UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #575
LITTLEFIELD, VIVIAN

LITTLEFIELD, Vivian (1938- )
Dean, School of Nursing
At UW: 1984-1999

Interviewed: December 11, 2001		
Interviewer: Signe Cooper
Length: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Childhood and early interest in medicine; Undergraduate degree in nursing from Texas Christian University; Graduate study at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver; Tenure as associate dean of Continuing Education at the University of Colorado; Creation of a nurse-practitioner program; Development of a school of nursing at the University of Kentucky; Work at the University of Rochester; Appointment as dean of the School of Nursing at UW; Chronic lack of resources; Growing emphasis on research; Development of a doctoral program in nursing; Difficulty attracting senior faculty; Nursing Dimensions; Need for a new building for the School of Nursing; Involvement with the Red Cross; Future plans

Interview Session (December 11, 2001): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:39	Vivian Littlefield was born in Princeton, Kentucky on January 24, 1938.  She describes her family.

00:01:46	VL says that when she was a child, she helped her grandfather, who was a country physician.  Because people discouraged her from pursuing medicine on account of her gender, she decided to become a nurse instead.  She started out at Texas Christian University as a ballet major, but soon changed her major to nursing.

00:03:17	She explains why she chose to attend TCU.  The dean of the nursing school, Lucy Harris, encouraged VL to become a dean, and VL was given the opportunity to teach a clinical course as a senior.  She graduated from TCU in 1960.

00:05:29	VL earned her Master's Degree at the University of Colorado in 1964 and began to teach in the school as well as serve as the assistant dean of the School of Nursing.

00:06:40	VL discusses her PhD in higher education, which she earned at the University of Denver while working at the University of Colorado.  She describes her dissertation, which was titled Learning Environments in University Health Professional Continuing Education.

00:09:48	At the time when VL was attending the University of Colorado, the idea of the nurse practitioner was being formulated.  The faculty objected to such a great extent that it had to be created in the continuing education arm of the school.  VL was appointed associate dean of continuing education, where she created a women’s health care nurse practitioner program.

00:11:22	She developed a new school of nursing at the University of Kentucky in 1969.  She faced many challenges because the program was controversial and was shared between two very different communities.

00:13:29	After working at the University of Kentucky, she returned to the University of Colorado, where she ended up running the nurse practitioner program.  Like her other moves, this one was motivated by her family’s changing circumstances.

00:14:26	VL describes her experience as an associate professor and department chairman for women's health care nursing and the clinical chief for OBGYN nursing at the University of Rochester in New York.  She describes her many responsibilities in this job.
	
00:16:47	VL discusses factors that influenced her decision to accept the position of dean in the School of Nursing at UW.  She mentions the senior faculty at UW, including Signe Cooper, with whom she talked before making her decision.

00:18:14	She says that she was impressed by the high quality of education at UW, considering the limited resources of the school, and by the commitment toward research.

00:19:17	VL mentions some challenges and obstacles she faced as dean, the most important of which was allocating resources in order to improve research and doctoral education, without any new money.  She notes that a previous colleague who had purchased a couch had been fired for spending money frivolously.

00:20:43	Other challenges included integrating continuing education into the school, attracting more students into the graduate program, and obtaining research time for assistant professors in order for them to be tenured.  She had no money for new faculty.

00:23:30	The most satisfying experience for her was seeing young faculty and graduate students succeed as researchers and scholars.  

00:24:55	VL lists the people in the university who were most helpful to her, including chancellors Irving Shane and Donna Shalala and Vice Chancellor David A. Kindig.  Other senior faculty in the school also supported her.  Because VL was seen by some people as a “clinical person” rather than a researcher, she constantly had to prove her dedication to research.   

00:28:18	She says that her most satisfying experience as dean was the university’s approval of the doctorate in nursing, which she says improved faculty respect for nursing.  Her appointment as chair of the Health Sciences Group was an additional highlight in her career.

00:30:51	End of side. 

Tape 1/Side 2

00:30:24	VL discusses some disappointments she experienced during her tenure at UW.  Most importantly, she is sorry that the school was not more successful in obtaining extramural funding for research despite her best efforts.  She says that some senior leaders in the school took out their frustration with this failure on her, rather than focusing on other relevant factors.

