"Associate Dean, Student Affairs - Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine"

Business Title

Associate Dean, Student Affairs - Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

Position Summary

The Associate Dean for Student Affairs provides strategic leadership and oversight of comprehensive student support services for a diverse medical student body of 1,000+ learners across three campuses. The Associate Dean is responsible for fostering academic success, well-being, and professional development. The role partners with faculty and administrators to ensure a cohesive, inclusive, and student-centered educational experience throughout the medical school journey.

Position Responsibilities

Collaboration & Institutional Leadership

• Provide executive-level collaboration with Admissions, Academic Affairs, Clinical Education, and campus leaders to shape priorities and institutional direction for Student Affairs.
• Serve on medical school leadership councils and state and national committees, representing and advancing the college's mission, vision, values, and accomplishments while cultivating strong internal and external partnerships in medical education and student affairs.
• Function as a senior leader of the Heritage College, advising college and university leadership on student related strategies, emerging trends, risk, and outcomes to inform decision-making and organizational alignment.

Leadership & Operational Oversight

• Lead and develop a high-performing team, setting clear goals, providing mentorship, and fostering a culture of accountability and collaboration.
• Oversee operations and resources, managing budgets, delegating responsibilities, and ensuring alignment with organizational strategy.
• Ensure processes are in place to support operational continuity under all circumstances.
• Drive team performance and growth, conducting evaluations, implementing development plans, and building succession pipelines for sustained leadership.

Medical Student Support & Advocacy

• Provide executive leadership and accountability for medical student advocacy, ensuring institutional policies, practices, and resources support academic success, well-being, professional development, and career readiness.
• Direct and oversee the management of complex and high-risk student matters, guiding Student Affairs leadership and staff in decision-making related to academic progression, professionalism, and personal challenges.
• Ensure the strategic alignment, availability, and effectiveness of comprehensive student support services and referral networks across all campuses.

Academic Progress & Advancement

• Oversee monitoring of medical student academic performance, professionalism, and progression.
• Manage processes related to remediation, leaves of absence, academic probation, and reentry.
• Collaborate with academic leadership to develop and implement initiatives that support medical student success and retention.

Wellness & Well-Being

• Provide executive oversight of systems monitoring medical student academic performance, professionalism, and progression across all campuses.
• Lead and govern institutional processes for remediation, academic status actions, leaves of absence, and reentry, ensuring consistency, fairness, and compliance.
• Partner with academic leadership to design, implement, and evaluate strategic initiatives that advance student success, persistence, and retention.

Medical Student Professionalism & Conduct

• Provide executive oversight of professionalism standards, conduct policies, and disciplinary frameworks to ensure alignment with institutional values and accreditation expectations.
• Lead the institutional response to student concerns related to mistreatment, grievances, and professionalism violations, ensuring a timely, equitable, and defensible resolution.
• Ensure disciplinary and conduct processes are fair, consistent, transparent, and legally sound across all campuses.

Career Advising & Professional Development

• Provide strategic leadership for medical student career exploration, specialty advising, and residency preparation across the educational continuum.
• Oversee and evaluate advising infrastructures, mentoring programs, and professional development initiatives to ensure effectiveness and equity.
• Partner with Clinical Education and Graduate Medical Education leadership to align advising, assessment, and career readiness outcomes.
• Advise and support faculty on best practices for learner engagement, professional boundaries, and the management of student concerns.

Student Engagement & Community Building

• Set strategic direction for medical student leadership development, organizations, and co-curricular programming.
• Advance institutional initiatives that foster student engagement, belonging, and community across Heritage College's three-campus model.
• Provide executive oversight and support for medical student government and leadership development within a distributed campus environment.

Policy, Compliance & Accreditation

• Ensure institutional compliance with accreditation standards (e.g., COCA) related to student services, wellness, professionalism, and the learning environment.
• Lead the development, implementation, and periodic review of student-related policies and procedures.
• Direct preparation of institutional documentation, data, and narratives for accreditation reviews and internal audits.

Crisis Response & Case Management

• Provide executive leadership in the response to student crises, including mental health emergencies, critical incidents, and high-risk situations.
• Convene and coordinate multidisciplinary response and support teams to ensure timely, appropriate interventions.
• Serve as a senior institutional resource for complex student cases, facilitating resolution among students, faculty, and administrators.

