Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA)

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA) primary role is to support the School of Nursing’s academic mission by providing leadership, oversight, and direction across undergraduate (BS, ABS, RN/BS) and graduate programs (DNP and PhD).

The School of Nursing is seeking a visionary leader who can inspire faculty, is a strategic thinker, engages with leadership and faculty across the University at Buffalo as the School positions itself for continued growth and expansion across our shared education, research, and practice/service missions. The ADAA builds, maintains, and sustains a collaborative working environment with the school’s leadership team and fosters a community of faculty and student scholars that have a core commitment to academic excellence, high research productivity, and innovation in practice and community/professional service. The ADAA will continue to build and strengthen a core commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion to prepare the leaders of tomorrow for service to their local, regional, state, national and global communities. The School of Nursing and the University at Buffalo aspire to become one of the top 25 public institutions in the nation.

The ADAA is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and reports directly to the Dean of the School of Nursing. The ADAA also provides oversight and direction to the Office of Student Affairs/Services, Simulation Services and Interprofessional Education efforts, the Educational Staff Service Support team and interfaces with accreditation and professional licensing entities, Information Technology Services that manages computer/audiovisual technology and the learning management system (Brightspace).

Responsibilities:

Academic Programs

• Provides overall leadership and implements the strategic vision across the undergraduate (BS, ABS, RN-BS) and graduate programs (DNP and PhD) to ensure academic excellence and compliance of all programs with applicable accreditation and licensing requirements consistent with an R1 AAU research intensive university.
• Collaborates with Assistant/Associate Deans and Program Directors in the School of Nursing and Academic leaders across the university (Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School etc.) regarding curriculum implementation, operational efficiency, and innovative academic programming.
• Recruits and retains highly qualified tenured/tenure-track, clinical track, and adjunct faculty to achieve excellent educational outcomes for students.
• Works with other Assistant/Associate Deans/Program Directors to assign and balance faculty workload to achieve educational, research, and practice/service goals.
• Works with the Dean and other members of the leadership team to plan, design, implement, and innovate new programs/course offerings for students, alumni, and community members.
• Monitor and work with the Dean, ADR, ADAF, and VP for Graduate Education/Dean of the Graduate School on the use and deployment of TA/GA/RA student appointments to meet strategic and financial goals.
• Develops, modifies, and maintains school and academic policies as needed to support educational objectives, achieve accreditation standards, and comply with licensing requirements.
• Works with faculty to obtain external funding from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), or other components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support innovative programmatic expansion and excellence in undergraduate and graduate programs (DNP and PhD).
• Meet with other ADAA’s and serve on the Associate Deans Councils across decanal units to advance the outcomes and innovate new programs, develop university wide policies, and share/disseminate information with members of the SON as appropriate.
• Engages with the Vice Provosts and Deans of the Graduate and Undergraduate Schools regarding curriculum, students, enrollment, faculty, and student issues as needed to achieve program outcomes.
• Meets as needed as part of the enrollment management team to recruit and retain excellent students with attention to achieving the goals of holistic enrollment to ensure that the SON provides an equitable and inclusive environment for diverse students.
• Monitors student progress, retention, and completion across the programs. Tracks program metrics for graduation success, time to completion, outcomes and diversity.

Accreditation and Licensing

• Reviews, monitors, and evaluates program performance to lead and meet implementation of accreditation standards across accrediting entities and licensing agencies.
• Provides leadership for accreditation, licensing, site visits, self‑studies, and other required documents and activities as needed to meet, implement, and maintain SUNY, COA, CCNE, AACN, NY State Office of Professions standards/requirements and/or other accrediting bodies.
• Provides oversight regarding curriculum evaluation and implementation. Monitors student performance on state/national licensing exams for quality outcomes.

Advising and Student Services

• Provides oversight to the Office of Student Affairs regarding advising and student services for pre‑admitted/admitted students; out‑of‑state and international student recruitment and retention initiatives as appropriate; provides oversight for any issues that impact student success across programs including student progression, grade changes, grievances, double major requests, Academic Integrity, and student athletic team participation.
• Coordinate with the Office of Student Affairs to provide oversight of scholarships and awards to students consistent with SON and university policies.

Faculty Development

• Provides oversight to ensure faculty development for junior/senior faculty to advance in the development of their teaching and classroom performance.
• Work with the Dean and Assistant/Associate Deans and Associate Dean for Research to develop and coordinate faculty mentoring to support faculty in pursuit of promotion in the tenure track and/or clinical ranks to achieve academic scholarship goals consistent with a R1/AAU research intensive program/clinical scholarship to achieve promotion in rank with respect to their faculty appointment.

Evaluation and Assessment

• Provides overall oversight and guidance for annual evaluation of courses, programs, faculty, students and staff to achieve educational and practice/service goals of the SON.
• Works with the ADR regarding faculty assessment for research and scholarship productivity.

Technology, Simulation, and Learning Management System

• Provides oversight for simulation and IPE activities for undergraduate and graduate programs.
• Works with the information technology (IT) team and instructional designer regarding the use of computer and information systems to support operation of educational programs and delivery of the curriculum for in class/online activities regarding the use of software.
• Recommend securing and adaptation of new software, resources, and equipment to support effective delivery of the curriculum and services to advance the strategic goals of the SON.

Practice and Community Partnerships

• Coordinate with the Dean and other academic unit leaders in nursing to facilitate and expand practice opportunities and community partnerships to support the academic, research and practice mission for students and faculty in the SON.
• Engage with practice and community partners to secure clinical placements and maintain academic‑practice partnership relations.

We are particularly looking for candidates who can operate effectively in a diverse community of students and faculty and share our vision of helping all constituents reach their full potential. We are committed to developing an excellent and diverse community of scholars and students engaged in education, research, and service. We encourage applications from women, members of historically marginalized groups, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.