Associate Dean of Nursing
An Associate Dean of Nursing supports the Dean in managing on-ground and online academic teams to ensure effective teaching and strong program outcomes, overseeing program administration in compliance with accrediting standards. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does an Associate Dean of Nursing do?
An Associate Dean of Nursing supports the Dean in managing both on-ground and online academic teams to ensure effective student teaching and strong program outcomes. The role oversees program administration in compliance with accrediting standards and regulatory guidelines, and provides leadership and guidance to faculty, staff, and students.
Working alongside the Dean, the Associate Dean helps set and maintain a long-term vision for the nursing program, leads program development and accreditation, and stays current on trends in nursing and nursing education. It is a senior academic leadership role within the healthcare education space.
An Associate Dean of Nursing is a senior academic leader who supports the Dean in running a nursing program. Accreditation is the formal review confirming a program meets the standards of its accreditor and regulators. On-ground and online refers to in-person and distance-learning delivery, both of which this role oversees.
Where does the Associate Dean of Nursing sit?
Key responsibilities of an Associate Dean of Nursing
- Provide leadership and guidance to faculty, staff, and students.
- Collaborate with the Dean to maintain a long-term vision for the nursing program.
- Monitor trends in nursing, nursing education, and research.
- Lead program development, planning, implementation, oversight, evaluation, and accreditation.
- Ensure adherence to institutional regulations and accreditation standards.
- Establish strategic partnerships that strengthen the program.
- Manage the administrative responsibilities of the program.
- Serve on committees as assigned and attend scheduled mandatory meetings.
- Adhere to institutional policies and procedures, and perform other duties as required.
What qualifications does an Associate Dean of Nursing need?
- Current, unencumbered Registered Nurse (RN) license relevant to the jurisdiction.
- Postgraduate degree with a concentration in nursing, preferably in nursing administration or education.
- Minimum of five years of related work experience, with three years as a nurse educator or program administrator.
- Educational experience in teaching, learning principles, curriculum development, accreditation, and administration, with a demonstrated command of theory and practice in the field.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, strong organizational and time-management skills, and a collaborative work style.
- Two years of experience with a learning management system preferred. Empathetic and patient, able to accommodate student challenges while maintaining educational standards.
Why is the Associate Dean of Nursing role important?
A nursing program’s quality, compliance, and outcomes depend heavily on its academic leadership. The Associate Dean of Nursing keeps faculty supported, curriculum current, and accreditation intact across both on-ground and online delivery, which directly affects how well graduates are prepared for safe, capable patient care.
Because the role pairs clinical authority with administrative responsibility, the strongest candidates combine a current RN license and real teaching experience with the leadership to manage faculty, partnerships, and accreditation at once. That blend is what keeps a program both rigorous and accountable.
A hiring note from Excelon
Nursing leadership searches turn on a narrow candidate pool: an active RN license, the right graduate credentials, and proven academic administration, all at once. Through our healthcare practice, we focus on leaders who have actually carried accreditation cycles and managed faculty across on-ground and online programs, since that combination of clinical authority and administrative discipline is the scarce part of this market.
Nursing leadership lives at the intersection of clinical authority and administrative discipline, and the best leaders carry both at once.
Related sample job descriptions
Associate Dean of Nursing: frequently asked questions
What does an Associate Dean of Nursing do?
An Associate Dean of Nursing supports the Dean in managing on-ground and online academic teams to ensure effective teaching and strong program outcomes. The role leads program development and accreditation, oversees administration, monitors trends in nursing education, and builds strategic partnerships.
What qualifications does an Associate Dean of Nursing need?
This sample role requires a current, unencumbered RN license relevant to the jurisdiction, a postgraduate degree concentrated in nursing (preferably nursing administration or education), and a minimum of five years of related experience including three years as a nurse educator or program administrator.
How is this role different from a Dean of Nursing?
The Associate Dean supports the Dean rather than holding ultimate accountability for the program. The role shares responsibility for leadership, accreditation, and program quality, and often manages day-to-day academic operations across on-ground and online teams.
What does accreditation oversight involve?
It means ensuring the nursing program meets the standards of its accreditor and applicable regulatory bodies, covering curriculum, faculty qualifications, program evaluation, and documentation. The Associate Dean leads program development, evaluation, and accreditation activity.
Why is this role important?
A nursing program’s quality, compliance, and outcomes depend heavily on its academic leadership. The Associate Dean of Nursing keeps faculty supported, curriculum current, and accreditation intact, which directly affects how well graduates are prepared for safe patient care.
Hiring an Associate Dean of Nursing?
Excelon Associates places nursing academic leaders, deans, and program administrators at nursing schools and healthcare education programs across the United States and Canada 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.