Associate Dean-School of Nursing

Excelsior; City of Albany (NY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Excelsior University’s School of Nursing invites applications for the Associate Dean of Nursing, a senior leadership role based in Albany, NY, with travel across the United States. The AD provides vision for quality academic programs, guides accreditation efforts, and partners with clinical affiliates to advance evidence-based nursing education.

The successful candidate will supervise department chairs and faculty, drive strategic initiatives, manage performance and budgeting, and foster

Qualifications

• Earned doctorate, preferably in nursing or related field, from a regionally accredited US institution.
• Demonstrated leadership in interprofessional education and collaboration.
• Experience with accrediting agencies and leading degree programs.
• Strong data analytics background and grant-writing experience.
• Excellent oral, written, and presentation skills.
• Experience supervising and coordinating across academic and admin units.

Responsibilities

• Provide vision and strategic direction for nursing programs.
• Lead accreditation activities with state and national bodies.
• Foster interprofessional partnerships and external collaborations.
• Oversee faculty performance and succession planning.
• Ensure program evaluation and continuous improvement.

Skills

Interprofessional collaboration

Accreditation knowledge

Grant writing

Leadership

Data analytics

Communication skills

Education

Doctorate

Job description

The Associate Dean of Nursing (AD) is a critical leadership position within the Excelsior University School of Nursing (SON). The AD provides vision and strategic direction on quality academic programs, including playing a key role in the development, promotion, and evaluation of the school’s strategic initiatives. The AD works with key clinical partners to advance the integration of high-quality evidence-based nursing practices, as well as to advance research, scholarship, and education initiatives in nursing education. The AD plays an integral role in ensuring program compliance with regional, state, and specialized accreditation standards and provides guidance for all accreditation activities. The AD assists the faculty in the development and ongoing evaluation and enhancement of the nursing curricula. The AD serves as a leader in building and fostering interprofessional practice relationships and alliances, as part of an online regional strategy.

The AD represents the School of Nursing to clinical partners and affiliates to foster the school’s mission. The AD assists the dean in developing collaborations with policy and political agencies including Boards of Nursing and accrediting agencies to advance the school’s agenda.

The AD is a member of the SON leadership team and reports to the Dean. This is a full-time position with benefits based in Albany, NY, with the potential for considerable travel throughout the United States. The AD is expected to be in Albany, NY, at least once a month. The rest of the time can be done virtually, from a home office with reliable Internet. When the AD is working remotely, they are expected to be available during business hours, actively participate in virtual meetings, and respond to emails/calls in a timely manner.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following: Other duties may be assigned.

Strategy

• Supports the Dean and SON leadership to identify, prioritize, and lead strategic initiatives within the school, including but not limited to the establishment of annual goals and support to the budgetary process.
• Works with the Dean to monitor, track, and report on the School activities relative to the University’s Strategic Plan.
• Works on special projects within the school as they arise and develop evaluation plans to determine implementation of fidelity and success.
• Provides creative leadership to the development of new business processes that increase the quality and efficiency of work within the school.
• Applies project management expertise to long-range initiatives in SON and provides vision for the identification of business intelligence needs, evaluation of ongoing activities and strategic initiatives, including the development, revision, and reporting associated with degree program profiles and dashboards within the
• Works with University and SON leadership to identify grant opportunities and develop proposals for external funding.

Accreditation

• Interfaces with accreditation and state agencies with the nurse administrator (Dean) to facilitate understanding of agency expectations and School alignment with agency best
• Leads the ongoing and timely collection, analysis, and use of data to support program accreditation, including maintenance of the systematic plan for
• Ensure program compliance with all accreditation and NYS standards, ensures the timeliness and quality of all progress report to accreditation and state agencies, and develops responses to all findings associated with site visits or progress reports.
• Facilitates the School's continuous improvement efforts in support of all
• Serves as a key representative and liaison to the Provost's Office in support of Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation efforts.

