Career Center

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Nursing at Michigan State University is responsible to the Dean and provides creative leadership in the promotion of equitable and inclusive excellence in undergraduate and graduate nursing education. The role encompasses oversight of and accountability for academic affairs, directing faculty with respect to the nature of nursing and the structure of educational programs and is ultimately accountable for the quality and currency of nursing curricula. To meet the demands of the nursing workforce shortage, one of the top priorities of this position is to increase and diversify student enrollment across the college’s programs that mirrors the demographic representation of inclusive communities the CON services, with an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will provide impetus, direction, and support to faculty as they design and implement educational programs that meet the needs of a diverse society and health care system. This is a full-time, tenured (twelve-month) faculty position.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Ensures overall integrity/quality in the development and delivery of equitable and inclusive academic programming within the College of Nursing for the BSN, Masters, and DNP programs
• Establishes procedures and programs that demonstrate a commitment to an inclusive environment that attracts and retains a diverse workforce and nurtures a culture where every employee feels a sense of belonging, functions at their best and is challenged to maintain the necessary robust skill set required to meet the growing and changing needs of the college and the nursing profession
• Identifies quality improvement efforts for academic programs using benchmarking and trend data to measure academic performance against best practices, with support from the leaders of our undergraduate and graduate programs
• Ensures appropriate accreditation, approval and change standards are within required parameters
• Communicates with all relevant bureaus, boards, and accreditation agencies
• Monitors national, regional, and local trends in nursing, health care, and nursing education to assure competitiveness in nursing education programs offered at the CON (i.e., as assessed by the U.S. News and World Report, or other agencies)
• Provides equitable guidance, oversight and follow through for faculty development in academic programming based on inclusive principles of continuous quality improvement and knowledge of national and state academic standards and mandates
• Provides feedback, coaching, opportunities, and evaluation to faculty for progression in their academic roles
• Collaborates with the Director of Marketing and Communications and Director of Office of Student Affairs to lead public relations efforts related to CON academic programs
• Communicates regularly and frequently to collaborate with the Director of the Office of Student Affairs and the Clinical Placements team to coordinate student enrollment and clinical placements, discuss potential remediation activities as needed, and identify hiring needs to optimal student learning
• Evaluates and projects the needs of the College for the delivery of quality academic programming as part of the CON strategic plan
• Secures appropriate resources in anticipation of needs in collaboration with the Dean, the Associate Dean for Research, the Assistant Dean for Practice, and the Chief Administration Officer
• Collaborates with CON search committees to recruit, hire, and retain a diversified faculty body consistent with the strategic needs and goals of the College and representative of the communities the College
• Collaborates and coordinates the development of teaching assignments of faculty across all academic programs with the Associate Dean for Research and the Assistant Dean for Practice
• Coordinates with the College Advisory Council (CAC) and collaborates with Associate/Assistant Deans, and academic leaders in conducting annual performance reviews of faculty
• Effectively guides the utilization of resources and oversees the budget that support all areas that report to the Office of Academic Affairs in the College
• Creates and promotes a climate that is inclusively supportive of the intersectional identities and the development of training to support transformational educational innovation to improve the health and wellness of diverse communities
• Participates in planning strategic initiatives in collaboration with college faculty and staff to achieve the College’s academic mission
• Facilitates and participates in shared governance among academic program leaders to assure ongoing improvement and maintenance of high-quality academic programs
• Serves as the official liaison between the College of Nursing and offices of the University on issues of academic policy and programming as assigned by the Dean; represents the College at the University-level for Academic Associate Deans
• Effectively, represents the equitable and inclusive initiatives of the College to the broader community, including regulatory and accreditation bodies, on issues related to nursing education; represent the College of Nursing at state, regional, national, international professional meetings, and legislative activities related to nursing education
• Recognizes and promotes the role of critical scholarship to faculty in both knowledge generation and dissemination in shaping academic programs
• Possesses in-depth contemporary knowledge of graduate specialties that will guide program enrollment growth
• Seeks out and applies for educational funding to advance various programs, launch new educational initiatives, and educational research

MSU College of Nursing values diversity as a core tenet of the work we do and the populations we serve. We are an equal opportunity employer, indiscriminate of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other protected characteristic.

In addition to a PhD in Nursing or related field, the selected candidate must have a Masters in Nursing; five years progressive leadership experience in academic operations, fiscal oversight, faculty hiring, and undergraduate/graduate teaching; demonstrated experience in bachelor and graduate degree nursing academic administration; demonstrated experience to motivate faculty and lead teams in a dynamic environment; demonstrated experience to manage complex interaction of academic programming needs, clinical placements, and fiscal resources; record of functioning as an effective collaborator; history of securing educational funds (e.g., HRSA) demonstrated experience with and/or commitment to DEI in the academic environment and must have an unrestricted registered nurse (RN) license in the State of Michigan (or eligible).