Associate Dean, School of Nursing
Excelsior University | St. Petersburg, Florida
Build Something From the Ground Up
Excelsior University is expanding its long-established nursing education presence into St. Petersburg, Florida, and is seeking an Associate Dean for the School of Nursing to serve as the senior academic and operational nursing leader for its new Florida location.
This is a unique opportunity to join an established university and School of Nursing while helping build and shape Excelsior’s nursing presence in Florida from its earliest stages.
Excelsior brings an established nursing curriculum and decades of nursing education experience to St. Petersburg. The incoming Associate Dean will have the opportunity to build the faculty, clinical partnerships, simulation and skills-lab operations, student-support systems, regulatory processes, and culture that will support the University’s continued growth in Florida.
The position reports directly to Diane Pytlik-Flammia, Dean of Nursing, and will serve as the Program Director of Record for the State of Florida and Excelsior’s principal nursing contact with the Florida Commission for Independent Education (CIE), Florida Board of Nursing, and other applicable regulators and accreditors. Associate Dean School of Nursin…
About Excelsior University
Excelsior University is a private, nonprofit institution with more than 50 years of experience serving adult and nontraditional learners.
Founded in 1971 and institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Excelsior has built a national reputation for providing accessible, career-focused education to working adults. The University has more than 200,000 alumni and offers programs across nursing, health sciences, business, technology, liberal arts, and other career-focused disciplines.
Nursing has long been an important part of Excelsior’s academic identity. The St. Petersburg expansion brings that experience and established nursing curriculum into a growing Florida market.
Why St. Petersburg, and Why Now?
Excelsior’s St. Petersburg location represents an important expansion of the University’s nursing education model into Florida.
This is not a nursing curriculum being created from scratch. Excelsior is bringing its established nursing education experience and curriculum to Florida while building the local faculty, clinical partnerships, simulation resources, student support, and campus infrastructure necessary to support the program and its future growth.
The St. Petersburg prelicensure BSN program operates through the applicable New York State, Florida Commission for Independent Education (CIE), and Florida Board of Nursing approval and regulatory structures. Excelsior plans to pursue ACEN accreditation for the Florida program in 2027.
The first St. Petersburg cohort is intentionally small, with approximately 10 students currently completing foundational coursework before beginning nursing courses in January 2027.
For the right nursing academic leader, the timing is exceptional: the University, nursing curriculum, and institutional resources are established, while the Florida operation is still early enough for this individual to have a genuine voice in what it becomes.
And then there is St. Petersburg itself. Located on Florida’s Gulf Coast and within the larger Tampa Bay healthcare market, the area offers access to major health systems, a growing population, year-round outdoor living, beaches, arts, restaurants, professional sports, and everything else that keeps Northeasterners questioning their January life choices.
Relocation assistance is available.
The Opportunity
As Excelsior’s senior nursing leader in Florida, the Associate Dean will:
- Provide academic, operational, regulatory, and strategic leadership for the St. Petersburg nursing operation.
- Lead the prelicensure BSN program and help shape Excelsior’s strategy for future nursing programs in Florida.
- Recruit, develop, and lead nursing faculty while building a collaborative, accountable, student-centered culture.
- Oversee nursing classrooms, skills laboratories, simulation resources, clinical education, staffing, scheduling, and student-support capacity.
- Build and strengthen relationships with hospitals, health systems, community agencies, long-term-care organizations, and other clinical partners.
- Serve as Program Director of Record and lead Florida regulatory submissions, reporting, site-visit preparation, compliance, corrective actions, and continuous improvement.
- Partner directly with the Dean and University leadership on enrollment growth, clinical capacity, workforce alignment, strategic partnerships, and future program expansion.
- Help prepare the Florida nursing operation for its planned pursuit of ACEN accreditation. Associate Dean School of Nursin…
Excelsior specifically envisions growth beyond today’s program. The Associate Dean will work with the Dean and University leadership to develop the Florida nursing growth strategy, including evaluating additional prelicensure and graduate nursing opportunities. Associate Dean School of Nursin…
What Excelsior Is Looking For
Candidates should bring:
- An earned doctorate.
- Progressive academic leadership experience in nursing or health sciences.
- Experience involving nursing academic quality, faculty leadership, student success, program outcomes, accreditation, state authorization, regulatory compliance, reporting, and continuous improvement.
- Demonstrated success leading teams, solving complex academic and operational problems, and driving measurable results.
- Strong relationship-building and communication skills with academic, clinical, regulatory, administrative, and community partners.
- A graduate degree in nursing and eligibility for Florida nursing education leadership requirements are preferred.
- Experience with scholarship, grant development, program innovation, or external funding is also preferred. Associate Dean School of Nursin…
This is a full-time, benefits-eligible position based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Associate Dean is expected to be on site at least four days per week, with limited remote flexibility, and occasional travel is required.
Why This Role Is Different
This is an opportunity to have both institutional backing and entrepreneurial impact.
The Associate Dean will not simply inherit a mature operation and maintain it. This individual will become the senior nursing leader for Excelsior in Florida, help lead a new location through its formative years, develop the faculty and clinical infrastructure around it, prepare for future accreditation milestones, and help determine what Excelsior’s nursing presence in Florida becomes next.
For an accomplished nursing academic leader who has wanted the opportunity to build something rather than simply manage something, this is worth a conversation.
Confidential Inquiries
Ed-Exec, Inc. has been retained by Excelsior University to conduct this search.
Qualified candidates and individuals interested in learning more about the opportunity are encouraged to contact:
Vincent Scaramuzzo, President
Ed-Exec, Inc.
vincent@ed-exec.com
All inquiries will be handled confidentially.