Director of the new Masters Entry to Professional Nursing Program (MEPN)

Available Title(s):

165-NN_FACULTY - Clinical Associate Professor - Career, 166-NN_FACULTY - Clinical Professor - Career

Business Title:

Director of the new Masters Entry to Professional Nursing Program (MEPN)

Employee Type:

Faculty

Time Type:

Full time

Position Term:

12 Month

Position Details:

Summary of Duties:

The College of Nursing at Washington State University (WSU Spokane Campus) is seeking an innovative and experienced leader to serve as the inaugural Director of the new Masters Entry to Professional Nursing Program (MEPN) with an anticipated launch in Fall 2025 and students admitted in May 2025. 

The MEPN Program Director will strategically develop and manage a program that will be tailor made for students holding university degrees in other fields who want to become registered nurses.  The first exciting deadline for this important role is to ensure the curriculum is developed by May/June 2024.

The successful candidate will report to the Chair of Advanced Practice and Community Based Care Department and will make great use of their leadership, academic and administrative knowledge, skills, and abilities to strategically lead the program, as well as support the ongoing development of faculty with their integration of teaching/learning technology. 

We look forward to applications for this exceptional opportunity to make a significant difference by working collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students at all of the College of Nursing campuses and have an immense impact on the field of nursing and availability of quality nursing care in the communities across Washington State and beyond. 

The Director of MEPN is a career-track faculty position with a full time 12-month administrative appointment.  Rank will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. 

The goal is for this position to begin on or before March 1, 2024, but the start date is negotiable.   This position is expected to be located in Spokane, but working from another  WSU College of Nursing campus may be negotiable (Yakima, Tri-Cities, Vancouver).

This position has been reposted with an updated salary.

Responsibilities include:

• Develops the initial MEPN program with an anticipated launch date of Fall 2025.
• Oversees curriculum and integration of teaching technology, as well as development and support of student recruitment plans.
• Oversees the MEPN program on all WSU College of Nursing campuses, including curriculum design to meet the new MEPN essentials, implementation, and evaluation (coordinated with the Director of Curriculum and Evaluation), and evaluation of practice experiences.
• Partners with the Chair of Advanced Practice and Community Based Care Department and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in maintaining program accreditation, and regulatory standards; student admission, progression, retention, and graduation.
• Partners with the Chair of Advanced Practice and Community Based Care Department to ensure faculty recruitment, retention, and preparation meets programmatic needs.
• Facilitates communication and partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Partners with the Chair and Associate Dean to ensure accreditation requirements are met. 
• Monitors trends in MEPN education and practice and provides leadership for MEPN program expansion.
• Monitors and promotes continuous quality improvement.
• Develops long- and short-term student admission and retention strategies in collaboration with the Center for Student Excellence.
• Works with the administrative team in promoting state-wide and national recognition for the MEPN program.
• Communicates programmatic needs with the Chair of Advanced Practice and Community Based Care Department
• Serves as the thought leader for the college as it pertains to the development, design, coordination, and implementation of the curriculum for the MEPN program.  
• Fosters a positive and inclusive academic environment for learners and faculty alike. Additionally, the incumbent helps to assure comparability of educational experiences and equivalency of learner assessment across campuses.
• Collaborates with college leadership to ensure specialty integration across the continuum of nursing education, clinical practice, and scholarship. 
• Collaborates with stakeholders to create clinical education experiences where such experiences will add significant value to learning and competency.

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or Master’s Entry to Professional Nursing (MEPN) degree and either a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) or PhD in nursing degree.
• Candidates must be eligible to be appointed at the rank of Clinical Associate or Clinical Full Professor. (This position will not be considered for tenure track or tenured rank.)
  • Eligibility for a(n) (Clinical) Associate Professor is met by at least six (6) years of experience as a(n) (Clinical) Assistant Professor or equivalent. Applicants are also required to demonstrate a national reputation in their field of expertise.
  • Eligibility for a Full Professor is met by at least six (6) years of experience as a(n) (Clinical) Associate Professor or equivalent. Applicants are also required to demonstrate an international reputation in their field of expertise.
• Candidates must be eligible to hold an unencumbered RN license in Washington.
• A minimum of five years’ experience in progressive academic leadership and exhibited strength in both scholarship and teaching.
• Demonstrated experience in developing new and innovative approaches in nursing education.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with industry partners and alumni to benefit teaching, scholarship, and outreach programs.
• Experience with accreditation and reporting requirements of MEPN programs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and the support of students from diverse populations and backgrounds.
• Demonstrated experience integrating interprofessional education activities/opportunities into MEPN curriculum. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Digital education experience, including the use of multiple digital or technology-supported teaching/learning platforms and mechanisms.
• Leading MEPN programs at a Research-intensive, health sciences center
• Leading MEPN programs that have embedded research and clinical scholarship opportunities.
• Knowledge of Washington State Board of Nursing (BON) standards for RN professional education and practice in the state of Washington.
• Willingness to travel to WSU Campuses with Nursing education (Tri-Cities, Yakima, Vancouver)

Additional Information:

Area/College: College of Nursing
City, State, Zip: Spokane, WA 99202
Department Link: https://nursing.wsu.edu/

This position has been reposted with an updated salary range.

