Final Report of the Consultative Committee for the Selection of a Dean of the School of Nursing |
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September 16, 2014, Volume 61, No. 05 |
The Consultative Committee for the Selection of a Dean of the School of Nursing was convened by President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price on September 3, 2013. During its four months of work, the full Committee met on 11 occasions and formally reported its recommendations to the President and the Provost on December 12, 2013. The Committee members were:
Chair
Rebecca Bushnell, School of Arts & Sciences Board of Overseers Professor of English (SAS)
Faculty
Linda H. Aiken, Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing and Professor of Sociology (Nursing/SAS)
Christopher Lance Coleman, Fagin Term Associate Professor of Nursing and Multi-Cultural Diversity and Associate Professor of Nursing in Psychiatry (Nursing/PSOM)
Chyke Doubeni, Presidential Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health (PSOM)
Sarah Barringer Gordon, Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History (Law/SAS)
Lisa M. Lewis, Associate Professor of Nursing (Nursing)
Ann L. O’Sullivan, Nu’70, GNu’72, GR’84, Dr. Hildagarde Reynolds Endowed Term Professor of Primary Care Nursing (Nursing)
Barbara J. Riegel, Professor of Nursing and Edith Clemmer Steinbright Chair of Gerontology (Nursing)
Students
Sarah Abboud, PhD Student (Nursing)
Kendall L. Smith, Nu’14 (Nursing)
Ex-officio
Joann Mitchell, Vice President for Institutional Affairs
Alumni and Overseer Representatives
Ellen Hershey Kapito, Nu’79 and Member of the School of Nursing Board of Overseers
Dean C. Kehler, W’79 and Chair of the School of Nursing Board of Overseers
Consultants to the Committee
Stephanie Fidel, Isaacson, Miller
Denise Gaffney, Isaacson, Miller
Amy Segal, Isaacson, Miller
Philip Jaeger, Isaacson, Miller
Staff to the Committee
Leah Popowich, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President
Adam Michaels, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President
The Consultative Committee and its consultants conducted informational interviews and consultative meetings with individuals and groups throughout the Penn Nursing community, as well as with contacts at other institutions, and reviewed a variety of documents about the School, in order to better understand the scope, expectations and challenges of the Dean’s position and the opportunities facing the School of Nursing in the years ahead. These consultative activities included meetings with Dean Afaf Meleis; the Vice Provost for Education; the Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the University for the Health System; the chief nursing executive of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; and the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and former Senior Vice Provost for Research. In the School of Nursing, they included the faculty, students, associated faculty, staff, Board of Overseers, research center directors, department chairs, associate deans and the chief executive officer of the LIFE program, the Vice Dean of Administration and Finance, the Assistant Dean for Global Health Affairs, the Vice Dean for Development and the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Cultural Affairs.
Based upon these conversations and background materials, the Committee’s conversation with the President and the Provost and its own deliberations, a comprehensive document was prepared outlining the scope of the position, the challenges the School will face over the next decade and the qualities sought in a new Dean. The vacancy was announced (and input invited from the entire Penn community) in Almanac and advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Minority Nurse, National Black Nurses Association, Eastern Nursing Research Society, Midwest Nursing Research Society, Southern Nursing Research Society, American Academy of Nursing, The National League for Nursing, Higheredjobs.com, Diverse Issues, Latinos in Higher Education, Women in Higher Education, Nurse.com, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Inc., Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. and Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society.
The Consultative Committee solicited advice and nominations from all faculty, staff, students and alumni of the School of Nursing and from the national and global nursing communities. The Committee was greatly aided in this work by Stephanie Fidel, Denise Gaffney, Amy Segal and Philip Jaeger of the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, whose outreach included conversations with deans, associate deans, department chairs, center directors and other faculty at nursing schools in the US and around the world, as well as with leaders from national organizations such as the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), the National League of Nursing (NLN) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). They pursued prospects and potential sources working inside and outside of the academy and put forth considerable effort to identify and recruit diverse candidates.
The Consultative Committee identified and considered 24 highly-qualified individuals, drawn from an initial pool of some 513 prospects, sources, applicants and nominees. Among these, the Committee sought a strategic leader with an uncompromising commitment to academic excellence, an experienced administrator, an able and energetic fundraiser, a collaborator with a global and interdisciplinary outlook, a demonstrated strong commitment to diversity in all its forms and a special passion for Penn’s School of Nursing and the preeminent role that it plays in international nursing education, research and policy. The Committee recommended five individuals to the President and the Provost for further consideration.
On February 27, 2014, President Gutmann announced (Almanac March 4, 2014) her selection of Antonia Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Nola J. Pender Collegiate Chair and Associate Dean for Research and Global Affairs at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, as the next Dean of the School of Nursing, effective July 1, 2014. A Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Villarruel is an eminent interdisciplinary researcher and a collaborative academic leader who possesses a clear vision of nursing education in the 21st century and a strong commitment to academic excellence and diversity. As an alumna of Penn Nursing (GNu’82), a former faculty member (1995-2000) and a collaborator and co-author with several Penn faculty, Toni has deep ties to Penn’s School of Nursing and a unique understanding of the core values, traditions and aspirations of the School of Nursing and the University. She will be a superb partner with Penn Nursing’s faculty, clinicians, staff, students and President Gutmann and Provost Price in leading Penn Nursing in the years ahead and advancing the goals of the Penn Compact 2020.
—Rebecca Bushnell,
School of Arts & Sciences Board of Overseers Professor of English
and Chair of the Consultative Committee for the
Selection of a Dean of the School of Nursing
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