The University of Kentucky is seeking a visionary leader to serve as Dean of the College of Nursing. As the chief academic officer of the College, the Dean of Nursing reports directly to the Provost of the University and is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the College of Nursing. Working with faculty, staff, students, donors, alumni, and college leaders, the Dean will actively oversee and lead the College’s academic, research, human resources, and clinical activities.
The Dean will work to advance clinical, research, and educational programs of the College while promoting initiatives and activities with internal and external constituencies and serving as a senior leader within the University of Kentucky.
The new Dean must come to the role ready to lead and inspire the University of Kentucky’s College of Nursing’s exceptional community of scholars and learners. The successful candidate will bring outstanding qualifications of scholarly contributions, success in foundational administrative roles, a visionary approach, and enthusiasm for broad collaboration to develop and deliver educational, research, and clinical programs and initiatives of the highest quality congruent with the College of Nursing goals.
The Dean, in collaboration with others, will further advance the College of Nursing’s vision, visibility, and reputation, by building upon existing successes while identifying new opportunities for accomplishment.
▪ Identifies and enlists key influencers to act as change agents, involving them in designing and delivering change;
▪ Communicates and creates action around new norms as they evolve within the College; and
▪ Adapts change plans/influence strategies to the organization’s political realities and constraints
The Dean will create, inspire, and sustain a cohesive and high-performance team culture, demonstrating an open, accessible, and transparent leadership and communication style, building upon previous successes, and positioning the College for continued achievement.
▪ Delegates authority and accountability to the team to deliver on a strategic objective; holds faculty, staff, and students with equal accountabilty to College standards;
▪ Passes leadership responsibilities down through the organization, ensuring alignment with the overall strategy and direction;
▪ Sets up forums or practices to reinforce independent and open communication among faculty, staff, and students; actively seeks and accepts feedback, both positive and negative, and seeks to understand its basis;
▪ Gives the team broader visibility inside the organization, including publicly recognizing its accomplishments; and
▪ Offers team members to other parts of the organization (e.g. UK HealthCare) where they can be most useful
The Dean will establish credibility as a well-respected, high-impact leader able to break down barriers and build relationships across programs, centers, and constituencies within a complex environment of higher education, research, and service.
▪ Builds partnerships across the University of Kentucky to address organization-wide challenges or opportunities;
▪ Creates an environment of shared values where collaboration is expected at all levels; and
▪ Systematically builds support at multiple levels and across groups to achieve alignment, acknowledging differences in interests
The executive search firm of SpencerStuart has been selected to recruit for this position. To be considered, you must complete the UK application and contact SpencerStuart through:
Kathryn S. Sugerman: 310-443-3525 / mailto:ksugerman@spencerstuart.comksugerman@spencerstuart.com
Mark I. Furman: 617-531-5701 / mailto:mfurman@spencerstuart.commfurman@spencerstuart.com
Shannon Yeatman: 215-814-1634 / mailto:syeatman@spencerstuart.comsyeatman@spencerstuart.com
Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
The University of Kentucky considers the health, safety and well-being of our entire community to be a top priority. In alignment with this priority, all new hires must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or obtain an approved medical or religious exemption as a condition of employment. For areas that fall under the federal CMS mandate, start of employment cannot occur until two weeks after receiving the full COVID-19 vaccination series or upon obtaining an approved exemption. Only vaccines approved by the World Health Organization can be accepted.
