We’ve expanded our team at Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN), and we’re thrilled to introduce some new faces:
Dr. Susan Hildebrandt
Interim Associate Dean for Academics
Dr. Susan (Sue) Hildebrandt joined MCN in July as the interim associate dean for academics. Most recently, she served as the Interim Chair of the Department of Special Education from 2019-2022. Dr. Hildebrandt came to ISU in 2009 to join the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, where she spent 10 years coordinating French, German, and Spanish teacher education programs. Her research focuses on language teacher education, educational policy, and the intersection between the two.
Dr. Hildebrandt frequently travels to Wisconsin to support her parents and spend time with her extended family. She and her husband have a cat named Simone, and they like to spend time in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where they have a five-acre woodland respite near Marquette.
Dr. Yan Su
Tenure Track Faculty
Dr. Yan Su joined MCN’s tenure track faculty this fall. She is co-teaching several nursing research courses during the semester. Dr. Su completed her Ph.D. in Nursing Science with a statistics concentration from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2022. She earned her MS in Gerontology from Iowa State University and her BSN from Shandong University of TCM, Jinan, China. Dr. Su has had extensive experience in research design and implementation and has published extensively in her area of research, which focuses on the relationship between dietary interventions and fatigue in older adults.
Dr. Annette Hubbell
Tenure Track Faculty
Annette Hubbell, Ph.D. RN MSN CNS, is an Illinois native and serves at MCN as an assistant professor. Dr. Hubbell has been an educator since 2009. She was inducted as Nurse Leader into Sigma Theta Tau in 2010. Her research focus is on marginalized populations, in particular African American women’s health and physical activity.
She lives with her husband Steve and their cat, Tazer. She competed as a natural bodybuilder from 2006 to 2012, earning professional status. Now retired from competition, Dr. Hubbell’s current interests include small gardening, cooking, traveling the country in the camper, e-biking, and live music.
Maureen Murphy Rabbitte
Tenure Track Faculty
Maureen Murphy Rabbitte was born and raised in Chicago. She earned a BSN from Saint Xavier University, Chicago, in 2001. She earned a MSN in Advanced Practice Public Health Nursing from Rush University, Chicago, in 2014. She completed her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri Columbia in 2021, where she was a National Institute of Nursing Research funded T32 Health Behavior Science Pre-Doctoral fellow. She holds two graduate certificates, one in school nursing from the University of Illinois Chicago and one as a youth development specialist from the University of Missouri. Her research experience is in adolescent sexual health and women’s health. She is the Coordinator of Inquiry and Innovation at the Illinois Association of School Nursing.
Maureen is passionate about public health and currently volunteers with the Chicago Medical Reserve Corps. She has work experience as a labor and delivery nurse, a certified school nurse, an assistant professor of nursing, and a nurse manager for Chicago Public Schools. She lives in Chicago with her three children.
Kirsten Crow
Instructional Assistant Professor
Kirsten Crow lives in Washington with her husband, 15-year-old son, and their German Shepard. She also has a stepdaughter and a granddaughter that live very close by. She has been a nurse for a little over 10 years. Her nursing background includes bedside nurse, charge nurse, and educator. She has worked at Saint Francis Medical Center Peoria and Peoria County Jail and taught part-time at Illinois Central College, Bradley University, and ISU. She taught a CNA course, Med-surg, OB, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing part-time while working at OSF.
In her free time, Crow enjoys fishing, watching her son do motocross, and being with family.
Jill Howell
Instructional Assistant Professor
Jill Howell began her career working as a long-term care nurse and as a school nurse. A passion for teaching led her to take her first full-time teaching position in 2012 with Peoria Public Schools. Howell went on to teach at Illinois Central College in 2019 in the Health Careers department. After receiving her master’s in Nursing Education from Grand Canyon University, she joined Illinois State University as a faculty member in the spring of 2022.
