Department Head – Biobehavioral Health Science
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing
General Description:
The Department Head as chief executive officer for the department is expected to recruit and mobilize
accomplished faculty to set the departmental strategic directions and activities that complement and
contribute to the strategic directions of our research-intensive College. For the cadre of faculty appointed
into the Department, s/he will create a generative environment for advancing scholarship productivity
(teaching/learning, research/discovery, practice/service) and assure that faculty have balanced
responsibilities suited to their rank and scholarship expertise and goals and the tools or resources needed
for innovative productivity. S/he will collaborate with the other department heads to assure that the
College curricula are expediently operational, advocate for and seek resources (time, money, space)
within and outside the College to advance strategic directions, make outcomes visible, and collaborate
with others on the College administrative team and beyond to manage and grow resources. This is a
part-time administrative position combined with faculty research scholarship for a person eligible for late
mid to senior faculty rank.
Organizational Relationship:
Administratively, the Department Head will be facilitated by and accountable to the Dean and will be a
member of the administrative leadership team (deans, department and unit heads).
General Activities and Responsibilities:
College:
• Facilitate the execution and evolvement of innovative nursing science curricula across the
College degree programs, clinical and translational research discoveries and practice/service
opportunities, especially related to faculty expertise in acute and long term chronic care of adults,
particularly for older adults.
• Assure that the interface between students, staff, alumni and faculty is synergistic.
• Facilitate the attainment of extramural research funding across clusters of investigators in
collaboration with the Associate Dean of Research.
• Seek and advocate for resource allocation to and manage the departmental resources.
• Initiate and collaborate in recruiting research- and clinical practice-intensive faculty.
• Conduct faculty and staff recruitment, screening, appointment, orientation, evaluation, promotion
and other aspects of career development for the Department.
University and Campus:
• Act as liaison to campus groups related to the business practices of the campus.
• Facilitate and communicate departmental decisions regarding faculty or staff performance,
including appointments and promotions for faculty or staff, activities analyses, merit reviews,
award nominations and peer, student or class evaluations.
External Community:
• Develop and market department-centric programs and outcomes.
• Connect with community leaders and agencies for learning, research and practice/service
initiatives.
Qualifications: A doctoral degree with extensive teaching/learning experience and a recognized
program of extramurally funded and published research, administrative leadership experience in
academia favored.
Salary Range: to be commensurate with qualifications and experience
Please submit letter of intent and curriculum vitae electronically to: jshaver@uic.edu
Joan L. Shaver, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Dean
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
College of Nursing M/C 802
845 S. Damen Ave.
Chicago, IL 60612-7350
(312) 996-7808 lesinski@uic.edu (Executive Assistant)
UIC COLLEGE OF NURSING
UIC is a comprehensive public urban research university (with 25 thousand students in 15 colleges), we
offer a world-class nursing education (with over 325 undergraduate and 600 masters and doctoral
students earning BSN, MS(N), PhD, or DNP degrees). Serving much of the state with four regional
campuses (Urbana, Peoria, Rockford and Quad Cities) we provide top-flight educational access for
students and nurses - right in their own communities. The College is ranked 3rd by the National Institutes
of Health for extramural awards to nursing schools (FY 2006). Through the College Institute for
Healthcare Innovation, we are testing novel models of direct care and extending our expertise to interface
with practice partner organizations. Our Great Cities commitment is enacted through extensive
community outreach. We ignited our global focus on nursing and health in 1986, when we became the
first U. S. World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing.
BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
The Biobehaviroal Health Science (BHS) Department (http://www.uic.edu/nursing/about/bhs.shtml) is
focused on both basic science and clinical approaches to health problems experienced by adults. The
research and practice areas for medical-surgical nursing faculty include a variety of settings such as
hospital units, ambulatory care departments, long-term care facilities, homes and communities. Faculty
members provide leadership and teach in the PhD, BSN and pre-licensure portion of the second-degree
Graduate Entry Programs. The advanced practice specialty contributions to the MS and DNP programs
include: nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist options in Acute Care, Adult, Adult/Geriatrics, and
Geriatrics and an Optional Advanced Practice Palliative Care Nurse Certificate Program.
The BHS Department has 34 FTE-professorial ranked faculty (regular, clinical and research) of whom
more than a dozen have federal research funding, 16 FTE (30 clinical instructors), 5 state-funded staff
and multiple research staff. A budget is appropriated to the department as are earned monies from
research (both direct and indirect) and practice. The MSN Department Head acts as administrative
coach/consultant to the Director of the Regional Program in Urbana.
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