide a quality experience for students. 

“Dr. Voss fearlessly adapted new technologies and teaching modalities,” Christina Plemmons, assistant academic dean for cooperative programs in the college, said. “As soon as she was skilled in any new technology, she actively encouraged and supported her colleagues to embrace the change.” 

Her two motivations for teaching are patient safety and a personal mantra that you shouldn’t retire until you’ve replaced yourself. 

As she looks at her past students, this year she feels she hit that threshold of training capable nurses who can pick up the mission. Voss retired at the end of the academic year. 

“Above all, Dr. Voss placed students first,” Plemmons said. “She inspired students to believe in themselves and succeed.” 

A passion for patient safety comes from Voss’s own personal experiences with health care and a recognition for the importance of quality care.