Regional Dean of Academic Affairs, Orlando, FL

Regional Dean of Academic Affairs Role Overview

Excelon Associates is conducting a search for a Regional Dean of Academic Affairs in Orlando, FL. The Regional Dean operates centrally to ensure consistent, high-quality academic delivery across all Florida campuses, academic units, and online programs under the institution's U.S. regional umbrella, bridging enterprise academic strategy and campus-level execution by directly supporting Campus Deans of Academic Affairs.

This is a central support role rather than a campus-based position, designed to elevate consistency, accountability, and academic excellence across all U.S. campuses at once. The Regional Dean holds direct accountability for regional academic outcomes, including retention, attrition, student experience, program completion, career placement, and licensure and certification performance, and is empowered to drive corrective action when campus performance falls below established benchmarks. This work aligns with standards from accreditors recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, and reflects data-driven retention practices used across multi-campus institutions.

Key Responsibilities

Outcomes Accountability

• Hold direct responsibility for regional academic outcomes, including retention rates, term-over-term attrition, student experience quality, program completion, career placement rates, and certification and licensure pass rates across U.S. campuses.
• Drive corrective action when campus performance falls below established benchmarks.

Academic Operations and Campus Support

• Serve as the central academic resource for Campus Deans of Academic Affairs across all U.S. campuses, providing direct operational support, guidance, and escalation resolution.
• Implement the enterprise retention framework consistently across assigned U.S. campuses, ensuring Campus Deans and program-level staff execute early-alert and intervention workflows within established SLAs.

Faculty, Compliance, and Systems

• Participate in faculty recruitment, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding across U.S. campuses, ensuring instructors meet institutional and accreditation credentialing standards.
• Ensure program operations, personnel, facilities, and curriculum comply with applicable state regulations, accreditation bodies, and programmatic regulatory requirements.
• Serve as the regional champion for CIS, LMS, SIS, and CRM platform utilization, ensuring campus academic staff use these systems consistently and accurately.

Qualifications

Required

• Master's degree in Higher Education Administration, Academic Affairs, Education, or a closely related field from an institution accredited by a regional or national accrediting body approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Official transcripts required.
• Five to seven or more years of progressive leadership experience in academic affairs within higher education operations, or in a dean or director-level academic role.
• Demonstrated success supporting or leading academic operations across multiple campuses or modalities.
• Proven experience implementing retention frameworks, SAP compliance, early-alert systems, and student intervention programs.
• Experience managing faculty performance, conducting classroom observations, and leading faculty development programs.
• Experience with program certifications, licensure exam oversight, and accreditation compliance.

Systems and Data Skills

• Proficiency with LMS platforms such as Canvas, SIS systems such as Anthology or Colleague, and CRM tools such as Salesforce, along with CIS retention workflow platforms, early-alert systems, and institutional data dashboards.
• Strong data literacy, with the ability to interpret dashboard data, generate insights, and drive data-informed academic decisions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and virtual collaboration tools such as Teams and Zoom.

Benefits

• Medical coverage, including HSA and FSA options for dependent and health care.
• Dental and vision insurance.
• 12 paid holidays, paid time off, and a paid volunteer day.
• 401(k) with 50 percent employer matching.
• Short-term disability and life insurance, with supplemental life options.
• Growth opportunities, education assistance, and professional development benefits.
• No-cost group life insurance, long-term disability, a talent referral program, and a discount entertainment program.
• A paid day off on your birthday for full-time employees after two years.

Who Thrives as a Regional Dean of Academic Affairs

This is a central, enterprise-level role, and the strongest candidates think in systems rather than single campuses. They own regional outcomes, retention, completion, placement, and licensure pass rates, and are comfortable being held accountable for numbers across many sites at once. They know how to drive corrective action without direct line authority over each campus.

Supporting campus deans is the day-to-day work. People who do well here act as the go-to academic resource across campuses, resolve escalations, and make the enterprise retention framework and early-alert workflows run consistently within SLAs. Faculty credentialing, accreditation compliance, and regulatory standards are second nature.

Finally, this role runs on data and systems. The best fit is fluent across LMS, SIS, CRM, and CIS platforms, reads dashboards for insight rather than decoration, and turns that data into decisions that lift consistency and academic excellence across every U.S. campus.

About Excelon Associates

Excelon Associates is a retained executive search firm founded in 2007, headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Florida. The firm recruits academic and operational leadership across higher education and post-secondary career education, including regional and enterprise-level academic leaders.

This Regional Dean of Academic Affairs role is a confidential search conducted by Excelon Associates, with a recruiter as the single point of contact through screening, interviews, and offer. You can explore the firm's higher education recruitment practice, browse current open roles, or review recent campaigns to see the kinds of searches Excelon runs.

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Excelon does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, marital or veteran status, disability, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.