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Nursing Program | MSN-FNP
Patricia Hunt
Graduate & Adult Admissions
(949) 214-3848
patricia.hunt@cui.edu
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Our faculty are experts in their fields and dedicated to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to share the Gospel and care for all of God’s people.
Main Nursing department number: (949) 214-3280
Terry Cottle began her nursing career in 1979 when she received her BSN from Loma Linda University School of Nursing. She worked in a variety of hospitals and healthcare settings in San Bernardino and Orange Counties. She completed an MSN in Community Health Nursing and received a School Nurse Services Credential in 2004. Terry has been full-time faculty and Assistant Director for Concordia University Irvine in the Nursing Department since 2008; she teaches in the ABSN, RN to BSN and MSN programs. She participated in transitioning the RN to BSN courses to the online format and wrote several of the courses. She completed her Doctorate in Nursing Practice in 2016 with a focus on Nursing Leadership.
In her free time, Terry enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with family.
Dr. Smythe-Padgham joined Concordia University Irvine in 2017 and serves as the Assistant Dean and Director of Nursing. She began her career as a labor and delivery nurse over 25 years ago. She went on to attain her Masters of Science in Nursing and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner license in 1992 and worked in both private and community care settings in Orange and Los Angeles counties practicing primarily in underserved communities in order to serve the needs of women, mothers and babies. In 2009, she began her career in academia as a nursing faculty member. During her tenure, she served as an Assistant Dean and Interim Dean. She now proudly serves as the Assistant Dean/Director of Nursing in the Concordia Department of Nursing.
DNP project: Nurse Practitioner’s knowledge and use of the internet for adolescent health information
Shannon is the Operations Administrative Coordinator for Concordia University Irvine's Department of Nursing. In her role, she provides administrative support in the day to day operations of the Department of Nursing including but not limited to creation and maintenance of nursing courses, schedules, calendars, and student registration and matriculation. Additionally, she collaborates with Human Resources on the interviewing, hiring and onboarding of Nursing Department candidates.
Maria-Jean, “MJ”, is the Assistant Director of Academic Clinical Partnerships for Concordia University Irvine. In her role, Ms. Caterinicchio provides leadership in implementing and managing relationships with both current and future clinical partners. She is responsible for building clinical partnerships, identifying and generating new clinical agency opportunities and managing the clinical partnerships to ensure that student learning and course objectives are being met.
Maria-Jean has extensive leadership experience in healthcare, working for nonprofit, community and university teaching hospitals as well as within a national professional nursing organization, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Maria-Jean has significant experience in designing, implementing and evaluating systems to support strategic and organizational initiatives, leading project teams and facilitating organizational change.
Jennifer (Jen) is the Clinical Placement Coordinator for Concordia University Irvine's Department of Nursing. In her role, she provides support to the students and faculty of the Department of Nursing including clinical placement assignment to meet the affiliation requirements. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising and Graphic Design from Grand Canyon University.
Henny Halim joined Concordia University Irvine in 2008 as a student in the MBA graduate department. Her unique ability to speak six languages (Bahasa Indonesia, English, Chinese-Mandarin, Chinese-Taiwanese, Indonesian-Javanese, and Cantonese) was a valuable asset when she decided to return and start her career with the Graduate Admissions team as the sole admission counselor for Nursing. Over the years, she rose to the position of Associate Director of Graduate Admissions for Nursing and Healthcare programs in 2021. In this role, Henny played a significant part in expanding admissions cohorts and developing a secondary site for nursing admissions.
In 2024, Henny transitioned from her role in Graduate Admissions to accept the position of CalOptima Grant Project Director for Nursing, where she now oversees scholarships and initiatives that benefit health professionals serving in Orange County. She is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership, with an expected graduation in 2026.
Henny served on the Concordia Staff Council from 2021 to 2023 and held the position of Vice Chair in 2023.
Alicia came to Concordia University Irvine in the Summer of 2022 as a counselor for the Graduate Admissions team for the School of Health and Human Sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Azusa Pacific University in 2015 while competing on the volleyball team and earned her Master of Arts from CSU Long Beach in 2018. In her spare time, Alicia enjoys warm summer days at the beach and spending time with her family and friends.
Born and raised in Southern California, Brian is a local of the Orange County landscape. He came to Concordia University Irvine with a strong background in higher education and serves as an Admissions Counselor for the School of Health and Human Sciences. He received his BA and MBA from Hope International University, and also competed in Cross County/Track while earning is degrees. One of his favorite things about serving in higher education is navigating potential applicant’s through the admissions process as they aim to reach their goals. Outside of the office, he enjoys photography, music, movies, and spending quality time with the people close to him.
Carolyn has been with Concordia' nursing team since the Fall of 2024 as a graduate admissions counselor. She earned her Bachelor of Science in 2022 from Cal Poly Pomona and her Master of Arts from Cal Baptist University in 2025. In her free time, Carolyn enjoys going to the beach, checking out new coffee shops, and yoga.