Academic Career & Executive Search is pleased to assist Florida Southern College in its search for Dean of the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Florida Southern College seeks a talented and visionary leader to serve as Dean of the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences.  The current Dean will retire at the end of the 2022 – 2023 academic year, leaving the next Dean with the opportunity to build on the strong reputation, success, and momentum of the School’s programs in nursing and exercise science.  With the support of exceptional faculty and staff within the School and the overall College community, the next Dean will provide creative and strategic leadership that continues the School’s upward trajectory and moves it to even greater levels of excellence.  

The Dean is the chief academic and administrative officer of the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. The Dean provides operational, fiscal, and strategic oversight to the School and is responsible for developing and maintaining the highest standards for academic excellence and accomplishment. The Dean reports to the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs and is in charge of all School programs, personnel, facilities, and funds in accordance with Florida Southern College’s policies and procedures. The Dean serves as the spokesperson for the School to external partners and is the direct supervisor of the School staff and faculty.

Responsibilities

• Establish a long-term vision for the School consistent with the College’s mission and strategic priorities.
• Oversee all programs and operations of the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences.
• Provide periodic reports and maintain positive relationships with local, state and national nursing organizations.
• Advise the Provost on College-wide academic issues and coordinate activities with other Deans.
• Strengthen and build connections and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Analyze and respond to emerging global, national, and regional trends in healthcare and higher education.
• Foster an exceptional student experience.
• Nurture an organizational culture that promotes shared governance, embraces diversity, and fosters a reflective posture of continuous quality improvement.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with all state regulations and program accreditation requirements.
• Recruit, retain, support and mentor faculty who will continue the School’s progress.
• Develop and manage the School budget while ensuring good fiscal responsibility within the College.

The ideal candidate will have strong leadership and administrative skills, excellent communication skills, the ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders and the demonstrated ability to facilitate student-faculty collaborative service and scholarship. The candidate must have demonstrated a commitment to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty and student body and to shared faculty governance.

Qualifications 

• An earned doctorate (Ph.D.) from an accredited institution
• A Master’s degree in nursing, if the Ph.D. is not in nursing
• Eligibility for Florida nursing licensure
• A distinguished record of accomplishment in teaching, scholarship, and service commensurate with appointment as a tenured member of the faculty
• Prior experience in academic leadership
• Experience in curricular innovation and evaluation
• Entrepreneurial spirit, strategic thinker with a bias toward action
• A thorough understanding of the CCNE and other accreditation processes
• Proven skills in managing financial resources, personnel, and negotiating contracts and agreements
• An excellent and active listener who is consistent, reflective, and self-aware
• Excellent data-informed decision-making skills
• Strong internal and external relationship-building skills
• Comfortable being visible in the community and at the state level
• Highly collaborative and dedicated to faculty development, teaching, and scholarship

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in the state. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning, and boasts 30 NCAA Division II National Championships. Florida Southern is ranked at #8 among the “Best Regional Universities in the South” by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 “Best Colleges” guide and is included in The Princeton Review’s 2022 Best 387 Colleges guide and the “Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022.” The 2021-2022 Colleges of Distinction guidebook praises Florida Southern’s AACSB accredited Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise alongside the College’s School of Education and its Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Poets&Quants, U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, and The Princeton Review further laud the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise and the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences as foremost programs in the nation for business and nursing education. Home to the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, FSC has appeared on The Princeton Review’s top 20 “Most Beautiful Campus” national listing for 12 consecutive years. Connect with Florida Southern College.

The College's health and wellness plans along with generous paid time-off benefits are in addition to rewarding employee benefits such as the tuition grant and 403(b) plan.  
 
The employee tuition grant is a remarkable benefit that covers the cost of 100% of the College's tuition for dependent children of faculty and staff who have been employed with the college fulltime for one year. Employees can also take advantage of the benefit for themselves.  
 
