Dean, College of Nursing
A Dean of the College of Nursing provides strategic and academic leadership for a university nursing college, driving its academic, research, and clinical activities while upholding accreditation and growing scholarship. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does a Dean of the College of Nursing do?
The Dean of the College of Nursing drives the college’s academic, research, and clinical activities. The role upholds accreditation standards, bolsters the college’s reputation, and drives growth in scholarship, providing the leadership needed to navigate the challenges of universities in a complex education landscape. Reporting to the Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, the Dean provides strategic and academic leadership for the college.
It is a senior academic leadership role at the intersection of higher education and healthcare.
A College of Nursing within a university typically offers programs from RN-BSN completion and BSN through the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), with a strong research and scholarship mission. Such colleges are accredited by bodies such as the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), and upholding accreditation is a core duty of the Dean.
What does the Dean oversee?
Key responsibilities of a Dean of the College of Nursing
- Advance the college’s mission of learning, discovery, and engagement, working with faculty, staff, students, donors, alumni, and leaders to establish a new vision and direction.
- Uphold and maintain accreditation standards while driving growth in scholarship.
- Participate actively in program development, curricular enhancement, budget planning, and assessment of student learning.
- Advance student success by ensuring focus on academic, personal, and career dimensions.
- Foster an environment that encourages educational innovation and high expectations in teaching, service, and research.
- Use quantitative analysis, assessment, and outcome measurement to drive evidence-based planning and accreditation efforts.
- Manage the college’s budget and resources, and engage in resource generation through fundraising, partnerships, and new academic programs or delivery methods.
- Provide leadership on policy and procedure development for the college.
- Collaborate with external stakeholders including alumni, donors, industry, government, and community partners.
What qualifications does the role require?
- An earned doctorate in a discipline appropriate to the college.
- Academic credentials and scholarly achievement worthy of the rank of Professor with tenure in the College of Nursing.
- A proven academic leader who is inclusive, committed, and mentoring, with strong partnership-building ability.
- Strategically minded, entrepreneurial, evidence-driven, and highly trustworthy.
Why is the Dean of the College of Nursing role important?
The Dean shapes a nursing college’s reputation, research output, and graduate quality at a time of significant nursing workforce demand, while safeguarding accreditation and clinical and community partnerships. The decisions a dean makes about scholarship, faculty, and programs echo through the nursing workforce for years.
Because a college of nursing blends a research mission with clinical training and accreditation, the strongest deans are accomplished nurse-scholars who can grow scholarship and funding while keeping programs accredited and clinically connected. That combination is what the search is built to find.
A hiring note from Excelon
A college of nursing deanship draws from a narrow pool: doctorally prepared nurse-scholars with the record for Professor with tenure and the leadership to run accreditation, budgets, and fundraising. Through our higher education and healthcare practices, we look for leaders who can grow scholarship without losing the clinical and accreditation fundamentals the college depends on.
The strongest deans are accomplished nurse-scholars who can grow scholarship while keeping programs accredited and clinically connected.
Related sample job descriptions
Dean, College of Nursing: frequently asked questions
What does a Dean of the College of Nursing do?
A Dean of the College of Nursing provides strategic and academic leadership for a university nursing college, advancing its academic, research, and clinical activities, upholding accreditation, driving scholarship growth, and managing faculty, budget, and resources.
What qualifications does the role require?
This sample role requires an earned doctorate in a discipline appropriate to the college, plus academic credentials and scholarly achievement worthy of the rank of Professor with tenure in the College of Nursing.
How is this different from a Dean of Nursing at a nursing school?
A Dean of the College of Nursing typically leads a research-active college within a university, with strong emphasis on scholarship, tenure, and graduate programs such as the DNP. A Dean of Nursing at a focused nursing school often centers more on clinical operations and program delivery.
Who does the role report to?
In this sample, the Dean reports to the Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and serves as a senior academic leader within the university.
Why is this role important?
The Dean shapes a nursing college’s reputation, research output, and graduate quality at a time of significant nursing workforce demand, while safeguarding accreditation and clinical and community partnerships.
Hiring a Dean for Your College of Nursing?
Excelon Associates recruits nursing deans, health-science leaders, and senior academic administrators for universities and health-science institutions across the United States through our healthcare recruitment practice. Retained executive search since 2007, headquartered in Asheville, NC, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL.
More Sample Job Descriptions
Templates you can adapt for your own roles.