Shayla Dennis
Instructional Experience Coordinator
Shayla Dennis started as MCN’s Instructional Experience Coordinator in June. She works closely with Program Directors and Sequence Leaders to negotiate student requirements with clinical partners and manage preceptors and faculty teaching assignments, as well as class and clinical schedules. Dennis earned her B.S. in agriculture in 2014, an M.S. in College Student Personnel Administration in 2021, and a graduate certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in 2021 – all from ISU. She started working full-time for ISU in 2015 with Event Management, Dining, and Hospitality, where she supervised over 100 full-time and student employees and ensured safety compliance across dining centers and retail locations.
In Shayla’s spare time she enjoys cooking, trying new recipes, traveling, and going on walks
Taryn D. Bradley
Coordinator of Student Success
Taryn D. Bradley joined MCN as the coordinator of student success in September. She has been an academic advisor for elementary education students in the College of Education at ISU since 2018. Additionally, she teaches IDS 128 Thriving in College, Career, and Beyond, and EAF 228 Social Foundations of Education. Taryn is entering her third year of doctoral studies in the Education Administration Foundations department. She is committed to infusing cultural experiences in the Peoria community in her free time. She is currently planning a college fair and career panel for students in Peoria. She is also planning a cultural arts affair for her community.
Taryn is a lover of hip-hop culture and a “sneaker head.” When she is not working and studying, she enjoys spending time with her dog, Louie, and catching up on her favorite television shows and podcasts.
Jodee Cesario
Office Administrator for Prelicensure Admissions and Compliance
Jodee Cesario started at MCN in March as the office administrator for prelicensure admissions and compliance. Cesario’s role allows her the opportunity to communicate directly with students as she supports them through enrollment and helps them prepare to begin each new clinical experience. She comes to MCN with seven years of experience in the public sector, where she was responsible for detailed record keeping and reporting in various capacities, as well as maintaining sensitive and confidential information.
On a more personal note, Jodee enjoys riding her moped through Uptown Normal and Miller Park. She loves spending time with her wife and their two cats, Elizabeth and Prudence, and she will never pass up a Harry Potter marathon.
Antonio Kayamba
IT Associate
Antonio Kayamba began in his role as IT Associate in February and hit the ground running. Kayamba is a Redbird alum, having graduated with his B.S. in computer systems technology in 2018. Since then, he has worked in several IT roles, from support specialist to consultant to field engineer, for companies such as Hemmersbach, an IT infrastructure service company in Bloomington, and Flexitech, Inc., an automotive parts manufacturer in Normal. Kayamba has extensive experience in providing software and hardware troubleshooting and maintenance support.
Kileigh Guido
Assistant Dean for Student Services
Kileigh Guido joined MCN in 2017 as an Academic Advisor for the Traditional BSN, Accelerated BSN, and RN to BSN programs. Throughout her time at MCN, she has transitioned from the role of Academic Advisor, to Director of Prelicensure Advising, to the recently created position, assistant dean for student services. She came to MCN with seven years of experience in higher education, formerly supporting and teaching students in various roles at Kendall College and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Guido is an alumnus of ISU, earning a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minor in creative writing in 2008. She also earned her master’s in School Counseling from Roosevelt University in 2010. Currently, Guido is pursuing her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration at ISU.
Guido is a mother to three children, ages 5, 2, and 6 months. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her children and husband. She also has three pets, two terrier dogs and a cat. She and her husband enjoy trying new restaurants and coffee shops, as well as going to concerts and comedy shows.
Melissa Moody
Director of Admissions and Compliance
Melissa Moody accepted the new position of Director of Admissions and Compliance in August. In this role, she will provide leadership and management for all admission processes and student health and safety compliance protocols. Moody earned her MA in Sociology from ISU and is certified as a Professional Coach by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. She has over 20 years of academic advising and coaching experience and has served as Academic Advisor with MCN since 2006, as well as the Transcultural Coordinator from 2013-2020.
Melissa is a licensed private pilot and is a proud member of a new local flying club operating a refurbished 1956 Cessna. She loves music and enjoys spending her free time outdoors hiking, mountain biking, traveling, and exploring as often as possible.
If you would like to join us on our mission to support and prepare excellent nurses, visit our career opportunities page to stay up-to-date on our latest available positions.