00:34:04	During her tenure at UW, she saw that the quality and quantity of research improved, a support system was put in place for the tenure process, and the school became accredited.

00:35:31	VL says she wants to be remembered for caring about people and the profession and creating an environment that encouraged high academic standards.  

00:36:45	VL discusses the establishment of named chairs and professorships, which she considers a major achievement for the school.  She mentions the Helen Denne Shulte and the Rodefer professorships.

00:40:41	During her tenure, the joint doctoral program with psychology became a doctorate in nursing.  She was amazed by the depth of the review that preceded the establishment of this program.

00:42:19	VL explains that it was very difficult to attract senior faculty from other schools, both because women were often unwilling to leave their family obligations, and also because of the difficulty of obtaining tenure at UW.  They set limits on the number of UW-educated people they would appoint because the review had determined that they needed more people from other places.

00:43:59	She made some progress in increasing doctorates and research among the clinical faculty.
 
00:46:27	VL discusses the integration of Continuing Nursing Education from Extension to the School of Nursing.  

00:49:12	She talks about creating UW’s Counsel of Visitors and says that the Counsel made nursing better known to the community.    	

00:50:22	VL discusses her creation of the Dean’s Club.  When she arrived, the dean was not expected to become involved with the community, but this expectation changed during her tenure.  In the past few years, involvement with the community has been emphasized even more as private funding has become crucial to the school.  She states that the school needs a department chair to deal with internal matters because the dean must spend so much time on external issues.

00:54:30	To increase the school’s visibility, VL established the publication Nursing Dimensions.  The publication was so successful that many other schools copied the idea, with the unfortunate result that UW no longer stands out.

00:57:19	VL describes her difficulty obtaining signs for the School of Nursing.  The school was expected to pay for the signs even though no other schools on campus had to pay for theirs.  
00:59:04	VL discusses her efforts to encourage the development of post-doctoral studies.  She talks about the obstacles she faced in encouraging people to become involved and then in finding funding.  She welcomed the growing number of international students in the school.

01:00:49	End of side.  End of tape.  

Tape 2/Side 1

01:01:00	Another of VL’s accomplishments was developing a closer working relationship between the Nurses Alumni Association and the School of Nursing.

01:03:11	VL says that she started a fundraising drive for a new Nursing School building and explains why the building was needed.  She gives political reasons that help to explain why it was not constructed.  She says that the Medical School’s plan is too ambitious, will result in a building that is larger than needed, and requires more money than can realistically be raised.

01:06:13	She discusses a donor who might fund most of the building and a conflict that has risen concerning her money.  Medical School administrators are arguing that because the money really belonged to the donor’s husband, it should be split according to his wishes, which would result in much less money being diverted towards the School of Nursing than if it were split according to her wishes.

01:08:50	VL explains the progress she made in creating the Learning Center during her tenure.  She discusses other interdisciplinary projects on which she worked.  She also tried to create more opportunities for practice, for example with the South Madison Community Center.

01:12:10	During her tenure at UW, VL’s husband developed Alzheimer’s disease.  She says that she tried not to let her husband’s disease affect her work, but that it took a profound personal toll on her.

01:14:53	As a result of her personal experience, she has begun working on a national Red Cross program for care-givers.  She describes other ways in which she has been involved with the Red Cross.

01:17:57	After resigning from her deanship, VL wrote a successful proposal for a fellowship funded by the National Institute of Health.  She has worked for University Nursing Service, for which she wrote several grant proposals.  One project involved recruiting Chancellor’s Scholars and Knapp Scholars into the health sciences.  She describes several other activities she has participated in since her resignation.

01:21:47	VL discusses other plans for the future.

01:23:02	She describes her views on the shortage of nurses and the future of nursing and nursing education.  She notes that she worries about nursing in the future.

01:25:56	VL talks about the future of the School of Nursing.  Because there is a shortage of nurses, some health care agencies are beginning to fund nursing education, which she describes as an encouraging trend.  She says that distance learning should play an important role in the future.

01:30:05	VL makes closing comments about the need for leaders within the field.

01:31:24		End of side.  End of tape.
     
END