For Ashley Cole, Carlow University has always felt like home. She first arrived on campus in 2004 as a first-year undergrad nursing student. After completing her BSN, she continued on to earn a master’s and doctorate at Carlow. Then, she joined the faculty.
Now, as BSN program director and incoming chair of undergraduate nursing, she’s guiding the next generation of nurses with the same support and encouragement that shaped her own journey.
What’s kept her here all these years isn’t just the world-class nursing education — it’s the community. Ashley describes a place where faculty, staff, and students work side by side toward a shared purpose: preparing graduates to enter the workforce as compassionate and capable healers. Through mentorship, she helps her students grow into nurses who are recognized for the empathy and care they bring to every patient interaction.
We sat down with Ashley to learn more about her remarkable journey. For her, every step is a reminder of why she’s here: to give students the same sense of belonging and possibility that Carlow gave her.
You’ve been part of Carlow for a long time — as a student, alum, and now faculty. What keeps you here?
As a student, it was an easy choice to come to Carlow because the faculty and staff here are so supportive and they actually really care about your success. To be able to work here as a faculty member, I feel that same support. I always feel heard and respected by my colleagues, and we all have the same goal in mind — to support our students, ultimately getting them through to graduation and just getting to see them learn so much along the way.
You’ve mentioned that you want your students to feel the same support you experienced. What does that look like in practice?
I want [my students] to feel like they can come to me with anything. Not just a nursing course–related question, but also just, you know, for advice, for guidance, for mentorship. I like to maintain those connections with our students so, you know, if they want to come back and work for us and be a clinical instructor… we know that we’ve given them those really solid Mercy core values that they will not only exhibit in their profession, but they can also bring back here and give back to future students as well.
Carlow nurses have an incredible reputation in clinical settings. What sets them apart?
Being that we’re smaller, we’re able to really build those relationships with… our students. And I think that that really does carry out into our clinical setting. When our students are out in clinical, our clinical partners are saying, like, we recognize Carlow nursing students apart from others — and I think, you know, not only [because of] wearing our purple scrubs, but also just the care, the compassion, the empathy that our students are [showing and] leaving that impact on the patients and the nurses that work there… they’re remembering us.
A lot of our faculty still practice, so that also benefits our students because not only are they bringing in those real-life experiences to the classroom [and] the clinical setting, but we’re also maintaining those close partnerships with our hospitals… Our new skills [and] simulation… virtual reality lab space [is] coming soon… it is the newest technology. It’s the most… innovative.
Carlow recently launched the UPMC Nurse Scholars Program. Can you tell us about that partnership?
[That] was such an exciting opportunity for the six students that were able to receive a generous scholarship and opportunity with UPMC. The process for that involved the students submitting an essay… mainly, ‘Why nursing?’… ‘What types of values do you see yourself wanting to grow?’… ‘What impact do you see yourself making on the profession?’ Reading through those… it was a very difficult choice to make because these students… you wouldn’t expect maybe such high-level writing and just things that they had to say but also experiences that they’ve already been through at such young ages. They are really bringing a lot to the table.
The pinning ceremony is a special milestone for nursing students. What makes it so meaningful?
The pinning ceremony is very exciting. It is like your gateway into the world of the nursing profession. It’s been… done for decades. [It] originally started by Florence Nightingale… that’s why we recite the Florence Nightingale pledge — just to… symbolize the role that she played in the profession of nursing and to always remind our students of that ‘why’… the importance of caring, compassion, and empathy… It can be quite emotional… reflecting on their journey throughout nursing school… [and] ultimately [it’s] the celebration of completing the program [and] entering the nursing profession.
You’re stepping into the role of chair of undergraduate nursing. What does this moment mean to you?
Becoming chair of undergraduate nursing is… something that many aspire to be. I mean, it is truly an honor to work with our amazing faculty, staff, [and] students throughout all of our programs [and] our academic leadership here at Carlow, I’m confident that with the support… of all the amazing faculty, staff… to lean on throughout the process, I’m going to learn a lot, and I just hope to be a great leader like those before me. It’s very humbling. It’s very, very much an honor to… follow in those footsteps.
To discover more about how Carlow healers are are turning empathy into impact and service into transformation, watch episode one of Carlow’s new film series, A More Merciful World.