Associate Dean of Health Equity

Associate Dean of Health Equity

The UAMS College of Medicine (COM) seeks nominations of and applications from highly qualified faculty for the position of Associate Dean for Health Equity, at the rank of associate professor/professor. Successful candidates must possess at least two years of related experience with progressive responsibility in health equity, diversity and inclusion work in academia, healthcare, private sector or government.

The Associate Dean will provide leadership for the COM to integrate efforts to improve health outcomes for traditionally underserved populations, including as defined by race or ethnicity, age, education, disability, gender, geographical location, income, and sexual orientation.  As a faculty position, the incumbent will be expected to lead and contribute to scholarly works surrounding health equity. The Associate Dean will also serve as the Chief Diversity Officer for the COM and hold responsibility for developing and implementing a comprehensive equity approach in collaboration with administrators, faculty, staff and students.

Role & Responsibilities:

• Assume a leadership role for building and fostering health equity efforts and research in the COM as defined by the UAMS community of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners; serve as a crucial link between the UAMS Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the COM departments/institutes.  It is expected that the Associate Dean will work closely with the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the leadership of the Division of for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to ensure implementation of their initiatives across the COM.
• Lead the implementation of initiatives to allow the COM to reach the goals of the Vision 2029 strategic plan, with evaluation metrics for equity work across the College. 
• Provide consultation to facilitate equitable recruitment and retention of a diverse student body, residency programs, faculty, and staff by providing effective strategies for identifying diverse candidates and addressing bias in screening and selection processes; oversee unconscious bias training for all search, selection and admission committees; develop mentoring programs to support retention of faculty, staff and students from diverse backgrounds. 
• Serve as advisor and resource for faculty, staff and residents via facilitation, education and coaching. 
• Recommend and co-sponsor educational experiences that foster faculty and learner education in health equity, implicit bias, anti-racism, and multi-cultural instruction. 
• Assess the College’s culture impacting various stakeholders in order to move the school’s health equity agenda forward. 
• Promote awareness of health issues related to unequal treatment and social determinants of health in Arkansas with internal and external partners.
• Engage in partnership with internal and external leaders to identify external grant support and fundraising strategies to support and advance health equity initiatives; provide leadership to developing research teams to address health equity priorities.
• Serve as a link with the Arkansas Department of Health, the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, as well as other community and governmental stakeholders, and the UAMS COM to inform faculty, staff and learners of the available resources.

Candidate Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have the following professional qualifications and personal characteristics:

• MD/DO and/or PhD
• Knowledge of contemporary issues of inclusion, anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice, diversity, access, and equity, including the current scholarship and pedagogical approaches that inform and address these issues. 
• Track record of scholarly work as a health equity investigator.
• Actively demonstrate strong communication skills that preserve confidentiality and foster open and inclusive communication among all stakeholder groups and varying levels of these groups. 
• Effectively builds partnerships and influences stakeholders and decision-making at all levels of a complex, academic institution, and can pivot to deal with the nuances of audiences and constituent groups. 
• Demonstrate strong strategic planning and administrative skills to execute plans; demonstrated ability to set priorities, analyze data and think systematically from both a detailed and a strategic perspective. 
• Experience with problem solving and conflict resolution, including restorative justice approaches; ability to build consensus and trust.

Applications and nominations should be submitted to jtunno@uams.edu, Julian Tunno, Manager of Executive and Faculty Recruiter, with UAMS Executive Search Group.

Applicants may contact Julian Tunno for further information at 501-686-2590 or via e-mail at jtunno@uams.edu

Written nominations, inquiries, and applications (including emails) may be subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

UAMS is an inclusive Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and is committed to excellence.

Associate Dean of Health Equity