Assistant Dean of Nursing
An Assistant Dean of Nursing provides leadership support to the BSN program and its faculty, managing special projects, ensuring accreditation compliance, advising students, and mentoring faculty. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does an Assistant Dean of Nursing do?
The Assistant Dean of Nursing is a leadership role responsible for providing support to the BSN program and its faculty. Responsibilities include managing special projects, selecting new staff members, ensuring program compliance with accreditation standards, advising and counseling students, serving as a mentor, conducting evaluations, and maintaining faculty files.
It is a nursing leadership role at the intersection of higher education and healthcare, supporting the dean and the day-to-day strength of the program.
An Assistant Dean of Nursing supports the dean by leading the BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program, mentoring faculty, and maintaining accreditation compliance. The role differs from a Dean of Nursing, who holds overall strategic, budgetary, and academic leadership of the nursing unit, by focusing on program operations and faculty support.
What does the Assistant Dean support?
Key responsibilities of an Assistant Dean of Nursing
- Provide innovative leadership support to the BSN program and its faculty, and direct professional staff to ensure current curricula delivery conducive to learning.
- Serve as a mentor for full-time and adjunct faculty, and conduct evaluations of faculty and staff.
- Support recruiting efforts and select new staff members.
- Ensure BSN program operations comply with state, federal, and local laws and accreditation standards.
- Maintain up-to-date faculty files in accordance with accreditation standards.
- Maintain calendars and manage special projects.
- Promote student success by advising and counseling students and maintaining strong relationships.
What qualifications does the role require?
- Master’s degree in Nursing.
- Three to five years of leadership experience.
- RN license.
- Effective leadership, managerial, and supervisory skills with a professional, collaborative demeanor.
- Superior communication and organizational abilities and strong critical thinking skills.
Why is the Assistant Dean of Nursing role important?
The Assistant Dean keeps a BSN program running and compliant while mentoring faculty and supporting students. The role provides the leadership bench that lets a school of nursing sustain quality and accreditation, especially as nursing programs face faculty shortages and rising demand.
Because the role blends faculty mentoring with hard accreditation work, the strongest assistant deans are experienced nurse-educators who can develop faculty and keep documentation flawless. In nursing education, accreditation readiness is continuous, not a once-a-cycle event.
A hiring note from Excelon
Assistant dean searches in nursing draw from a constrained pool of master’s-prepared RNs with leadership experience. Through our healthcare and education practices, we look for nurse-educators who can mentor faculty and keep accreditation files audit-ready, since a strong second-in-command is what lets a dean focus on strategy rather than day-to-day compliance.
The strongest assistant deans are experienced nurse-educators who can develop faculty and keep documentation flawless.
Related sample job descriptions
Assistant Dean of Nursing: frequently asked questions
What does an Assistant Dean of Nursing do?
An Assistant Dean of Nursing provides leadership support to the BSN program and its faculty, managing special projects, supporting recruitment, ensuring accreditation compliance, advising students, mentoring faculty, and conducting evaluations.
What qualifications does the role require?
This sample role requires a master’s degree in nursing, three to five years of leadership experience, and an RN license, along with strong leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills.
How is this different from a Dean of Nursing?
An Assistant Dean supports the dean and focuses on the BSN program, faculty mentoring, and day-to-day compliance and operations. A Dean of Nursing holds overall strategic, budgetary, and academic leadership of the nursing unit.
Does the role involve accreditation?
Yes. The Assistant Dean ensures BSN program operations comply with state, federal, and local laws and accreditation standards, and maintains up-to-date faculty files in accordance with accreditation requirements.
Why is this role important?
The Assistant Dean keeps a BSN program running and compliant while mentoring faculty and supporting students. The role provides the leadership bench that lets a school of nursing sustain quality and accreditation.
Hiring an Assistant Dean of Nursing?
Excelon Associates recruits nursing leaders, program directors, and health-science academic administrators for universities and schools of nursing 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.