SDSU nursing honors Peterson, Tschetter

Two retired South Dakota State University nursing professors were honored by their college for lifetime achievements at a scholarship celebration on campus Oct. 25.

Carol J. Peterson, 85, of Brookings, was the inaugural recipient of the College of Nursing's Living Legacy Award. She served as the dean of the SDSU College of Nursing from 1977 to 1987, when she became the vice president for academic affairs, a position she held for 22 years.

Lois Tschetter, 72, of Brookings, was honored with the College of Nursing’s annual Distinguished Service Award. Tschetter retired in 2019 after a 36-year career at SDSU.

Mary Anne Krogh, current dean of the college, created the Living Legacy Award to recognize the significant impact that pioneering leaders have had on the College of Nursing through their vision, innovation, and strategic and tactical skills. The award will be given at the discretion of the dean. 

Krogh said Peterson is a fitting first recipient because “she led the college during a time of tremendous change within the health care system. Dr. Peterson’s vision of the importance of nursing excellence during this transformation was critical. She set the stage for the tremendous growth and innovation we see in the college today, both through her work as dean and her leadership as SDSU provost.” 

Krogh called Tschetter “one of the premier nurse educators in the state, especially in the fields of obstetrics and lactation. Whether it was teaching, leadership or community education, Dr. Tschetter put her heart and soul into her work. The result can be seen in the lives of South Dakota’s moms, its nurses and their patients.”

Peterson blazed trail for women

When she was appointed vice president for academic affairs, Peterson became the first woman in a permanent central administration position in the South Dakota Board of Regents system. 

In the September 2008 press release announcing Peterson’s coming retirement, then SDSU President David Chicoine said, “South Dakota State will hire a successor as provost and vice president, but Dr. Peterson cannot be replaced.” 

Peterson was known for her attention to detail, organizational ability and no-nonsense approach while also being revered by those whom she worked with closely.

In addition to Chicoine, Peterson served under the late Robert Wagner and Peggy Miller, who remains SDSU’s only female president and was both a peer and close friend of Peterson.

Miller said, “Her great intellect, humor and caring nature made her a special friend to all who had the good fortune to know her. Blessed with great energy and empathy and knowledge and skills, she was called on more than was probably fair to organize and operate both local and national committees and commissions.  

“I never knew her to fail to do her part and use her talents for any worthy cause.”

Peterson changed face of SDSU nursing

Peterson’s impact on nursing at SDSU includes:

• Developing and implementing the first Master of Science in Nursing program at SDSU in 1979. It remained the only graduate nursing program in South Dakota until 1995. Many of its graduates became hospital vice presidents for nursing and faculty members around the state.

• Securing grant funding to expand the RN Upward Mobility program to Aberdeen and Rapid City in 1982. 

• Consolidating off-campus clinical sites from the Twin Cities to South Dakota so that undergraduate nursing students could complete all their clinical education in state.

• Beginning the process to bring on board master’s-prepared faculty at a time when most had only bachelor’s degrees.

By the time Peterson moved to central administration in 1987, the college was delivering its nursing programs to sites around the state, and with the growth in the master’s program, overall enrollment grew from 500 students to 900 during her deanship.

Tschetter earns 3 degrees from State

Tschetter started SDSU nursing classes in fall 1971 as a sophomore transfer student.

After earning her degree in 1974, she worked in Sioux Falls and Pierre before returning to Brookings in 1982 as a new mom and had begun earning graduate elective course credits that ultimately became part of her transcript. 

She enrolled in the SDSU nursing of adults master’s program in 1983, accepted an offer from Peterson to join the faculty as a lecturer/teaching assistant in 1983 and received her degree in 1985.

Tschetter would add a second master’s in parent-child nursing in 1992 and a doctorate in education administration from the University of South Dakota in 2001. She would also rise from lecturer to instructor to assistant professor to associate professor to assistant dean, a position she held for her last five years at SDSU.

Tschetter co-taught the maternal newborn nursing class almost all 36 years and until 2001 also taught the clinical sections at the Sanford and Avera hospital maternity wards in Sioux Falls. That means every nursing student who went through the Brookings program would have had Tschetter as an instructor.

“You get to experience families in the best situation; they’re happy. Plus, seeing the miracle of birth over and over again was awesome,” Tschetter said.

She became a certified lactation consultant in 1997.

Helps start Rural Nurse Fellow program

Tschetter also is credited for working with Nancy Fahrenwald, then associate dean for research, to write a federal grant to provide new ways to prepare students to practice in rural health care. One of the activities the grant created was the Rural Nurse Fellow program, which has continued even though grant funding ended in 2014. 

The Distinguished Service Award adds to a lengthy list of honors Tschetter has received in the last 40 years, including an Excellence Award from the college at its 80^th anniversary gala in April 2015.