Pamela Slaven-Lee, the School of Nursing senior associate dean for academic affairs, will serve as the new interim dean for the school following Pamela Jeffries’ departure this summer.

Slaven-Lee, who also is a clinical associate professor, will begin her role as interim dean July 1, officials announced in a release Thursday. Slaven-Lee has served as the senior associate dean for academic affairs since 2019, helping maintain the quality of academic programs and develop new degree programs in the nursing school.

“I’m deeply appreciative of the leadership that Dean Jeffries has provided and the remarkable success that we have achieved during her tenure,” Slaven-Lee said in the release. “I’m honored by the opportunity to serve the students, faculty and staff at the School of Nursing in the continued pursuit of our mission and aspiration to achieve preeminence in nursing education.”

Slaven-Lee said last month it had been a “privilege” to participate in the growth of the nursing school, which recently ascended into U.S. News and World Report’s top 25 graduate schools for nursing. The school needs to continue building on its past progress in order to maintain its excellence, she wrote in a March email.

“I think for the school of nursing to maintain or improve its ranking, we need to stay the course and continue to invest in our students, faculty and staff,” she said in the email. “We have been focusing on all the right things: putting students first, admitting diverse cohorts of students, recruiting and retaining the highest caliber faculty and staff, demonstrating teaching excellence, being purposeful in the development of curriculum and pedagogy and maintaining a focus on research and community engagement.”

Slaven-Lee previously served as the dean of the Master of Science in Nursing program as well as the chair of the nursing school’s academic and student affairs committee.

In the announcement, officials said Slaven-Lee has been committed to “enhancing program standards” to create a better academic environment for nursing school students.

“She has been a key player in the school’s recent growth and success,” Provost Brian Blake said in the release. “I am delighted that she will join the senior leadership team as a passionate advocate for our nursing students, faculty and staff.”

Slaven-Lee has been active in the transition to the online environment, instituting a “Quality Matters” training mandatory for all faculty who taught virtually. She also designed the school’s Master Plan of Evaluation, which helps regularly assess and evaluate the improvement of the academic programs in the school.

Outside of her contributions to the nursing school, Slaven-Lee serves as a fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.