Photo of Sheila West

Sheila West

Associate Vice President, Academic

Working at Georgian in a leadership position has been a transformative experience for me personally. My passion for inspiring and developing the next generation of leaders, guiding them toward their fullest potential, has been the highlight of my postsecondary journey.

Biography

Sheila has more than 20 years of progressive academic leadership experience within the Ontario college system in the areas of health and allied health programs. She joined Georgian in 2019 and previously served as the Dean of Health, Wellness and Sciences, overseeing the academic delivery of a diverse suite of regulated and non-regulated health profession programs.

During Sheila’s tenure as Dean, she led the academic program teams in the development and launch of six new health programs during turbulent times of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the compressed delivery of the Personal Support Worker program, which included new external funding. Under her guidance, Georgian successfully launched a standalone Honours Bachelor of Science – Nursing (BScN) degree and RPN to BScN advanced standing pathway. In addition, Sheila oversaw the significant transformation of renovated, state-of-the-art-fidelity lab space and technology at the Barrie and Owen Sound campuses, including an immersive room for learning.

Sheila holds a master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto with a focus on acute care and health teaching. Over the course of her career, she has sat on numerous committees and advisory boards and currently holds a Board of Directors position with Victoria Village and sits on the WeRPN Research Advisory Council.

She’s the recipient of several awards, including the Award of Excellence and Innovation in Partnerships and Collaboration with the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education, the Innovation for Practical Nursing Education Award, and the Distinguished Faculty and Helping Hands Awards.