The Defined Contribution Retirement Plan is a 403(b) plan in which the college automatically contributes 7% of the eligible employee's earnings into a retirement fund whether the employee chooses to participate or not.  The account has a comprehensive investment portfolio and allows the employee to control their investment choices.  At 6 years of service, the employer contribution amount is elevated to 10%.  Employees can choose to participate through pre-tax payroll deductions when ready!
 
Florida Southern College is committed to diversity and inclusion in hiring, campus life, and intellectual engagement and welcomes applications from all interested candidates.  The college actively seeks a wide variety of candidates and enthusiastically looks to diversify our workforce.
 
Florida Southern College has a strong commitment to the principles of equal employment opportunity. The college recruits, hires, trains, transfers, promotes and compensates individuals and makes all personnel decisions without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, marital status, veteran status, or physical or mental disability unrelated to an individual’s ability to perform the job, in accordance with applicable law.
 

About the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences 
The School’s mission is preparing health professionals to provide quality care for diverse populations.  The School’s enrollment has steadily increased over the past 10 years, with more than 500 students currently enrolled across all its programs.  The Ann Blanton Edwards School offers programs in nursing and exercise science.  

The Florida Southern College nursing program is committed to educational excellence, providing opportunities that integrate caring, cultural competence and ethics into nursing practice, and fostering personal and professional growth for the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral level nursing student. A strong emphasis is placed on engaged learning, student-faculty collaboration, and service to the community.  There are currently more than 370 students enrolled in nursing programs, which include a direct-entry BSN program, a MSN program with four tracks (nurse educator, family nurse practitioner, adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner, and nursing administrative leadership), and a post-master’s DNP program.  There are also post-master’s certificate and post-baccalaureate certificate programs offered.  The nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), with all programs in good standing.

Nursing is housed in two buildings on campus.  The 13,600 square foot Blanton Nursing Building was built in 2009 and expanded twice to meet the needs of a growing major.  In 2021, a second building was acquired and opened after renovation in 2022 to host the graduate nursing programs.  In both facilities, students enhance their clinical skills in simulation and skills laboratories.  Both facilities are high-tech including wireless classrooms, technologically-advanced nursing skills labs, faculty offices, and student and faculty lounges.

The exercise science program is housed in Edge Hall, with both classroom space and a large, newly configured lab outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment for research and teaching.  This program has an enrollment of more than 150 majors and serves a number of minors as well.  This growing program submitted an application for accreditation to the Council on Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning Education (CASCE) in the fall of 2022.


Living in the Area

The city of Lakeland, Florida is surrounded by gentle rolling hills and 13 freshwater lakes with a population of 115,425. It is enjoying an economic boom as many companies are taking advantage of Lakeland’s central location and low cost of living to establish centers and offices at the heart of Florida. Lakeland is located 35 miles southeast of Tampa, and 49 miles southwest of Orlando. The city has a slogan that epitomizes its central location in the State of Florida, “Close to everything, next to perfect.”

Lakeland is home to multiple public golf courses, city parks and state parks, and the area is also home to several museums, including the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College and the Florida Air Museum. There is a vibrant downtown with many restaurants and small-business innovator settings. Some of the world’s most outstanding beaches are within an hour’s drive.  And come spring, residents can watch the Detroit Tigers prep for the upcoming baseball season at Joker Marchant Stadium.

To Apply 

Please do not email applications. 

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and should include a cover letter and curriculum vita. Ideally cover letters should not exceed two pages. All applications are treated confidentially.

Inquiries, referrals, and nominations are treated confidentially:

Inquiries and questions: Please send to FSCDean@acesrch.com 
Nominations and referrals: Please send to nominations@acesrch.com 

Florida Southern College is committed to diversity and inclusion in hiring, campus life, and intellectual engagement and welcomes applications from all interested candidates.  The college actively seeks a wide variety of candidates and enthusiastically looks to diversify our workforce.

Florida Southern College has a strong commitment to the principles of equal employment opportunity. The college recruits, hires, trains, transfers, promotes and compensates individuals and makes all personnel decisions without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, marital status, veteran status, or physical or mental disability unrelated to an individual’s ability to perform the job, in accordance with applicable law.