The Filerman Prize Selection Committee is pleased to announce the selection of California State University, Northridge’s Janet Reagan, PhD, Professor and Graduate Coordinator, MSHA Program, as the 2014 recipient of the Filerman Prize for Educational Leadership. She will be presented with the Prize during an award luncheon at the Association of University Programs in Health Administration’s (AUPHA) annual meeting on Thursday, June 19th, in San Antonio, TX.
The Filerman Prize was established to honor Gary L. Filerman, PhD, the first president of AUPHA, for his many years of service to the Association and healthcare management education. The Prize recognizes individuals from AUPHA member programs who have made outstanding contributions to the field of healthcare management education, who have exhibited leadership in the field, and who have enriched their institutions, their students, and healthcare management education through their work.
Dr. Reagan was nominated by Louis Rubino, PhD, FACHE, Professor and Program Director at California State University, Northridge and Thomas Dolan, PhD, FACHE, FASAE, President Emeritus of the American College of Healthcare Executives. In his nomination, Dr. Rubino says, “Dr. Reagan has been influential in our industry and actually a pioneer in championing the legitimacy of healthcare management undergraduate education and the establishment of its high quality standards through AUPHA.”
Janet Reagan earned her PhD in Psychology from Vanderbilt University and worked in research and evaluation before joining the Department of Health Systems Management at Tulane University and later the Health Administration Program at California State University, Northridge. Her thirty-five years of service at California State University, Northridge included positions as Program Director of the Health Administration Program for ten years, Graduate Coordinator for over twenty years, Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Minor and Certificate in Gerontology for five years, and Acting Chair of the Department from February to August 2006. She has also held positions at Tennessee State University, Loyola University, and the University of Southern California.
Dr. Reagan has made significant contributions to the field of healthcare management education through her involvement with AUPHA over the last forty years and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Like, Dr. Rubino, Dr. Dolan described Dr. Reagan as “a pioneer in the area of undergraduate health administration education and one of the individuals who helped to establish its academic credibility. She has worked tirelessly to establish and elevate the standards of undergraduate health administration education throughout her career.” She began her service with AUPHA in 1976 as a member of the Task Force on Undergraduate Education in Health Administration, which developed the first set of standards for review of undergraduate programs and subsequently tested and established the initial program review process. Dr. Reagan chaired the task force during the revision of the criteria for full undergraduate membership and approval by the AUPHA Board of the procedures for membership review. She is credited as being one of the founding members of the Coordinating Committee for Undergraduate Programs, now the Undergraduate Program Committee, which was developed out of a recommendation by the Task Force during her tenure as Chair. She continued being instrumental in the certification process even after her involvement on the Coordinating Committee. Her resume includes serving as Chair for sixteen certification review teams and as a panel reviewer on seven additional reviews.
In addition to her significant work with undergraduate healthcare education, she also served on the AUPHA Board of Directors during a time of transition for the association and as it moved towards collaboration with ACEHSA and ACHE, being elected Chair of the Board by her peers in 1998. She was also active in the American College of Healthcare Executives, serving as Chair of the ACHE Committee on Higher Education, Chair of the joint ACHE/AUPHA committee on Post-Graduate Development for Baccalaureate Students, and on one of the ACHE Regents Advisory Councils. Dr. Dolan went on to say that “[Dr. Reagan] has truly been a bridge between academia and the world of practice.”
In response to her being selected as the recipient of the 2014 Filerman Prize, Dr. Reagan said, “Working with AUPHA and my colleagues in health care management education and the health care industry has been immensely enjoyable and rewarding. I am pleased and honored to receive the 2014 Filerman Prize and join the ranks of previous recipients.”
The Filerman Prize is administered by AUPHA with the generous support of the University of Minnesota’s Healthcare Alumni Associations/Foundation and the many friends of Dr. Filerman. Nominations for the Filerman Prize are made each year by individuals from AUPHA member programs or affiliate programs or by Individual members of the Association. For additional information on the nomination process or selection process, please see the AUPHA website at www.aupha.org > Resource Center > Current Faculty.