Vice Dean, Indigenous Health

**Vice Dean, Indigenous Health**:
The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health reports to the Dean and is a member of the leadership team of the College of Medicine (CoM). As an academic and operational leader of the college, the Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health is the senior leader in the College for all matters relating to Indigenous health and Indigenous engagement strategies and as such their work is expected to transcend disciplinary boundaries within the College and beyond and in this capacity, will act as the Dean’s designate, as required. The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health is accountable for positioning the College of Medicine in a place of prominence to achieve its long-term Indigenous strategies. A major responsibility of the Vice-Dean is to influence how medical education incorporates Indigenous knowledge and systems to equip practitioners to provide informed and appropriate medical services to Indigenous communities.

The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health is responsible for building authentic, trust-based, partnerships and collaborations with internal and external Indigenous communities. The incumbent will lead **transformative decolonization** efforts; working to respectfully weave Indigenous concepts, methodologies, pedagogies, languages, and philosophies into the tapestry of learning, research, scholarship, creativity, and community engagement.

The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health will provide visionary leadership to advance teaching pedagogies and research ecosystems to meet Indigenous peoples health needs and address health disparities. They will authentically engage with community and collaborate with senior leaders, faculty, staff, and students of the college and university to co-create an integrated approach to Indigenous health strategies and build alignment with university-wide Indigenous strategy-ohpahotân | oohpaahotan, initiatives and priorities.

The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health will be informed by **ohpahotân | oohpaahotaan - the Indigenous strategy**, the **Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action** as well as the mission, vision, principles, values and strategic plans of both the university and college.

As a leader, this role will have direct supervision over other senior administrative positions to be determined by the Dean. In consultation with the Dean, the Vice-Dean Indigenous Health is responsible for determining the nature and extent of the academic and scholarly activities that are engaged during the term of the appointment.

**Nature of the Work**

The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health works as an integral member of the senior leadership team of the college on strategic academic objectives and leads strategic initiatives to accomplish them. This responsibility includes advising and providing direction to the college on all strategic initiatives linked to the Indigenous Health and Wellness portfolio. The Vice-Dean may be called upon by a wide variety of collaborators to provide guidance, advocacy and support related to emerging opportunities linked to Indigenous engagement, wellness or health. The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health fully participates in the college planning process and is expected to represent the dean on committees, in the community, and with university stakeholders, as well as act as the dean’s delegate when necessary. The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health, participates as a Senior Leader for the college and works collaboratively with the Vice Provost, Indigenous Engagement, other colleges and administrative units to enhance the capacity for authentic engagement on topics related to Indigenous health.

The Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health operates in a demanding, but highly rewarding, academic environment that requires a focus on multiple priorities. The Vice-Dean proactively addresses these challenges in the context of a strong team ethic and collaboration, while balancing competing demands and limited resources. Exercising communication that is empathetic, transparent, and responsive will be of paramount importance. The needs of the position call for the highest levels of competency, integrity, creativity, energy, commitment, and character.

The work is interpersonal, requires a high level of independence and entails constant scanning for issues and challenges while balancing multiple priorities and demands. The work is of high volume and complexity and requires decisions to be made on a wide array of topics.

**Accountabilities**:
The specific outcomes for the Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health include to:

- Complete the establishment of the Department of Indigenous Health and Wellness as an academic department recognized by University Council.
- Grow, facilitate, and sustain an authentic community engagement framework.
- Develop, foster and ingrain the role of the Indigenous Health Advisory Council.
- Position the Indigenous Health and Wellness portfolio to align with internal, local, provincial and national opportunities.
- Foster successful partnerships and relationshi