Annual Salary:

Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. The annual salary include a 9-month faculty salary and a stipend for the administrative duties (ADR) of the Director role.

Associate Professor:  $102,625.05 + $25,000 (ADR) = $127,625.05 annual

Full Professor:  $131,000.00 + $25,000 (ADR) = $156,000.00 annual

*Please note that all faculty positions with administrative roles are fixed term and renewable as outlined in the Faculty Manual.

In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the above salary reflects the full salary range for this position. Individual placement within the range is based on the candidate’s current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position or as mandated by a U.S. Department of Labor prevailing wage determination.

WSU offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes paid sick and vacation leave; paid holidays; medical, dental, life and disability insurance package for employees and dependents; retirement; deferred compensation and optional supplemental retirement accounts.
For a more detailed summary of benefits offered by WSU for Faculty visit: https://hrs.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024-Benefit-Overview-for-Faculty-and-AP.pdf  

Find total compensation information here: https://hrs.wsu.edu/managers/recruitment-toolkit/total-compensation/ .

Overtime Eligibility: Ineligible
FTE: 1.0

Tenure-Track: No

This is a full-time, career-track faculty position with a 12-month administrative appointment.

Screening Dates: The screening of applications begins January 2, 2024. For full consideration, applications must be received by Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

The goal is for this position to begin on or before March 1, 2024, but the start date is negotiable.  

Background Check: This position has been designated by the department to require a background check because it requires access to children or vulnerable adults as defined by RCW 74.34, engages in law enforcement, requires security clearance, interacts with WSU students in a counseling or advising capacity, has access to personal identifying and/or financial information, unsupervised access to university buildings/property, or other business-related need. A background check will not be completed until an initial determination of qualification for employment has been made.

Application Instructions:

External candidates, please upload all documents in the “Resume/CV” section of your application.  

Internal candidates, please upload all documents in the “Resume/Cover Letter” section of your application.

Documents may be submitted in one file or separate files. Applicants are encouraged to upload as a PDF if possible. Application materials should clearly communicate how the applicant meets all required qualifications and additional requirements. Applicants will be requested to provide contact information for professional references within the online application.

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Applicants must upload the following documents to their online application. 

• Curriculum Vitae (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• Contact information for three (3) professional references (required)
• Statement of commitment/contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion (required) (Guidelines: https://hrs.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Guidelines-for-Contributions-to-Equity-Diversity-and-Inclusion-Statements-1.pdf )

The Washington State University system has a mission to “embrace a worldview that values diversity and cultural differences and recognizes the importance of global interdependence and sustainability.” The ultimate goal is to “create an institutional culture in which diversity is the norm.”

One of the ways the WSU College of Nursing enacts its commitment to equity-mindedness is by   promoting best practices for faculty recruitment. These include broadening the candidate pool, agreeing on criteria to judge all applicants before the search begins, guarding against biases in decision making, and treating all candidates respectfully and equally.

WSU recruits, hires, trains, promotes, and compensates persons in all job titles without regard to  race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion, age, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, physical, mental or sensory disability, marital status, genetic information, and/or status as a veteran. However, search committees can consider past or proposed contributions to equity, diversity and inclusion as part of the overall review process.

We therefore require candidates to submit a statement describing their past contributions to equity,  diversity and inclusion and future plans for continuing this effort as part of their application for a faculty position. The purpose of the statement is to identify candidates who have professional skills, experience, and/or willingness to engage in activities that would enhance campus equity, diversity and inclusion efforts.

Your Contributions to Equity and Diversity Statement should discuss your activities and experience as well as your future plans to advance equity, diversity and inclusion, in alignment with WSU College of Nursing’s mission, through your research, teaching, and/or service. Provide examples from your own experience, which might include (but are not limited to) activities such as any of the following:

• Mentoring. • Teaching and Curriculum or Professional Activities. • Committee, task force, or board service • Research, scholarship or creative activity • Other (such as recruitment, outreach, retention, community-based work)

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EDUCATOR AND EMPLOYER. Members of ethnic minorities, women, special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam-era, recently separated veterans, and other protected veteran, persons of disability and/or persons age 40 and over are encouraged to apply.

WSU employs only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized non-U.S. citizens. All new employees must show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

WSU is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact Human Resource Services: 509-335-4521 (v), Washington State TDD Relay Service: Voice Callers: 1-800-833-6384; TDD Callers: 1-800-833-6388, 509-335-1259(f), or [email protected] .