CON Associate Dean for Research

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UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
COLLEGE OF NURSING
Associate Dean for Research Position Description Subsection: 3.2.4
Section 3.0 - Position Descriptions Originating Date: September 1986
Responsible Reviewing Agency:
Executive Council
Revised: February 2008
Revised: January 2015 (changes)
Revised: August 2018 (changes)
Revised: March 2025 (changes)


General Position Description

The Associate Dean for Research (ADR) is the senior research leadership position in the College of Nursing and represents the College on the Medical Center Campus and within the University in matters pertaining to research. This individual has the responsibility of research growth and development, evaluation of faculty research, administration of the Niedfelt Nursing Research Center (NNRC), public and professional relations with respect to research, and teaching as assigned. This individual provides leadership for the research enterprise by facilitating interdisciplinary research and scholarship among the faculty. This individual will work with research faculty to provide mentorship that will facilitate new revenue streams through federal grants, training grants, corporate gifts, foundations and other funding resources to enhance the UNMC CON research portfolio. This individual participates in the tripartite faculty role of teaching, research and service.

FTE Allocations for the Associate Dean Role

Administration

Organizational Relationships

The ADR collaborates with the Dean, the College’s other leaders, faculty, and inter-professional colleagues in accomplishing the College’s research mission and moving the College toward its strategic and long range goals. The individual reports to the Dean and serves at the Dean’s request. The ADR is the College’s liaison with the UNMC Vice Chancellor for Research, and serves on University research committees and in inter-professional research and academic initiatives.

The ADR collaborates with other members of the Executive Council and works closely with the Nursing Research Committee and PhD Affairs Council. The ADR works closely with the Associate Dean for Academic Programs, the Associate Dean for Transformational Practice and Partnerships, Assistant Dean of Research, and the Assistant Dean of Finance & Operations to creatively design, implement, and evaluate programs that integrate and support the College’s tripartite missions.

Responsibilities of the Position

  • Provides vision and leadership for the research mission of the College.
  • Serve as facilitator of research development for faculty of the College of Nursing.
  • Works collaboratively with Division Deans in this process.
  • Provides consultation, information, and assistance to individual faculty in all stages of the research process from idea generation to implementation of the project to writing the final report.
  • Implements and assists others (e.g., research investigators and research committees) in implementation and evaluation of formal offerings designed for faculty research development.
  • Serves as a role model in this position.
  • Expected to maintain a research program which has funding and results in scholarly publications and national presentations.
  • Recommends budgets and other resources for meeting the research mission of the College.
  • Provides input as appropriate to Division Assistant Deans and Associate Deans on faculty evaluations.
  • Represents the Dean at designated meetings and, as needed, at regional, national, and international professional associations.

Administrator of Research Center

The Associate Dean for Research is responsible for the general administration of the NNRC, which includes managing the budget and coordinating and setting priorities for the work of all staff. S/he has responsibility for recruiting, retaining and evaluating NNRC staff. In addition, the Associate Dean for Research seeks new and more efficient ways to facilitate faculty research productivity e.g., scheduling research grant application reviews; providing information to faculty about opportunities for funding. As delegated by the Dean, s/he is responsible for review of grants and approval of budgets of research grant proposals submitted for external funding. S/he is responsible for approval of budgets for all other non-research proposals (e.g., training grants) submitted for external funding. S/he, in coordination with the Director of Administration & Operations, facilitates research space assignment. S/he is responsible for expansion of infrastructure to support research efforts, data management and analytic processing.

Public and Professional Relations

  • The ADR represents the College’s research to the local and global community through participating in nursing research organizations and other groups related to nursing research.
  • Interfaces with and promotes support for CON research within the UNMC Office of Research.
  • Communicates research activities within the College and the Medical Center through various media as appropriate.

Appointment Requirements

  • Doctorally prepared researcher with documented skill in research, including research projects that have received major funding.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, an ability to guide others in their research, and have scholarly publications in refereed research journals.
  • Demonstrates professional leadership activity in professional organizations and must meet guidelines for Graduate Faculty status.
  • Academic rank is dependent upon qualifications. Terms of employment are in keeping with University of Nebraska policy.
  • Qualifications commensurate with appointment as Associate or Full Professor