Associate Dean Graduate Programs

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs University of Virginia School of Nursing The Opportunity

The University of Virginia School of Nursing, consistently recognized as one of the top schools in the country, seeks an experienced, mission-driven leader to serve as the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs (ADGP). The School of Nursing exists both as part of the University’s academic core and part of UVA Health. Along with other Associate Deans within the School, the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs serves on the senior leadership team reporting directly to the Dean, who conducts an annual review of the Associate Dean's administrative performance.

This team collaborates with the Dean to create, implement, and evaluate School of Nursing strategic initiatives and to facilitate the School’s teaching, research, practice, and service missions. The position’s primary focus is the direction of the School of Nursing’s graduate programs, which are comprised of Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), direct-entry Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).

As a leader who contributes to a healthy work environment, the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs supports a scholarship intensive environment (in collaboration with the Associate Dean for Nursing Research), promotes faculty development, and advocates for the instructional mission. This position has a 50% administrative role which can be negotiated based on the needs of the school in a given year.

The Associate Dean for Graduate Programs provides strategic and operational leadership for the School of Nursing's graduate academic enterprise, overseeing a diverse portfolio of programs that spans MSN (including the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) degree), DNP, and as well as post-professional certificates. Working collaboratively with fellow associate deans, department chairs, program and specialty leads, and key university and health system partners, the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs ensures graduate offerings remain academically excellent, professionally relevant, and aligned with the School's long-range vision.

The School of Nursing seeks an educator and scholar who can simultaneously steward program quality, cultivate meaningful clinical and academic partnerships, and contribute to the School’s strategic direction.

• Provide leadership for the direction and development of the School's MSN and DNP programs and initiatives, forecasting future trends in graduate nursing education using market analysis principles to ensure innovative educational strategies are implemented.
• In collaboration with senior leadership, foster partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to optimize programmatic efficiencies.
• Cultivate academic partnerships with clinical sites to advance student learning excellence.
• Analyze environmental data, trends, and licensure, certification, and accreditation advances that impact graduate education and practice, disseminate findings to all in a consistent and actionable manner, and identify performance and opportunity gaps related to the teaching mission; develop system-level plans to address such gaps within the MSN and DNP programs.
• Develop and maintain the School’s systematic plan for evaluation of the MSN and DNP programs.
• Operational oversight, data management processes, reporting structures, and timelines established by the Associate Dean for Academic Operations.
• Support review and dissemination of relevant program data, in collaboration with the ADAO team, to faculty teaching in the MSN and DNP programs.
• Serve as a resource and advisor on academic issues for students, faculty, department chairs, program leads, specialty leads, course clinical coordinators, and other university personnel and stakeholders.
• Support regional, Commonwealth of Virginia, and specialty accreditation approvals for MSN and DNP graduate programs by contributing accurate program-specific information for accreditation processes, documentation management, timelines, submission workflows, and operational implementation coordinated by the Associate Dean for Academic Operations.