-: I am Vicki Pierce and I am dean
of Anderson College of Nursing
at the University of North Alabama.
The dean of college is really responsible
for the day-to-day administration
and operations of the college.
Personnel and hiring of faculty is a major part of that.
Managing budgets that are distributed to the college
from the university are also a major component of that.
In nursing, it's also very important
that the dean oversees the accreditation process.
Currently, even in the college of nursing,
we're in the process of building a new building.
So I am heavily responsible for
that part of the college as well.
But yes, a typical day for me is going
to be attending a wide variety
of meetings at various levels
with university administration, faculty,
sometimes students and parents,
vendors, that would come into the area,
whether that's a book salesman
or office equipment salesman, software.
So that's another important part.
I also work with fundraising and fundraising events
for the university and for the college.
Write a lot of reports, analyze budgets,
read materials, stay current in what other colleges
of nursing are offering their students
and how that might be incorporated into our programs
and how we can advance our programs,
staying current in the way nursing,
as a profession, is going,
what job markets are, just trying to make sure
that we offer our students the very best possible programs.
Nurses today are required to have,
to do more than just give a bed bath and give medication.
They are usually the person
who has the most contact with patients.
They need to be able to understand
and when do they need to notify a physician.
When does a patient need additional assistance
other than what they're currently getting?
That takes a different level of decision making ability.
As a administrator, I feel it's important
for us to make sure that the current,
the best teaching technologies are being incorporated
and that's one of the ways I would do that.