Dean Search
The University of North Dakota at Grand Forks welcomes applicants and nominations for the position of Dean of Nursing & Professional Disciplines.
The University of North Dakota (UND) invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines (CNPD). UND seeks a visionary Dean with the highest academic standards who will provide active and engaged leadership, have an unwavering commitment to faculty, staff, and students, and work to enhance the successes and outcomes of the College in key areas of scholarship, education, and practice. The Dean serves as the chief spokesperson and advocate for the College both within and outside of the University and ensures that it continues to serve as a vital resource and component to the institution and the state.
About UND and College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines
Position Summary & Responsibilities
The Dean is the chief executive officer for the College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines (CNPD) and reports to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and coordinates with the Vice President for Health Affairs/Dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences on clinical affairs and programmatic issues. With input from the faculty, the Dean is responsible for academic program development and review; faculty recruitment; development and evaluation of faculty; and student relations. In cooperation with the Provost, the Dean is responsible for academic and administrative planning; budgeting; administration and implementation of department, college, and university policies; fund-raising and external relations.
UND seeks a dynamic and visionary leader who will build upon the College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines’ strengths to provide exceptional professional educational experiences, recruit and develop outstanding faculty, and promote faculty-driven scholarly and creative endeavors. The next Dean will be a committed team player who is devoted to excellence and shared governance. The selected individual will be a consultative decision-maker and will work collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, and administrators. The Dean will have unquestioned integrity and exemplary interpersonal and communication skills.
Preferred Applicant
Education
The Dean supports and oversees the delivery of comprehensive and state-of-the-art educational programs — both undergraduate and graduate — and ensures compliance with accrediting organizations, and promotes the delivery of a curriculum and learning environment designed to produce graduates of the highest caliber.
Talent Development
The Dean assures that key leadership roles within the College are filled by a diverse group of nationally recognized faculty and staff who are mentored and supported to deliver excellent training programs and cutting-edge research.
The Dean should recognize the breadth of health promotion and human services disciplines, actively recruiting and working to motivate and retain top-quality faculty and program leaders so that the College has the talent to carry out strategic plans and grow the visibility and reputation of the programs at a national level.
Research Advancement and Graduate Education
- The Dean supports the pursuit and advancement of world-class research by assisting principal investigators and other faculty in efforts to secure grant funding and creating a culture of active, meaningful research enterprise within the College.
- The Dean supports and encourages not only discipline-specific research, but also interdisciplinary research activities, and builds innovative partnerships among the units of the College and with other units across campus.
- The Dean enhances the College’s graduate programs and makes necessary changes to ensure the ongoing excellence, relevance, and sustainability of graduate programming.
Fiscal Oversight and Compliance
The Dean leads the financing and budgeting processes for the College, taking divergent views on financial decisions into consideration while effectively managing and leveraging allocated resources.
The Dean ensures that applicable policy, procedures, regulations, and laws are followed.
Philanthropy, Government and Alumni Relations
The Dean works with fellow institutional leaders to facilitate advancement programs
and present the College’s case for major financial support to potential donors, advocates
on behalf of the College with the state
legislature and other state agencies and stakeholders, and helps lead alumni relations
engagement programs focused on increasing the depth and diversity of the relationships
within the College and UND.
Other Personal Characteristics Deemed Important
- Commitment to excellence on both a personal and professional level, with the highest level of personal integrity and ethical standards, and be known for compassion, fairness and objectivity;
- Proactive, innovative, creative and visionary, with an ability to apply creative solutions to complex problems and constructively embrace and lead change initiatives;
- Collegial, inclusive, and personally committed to ensuring diversity, both in perspectives and in personnel, with the ability to bring out the best in others and develop a spirit of collaboration within and among stakeholders;
- Facilitator and problem-solver who earns the trust of the community by instilling a sense of “fair play” and placing the goals of the institution ahead of those of any individual, group or department;
- Inspiring, articulate humanist, possessing a deep understanding of and sensitivity to the cultural differences that exist across the basic sciences, public health and clinical training;
- Executive presence with an engaging personal presentation style that encourages consensus-building and cooperation;
- Commitment to create with other health science leaders more collaborative training and joint educational experiences among the health science students to promote more effective and better coordinated care for the patients they will serve at the completion of their training.
Required Qualifications
To be considered for candidacy, the applicant must have an earned doctorate (Ph.D., DNP, or equivalent) in one of the disciplines offered within the college and at least ten years of effective teaching, and progressive leadership and administrative experience(s) within the field represented by the candidate’s discipline.
Preferred Qualifications
Preferred candidates for Dean of the College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines should have one or more of the following attributes:
- A record of achievement that would qualify the candidate for holding a tenured faculty position within the College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines.
- Hold (or be eligible for) a current state license (if appropriate) and should have
at least two years of professional or clinical practice in their discipline. Candidates
from outside of the State of North
Dakota should be willing to pursue North Dakota licensure (if needed and/or appropriate within their discipline). - A record of accomplishment of collaborative research and peer reviewed publications
in their discipline, demonstrated ability to obtain extramural funding for research
and programs, and a
track record of effective faculty and staff mentoring and student engagement. - Significant experience in leading and managing progressive change, and have experience balancing priorities and building consensus within the context of a leading public flagship university or similarly complex leadership environment.
Nominations and Applications
- Applications should include a letter of interest (not more than three pages) specifically addressing the applicant’s background in relationship to the qualifications described and current curriculum vitae.
- Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Applications received by Friday, January 14, 2022 are assured consideration.
- Applications and nominations should be sent electronically (MS Word or PDF Format) to Jeffrey Harris at or Eric Christ.
- Applicants needing reasonable accommodation to participate in this application process should contact Harris Search Associates at 614.798.8500.
Please send applicant materials to Jeffrey Harris or Eric Christ:
Search Committee
The search committee's objective is to conduct a thorough national search for the next dean of the College of Nursing and Professional Disciples and assist with the successful hiring of a top candidate. The UND College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines Dean Search Committee is being assisted by Harris Search Associates.