Data, Assessment & Continuous Improvement

• Provide strategic oversight of data collection and analysis related to student outcomes, engagement, satisfaction, and persistence.
• Oversee departmental processes and data management practices to ensure that all student-related contact and activities are tracked in a system that allows for operational continuity and data analytics (such as SalesForce or E-medley)
• Lead needs assessments, program evaluations, and analysis of student feedback to inform data-driven decision-making aligned with institutional priorities.
• Monitor national trends and best practices in medical student affairs, translating insights into continuous improvement of student services, policies, and programming.

Position Profile

Duties/essential functions may include, but not be limited to, the following:
Implements strategies, systems, and processes to support the academic and career outcomes of students in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (HCOM). Provides frontline academic advising and support to graduate medical students. Develops and implements programs to enhance students' academic success in the medical program. Drives engagement and empowers students to achieve their academic goals. Builds relationships with students. Provides guidance on programs, procedures, and academic requirements specific to HCOM.

Level Summary

Responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of complex functional areas or multiple departments. Formulates policies, strategies, and systems that enhance the University's position in the competitive marketplace. Leads large, complex teams, possibly managing multiple layers of managers. Contributes to shaping the long-term strategic vision of the University, ensuring alignment with overarching goals.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Manages entire business units or divisions. Directly oversees at least 2.0 FTE employees or one or more supervisors. Has authority to hire, transfer, suspend, promote, manage performance, discharge, assign duties, reward, and discipline employees.

Fiscal Responsibilities

Oversees multi-million dollar budgets, manages budget for a major business or academic unit.

Problem Solving

Solves highly complex, University-wide problems with long-term consequences.

Independence of Action

Full autonomy in decision-making, accountable for business outcomes.

Communication and Collaboration

Leads communication with board members, partners, and internal/external stakeholders. Responsible for successful implementation of organizational goals.

Physical Requirements

This role is primarily desk-based and involves extensive use of desktop computers. Occasionally, the job may require travel to attend meetings and programs.

Minimum Qualifications

Requires a Master's degree in a related field, 15 or more years of related professional experience, and 9 or more years of supervisory experience, or equivalent education and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Strong preference will be given to candidates who meet the following qualifications:

• D.O., M.D., Ed.D. or Ph.D. in Higher Education, Administration, Counseling, Business, or related field
• Knowledge of osteopathic medicine/medical education
• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in medical education, student affairs, or academic administration.
• Demonstrated senior-level leadership experience supporting medical students across the continuum of academic progress, professionalism, wellness, and career development.
• Proven expertise in managing complex, high-risk student issues, including academic progression, professionalism, conduct, and crisis response.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and collaborating effectively with academic, clinical, and administrative leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, interpret, and implement institutional policies and procedures related to student affairs and academic governance.
• Strong record of executive communication, including advising senior leadership, presenting to committees, and representing the institution internally and externally.
• Experience leading student affairs across multiple campuses or within a distributed medical education model.
• Prior experience serving in an associate dean, assistant dean, or comparable senior academic leadership role.
• Knowledge of medical school accreditation standards (e.g., COCA), student services requirements, and learning environment expectations. Demonstrated success in accreditation preparation, site visits, and ongoing compliance management.
• Experience with data-driven assessment, program evaluation, and continuous quality improvement in student affairs.
• National or regional leadership involvement in medical education or student affairs organizations.
• Experience advising faculty on learner engagement, professionalism, and remediation practices.

Pay Rate

The approved hiring range for this position is $95,101 to $128,385. Offers outside of this range require additional approvals. The final offer will be commensurate with the candidate's education and experience in relation to the minimum qualifications for the position. Pay is accompanied by Ohio University's generous benefits package, which includes: Free tuition for employees and dependents Comprehensive insurance coverage, including health, prescription, vision, dental, orthodontia, and life insurance An excellent retirement plan with up to a 14% employer contribution Wellness programs, on-site wellness facilities, and a robust employee assistance program Paid parental leave, adoption reimbursement, and more Additional information is available at: https://www.ohio.edu/hr/benefits/

Work Schedule

Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Some after hours, weekend, and holiday work may be required. Flexplace and flextime arrangements may be available.

Campus

Athens