Scholarship

• Conducts research and produces academic articles, presentations, and projects that further the reputation of the SON and Excelsior University.
• Seeks external or internal funding to support new academic and research activities, including preparing grant proposals and conducting projects that focus on teaching, learning, and strategic initiatives

Service

• Serves on SON committees as assigned including the Deans and Directors group, Nursing Faculty Committee and Nursing Advisory
• Represents Excelsior University and SON at appropriate academic conferences, professional meetings, and community activities.

Supervisory

• Supervises the Department Chairs and the work of the state board team.
• Assists and leads, as appropriate, with interviewing, training, planning, assigning, and directing work, as well as addressing complaints and resolving
• Acts in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable

Performance Management

• Provides leadership, coaching, and performance oversight for program department chairs and faculty.

• Establishes and monitors performance expectations aligned with the school's strategic plan and accreditation standards.
• Conducts annual performance evaluations and provides ongoing coaching, mentoring, and professional development opportunities.
• Develops and implements performance improvement plans when needed, ensuring accountability and continuous growth.
• Recognizes and rewards high performance while fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
• Monitors faculty productivity in teaching, scholarship, service, and clinical practice to ensure workload equity and effectiveness.
• Utilizes data and key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess organizational effectiveness and guide decision-making.
• Collaborates with Human Resources on recruitment, onboarding, retention, promotion, and succession planning initiatives.

Goal Setting and Work Management

• Leads the development and implementation of annual and long-range goals that support the nursing school's mission, vision, and strategic priorities.
• Collaborates with academic leaders to establish measurable objectives and monitor progress toward institutional outcomes.
• Prioritizes initiatives and allocates resources to maximize operational efficiency and academic excellence.
• Oversees workload distribution to ensure equitable faculty assignments in teaching, scholarship, service, and clinical responsibilities.
• Monitors project timelines, milestones, and deliverables to ensure completion of strategic initiatives.
• Identifies organizational barriers and implements solutions to improve workflow, efficiency, and program effectiveness.
• Coordinates cross-functional initiatives involving academic affairs, student services, clinical partners, and university leadership.
• Promotes continuous quality improvement through assessment, evaluation, and evidence-based decision-making.

Communication and Engagement

• Serves as a visible and accessible leader who fosters open, transparent, and timely communication across the school.
• Builds collaborative relationships with faculty, staff, students, healthcare partners, alumni, and community stakeholders.
• Facilitates regular meetings to communicate institutional priorities, policy updates, and strategic initiatives.
• Encourages shared governance by promoting faculty engagement in decision-making and committee leadership.
• Represents the School of Nursing at university, professional, community, and healthcare organization meetings.
• Supports a positive organizational culture that values diversity, equity, inclusion, respect, and psychological safety.
• Addresses concerns and resolves conflicts through effective communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.
• Promotes employee engagement by soliciting feedback, recognizing accomplishments, and encouraging professional growth.
• Communicates accreditation expectations, regulatory changes, and institutional initiatives to ensure organizational alignment.
• Serves as a liaison between the Dean, faculty, staff, students, and external partners to facilitate effective collaboration.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able and willing to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Earned doctorate, preferably in nursing, curriculum and instruction, assessment, program evaluation, institutional research, higher education administration or related field from a regionally accredited United States institution or an equivalent, nationally

recognized foreign institution of higher learning.

• Distinguished record of interprofessional collaboration and
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience working with accrediting agencies, preferably nursing education accreditors, including leading degree programs through successful site
• Experience leading, developing, implementing, and evaluating innovative strategic
• A creative thinker who is capable of evaluating current business processes and providing innovative solutions that increase quality and
• Strong background in data analytics and comfort with ambiguity and
• Experience in grant writing and securing
• Excellent oral, written, and presentation skills.
• Experience in conducting, presenting, and publishing research.
• Experience supervising and leading
• Strong leader with experience coordinating work across administrative and academic departments
• Ability to work with diverse constituencies

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.

The hiring salary range for this position is $130,000 - $140,000. The hiring salary range above represents the University’s good faith estimate at the time of posting.