Saint Xavier University is currently searching for a new dean for the School of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Amy Fry, Interim Associate Dean from the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and Associate professor, and Kathy Rohan, Director of the Center for Nursing Innovation are co-chairs of the committee searching for the new dean.
Other committee members include representation from key stakeholders including students, staff, faculty, and university departments. These members include Brad Leshinske, Mariam Alfano, Julia Wiester, Erik Christensen, Molly Maley-Gaik, and Eileen Rohan.
Qualities that the committee is looking for in a new dean are “strong leadership, innovative in looking for new programs and program development, good organizational skills, and someone that could build partnerships in the community” according to Fry and Rohan.
Rohan states, “They [potential candiates] have to be eligible for tenure track.”
Fry continues, “This means that they have to have the highest degree in their profession. They have to fit in the health sciences category, as well as have leadership experience in academia.”
“They also have to have previous experience with financial responsibility and management of people,” Rohan adds.
Responsibilities the new dean will have include: oversight of is the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, the Health Center, community outreach, finance, and budgeting.
“The committee is here to find candidates and provide input to the provost and help coordinate the whole process,” says Rohan.
“The provost takes everyone’s input into consideration before making a decision and is very collaborative in his approach,” adds Fry.
Ricardo Rodriguez, a nursing student at the School of Nursing and Health Sciences school says, “With the dean retiring, I feel that there has been a change, but not a change big enough to alter my learning experience at school. I am sure that the nursing school has reached out to students, but seeing that we have started the hardest semester of our lives, the news was not received properly.”
Another nursing student, Taylor Lattimore, says, “I remember getting emails about the selection of a new dean, however, I do not remember them asking for my opinions for the search of a new dean. The dean retiring has not affected my experience, but I wish the new dean would make herself more known throughout the program.
The School of Nursing and Health Sciences includes nursing, communication speech sciences, exercise sciences and sports fitness administration, and gerontology.
“Kathy brings a unique perspective because the department that she oversees is also housed in the school of nursing and health sciences,” Fry adds.
“The Health Center is here to serve students, faculty, and staff, and we are also open to the community. We also have family practitioner students who do a clinical rotation as well so it is also a learning site,” Rohan continues.
The new dean will be in charge of the department that Kathy currently oversees so it is important to have Kathy on the committee, and have her perspective on what qualities, and experiences a new dean should have.
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