Department Head, Health Policy and Administration
About the role
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POSITION SPECIFICS
Job Description
The Department of Health Policy and Administration (HPA), located in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD) at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), University Park, invites applications for the position of Department Head.
About the Department
The Department of Health Policy and Administration (HPA) in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development is a nationally recognized academic unit focused on improving health care delivery, health outcomes, public health, and health policy through excellence in teaching, research, and outreach. The department prepares future health care leaders, administrators, researchers, and policymakers through a multidisciplinary curriculum that integrates health services management, health policy, economics, public health, and health services research. HPA offers more than 400 undergraduate and graduate students a comprehensive portfolio of academic programs, including the residential and online Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Administration, the residential and online Master of Health Administration (M.H.A.) programs, and graduate programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Health Policy and Administration. In Fall 2026, the department added an undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Public Health to the curriculum. Through collaboration with health care organizations, government agencies, and community partners, HPA advances innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing health systems today, including health care access, quality, cost, population health, and workforce development.
The department is home to 13 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and 18 teaching and research faculty members who contribute to a vibrant culture of scholarship, student mentorship, and professional engagement. Faculty expertise spans health services research, health economics, health policy, population health, health care management, organizational leadership, and rural health. Academic leadership within the department includes oversight of undergraduate education, graduate education, online learning initiatives, research activities, and extensive community and professional partnerships. The department is supported by a team of staff members and includes a robust network of adjunct faculty, preceptors, alumni, and health system partners who contribute to its educational and professional mission. The Department Head serves as the chief academic and administrative officer for the department, providing strategic leadership for faculty, staff, students, academic programs, research initiatives, and external engagement activities across both residential and online educational environments.
The Department Head oversees an active research portfolio in the department, including NIH, state, and foundation grants. Department faculty also collaborate with the College’s three research centers and with Penn State’s multidisciplinary research institutes, including the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), the Penn State Cancer Institute, and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).
The department provides administrative oversight for the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH), whose director reports directly to the Department Head. As Pennsylvania's designated state office of rural health, PORH is recognized nationally for its leadership in advancing rural health through research, education, technical assistance, workforce development, policy initiatives, and community partnerships. Collaborating with health care providers, public agencies, and community organizations throughout the Commonwealth, PORH extends the department's impact well beyond the University and exemplifies Penn State's land-grant mission of service and outreach.
The Department Head also provides oversight for Penn State's emerging undergraduate public health initiative, which includes the new undergraduate degree in public health and reflects the University's commitment to addressing evolving population health challenges and workforce needs, and offers substantial opportunity for collaboration with the Department of Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine and the Demography program in the College of Liberal Arts, including through a dual doctoral degree option. Together, the department's academic programs, research enterprise, online education portfolio, outreach organizations, and public health initiatives create a dynamic and collaborative environment that serves students, communities, health care organizations, and policymakers across Pennsylvania and beyond. The successful candidate will lead a department with a strong tradition of academic excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration, student success, impactful research, and meaningful engagement with the health systems and communities it serves.
About the College
HPA is one of eight academic units in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD), which focuses on providing interdisciplinary programs sharing a common goal of enriching the lives of others. We continually examine contemporary issues facing people in today’s changing times and develop cutting-edge solutions for addressing them.
The College of HHD is home to approximately 4,200 undergraduates and 350 graduate students at the University Park (UP) campus. HHD also serves nearly 1,000 additional students through Penn State’s nationally recognized online World Campus and collaborates on educational programming with several of Penn State’s other physical campus locations throughout the Commonwealth. With annual extramural funding in the $70-$80 million range, HHD is one of the most research-active colleges at UP. The college is home to three multidisciplinary research centers, including the Child Health Research Center, the Center for Healthy Aging, and the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center. These centers support a vibrant research climate within HHD, facilitate cross-department collaboration, and house several interdisciplinary T31/32 training grants.
Under the College leadership of Dean Craig Newschaffer, the college has outlined an innovative vision and strategic plan that emphasizes creating an environment to support student success while in college and beyond and growing the impact of the college’s research scholarship. The Head of the Department of Health Policy and Administration, as a member of the college’s leadership team, plays a critical role in the realization of the college’s strategic vision and goals and ensuring that the Department of HPA efforts align with and support these goals.
Primary Job Responsibilities
Reporting to the Dean of the College, the Head of Health Policy and Administration provides strategic leadership for the department's academic, research, operational, and outreach missions. The Department Head is responsible for visioning and strategic planning; oversight of academic and research programs; management of departmental operations, finances, faculty, and staff affairs; cultivation of external partnerships; and fundraising in support of the department's priorities and aspirations. The Head is expected to further strengthen a cohesive and multidisciplinary department that leverages the strengths of its diverse programs, advances diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and supports innovation and creativity across educational, research, and outreach activities. Additionally, the Head is responsible for recruiting, developing, and retaining outstanding faculty and staff, advocating for the department, enhancing its visibility and reputation, and promoting a culture that values well-being and work-life balance.
As a key academic leader within the College and University, the Department Head is expected to advance the strategic priorities of both institutions by fostering research productivity, teaching excellence, interdisciplinary scholarship, and external engagement. The Head will encourage and support faculty in securing external funding, expanding collaborative research initiatives, and translating scholarship into meaningful impact for health systems, communities, and policymakers.
The successful candidate will have administrative responsibility for all operational, fiscal, and procedural matters within the department, including oversight of fundraising and development activities. The Head will also be encouraged to maintain an active program of scholarship and mentor graduate student research. In addition, the position requires identifying and advancing new opportunities in undergraduate, graduate, and online education. The new Head will cultivate an environment in which innovation, creativity, and collaboration thrive, while fostering a positive and inclusive culture that inspires confidence and trust among students, faculty, and staff through strong interpersonal skills and a compassionate, community-oriented leadership style.
Qualifications
Candidates must possess an earned doctorate, evidence of an active and focused program of research in health services research, health administration/management, population health or a related field, and previous teaching experience. The successful candidate must also possess the scholarly credentials necessary to merit appointment with tenure at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor in the College of Health and Human Development.
Candidates should possess the vision, energy, and leadership ability to advance and grow this nationally and internationally recognized department, promoting excellence across the teaching, research, outreach, and service missions of a comprehensive, land-grant, and research-intensive university. The next Department Head must be a collaborative, transparent, and inclusive leader with strong strategic thinking skills and an innovative spirit to advance the department's vision and goals.
Successful candidates will demonstrate:
- Experience with undergraduate and graduate education programs, including significant exposure to degree programs in health policy and administration and public health.
- Experience and aptitude for building relationships and partnerships with key constituencies both within and beyond the University, including faculty colleagues, Penn State Health, other health systems, organizations engaged in public health practice, community partners, and alumni.
- Commitment to fostering a positive organizational culture that emphasizes inclusivity, transparency, collaboration, and engagement among faculty, staff, and students.
- Recognition of the importance of both undergraduate and graduate education and a willingness to support innovation and continuous improvement across educational programs and delivery modalities.
- An established record of scholarly excellence and success in developing, sustaining, and managing a robust, externally visible research program.
- Demonstrated administrative and leadership experience in an academic, research, outreach, or similarly complex organizational setting, including responsibility for strategic planning, personnel management, budgeting, program development, and resource stewardship.
- The ability to articulate and advance a compelling vision for the department's future that leverages its strengths across research, education, outreach, partnerships, and emerging opportunities.
- Strong interpersonal, communication, and consensus-building skills, with a demonstrated ability to build support among diverse stakeholders and enhance the department's visibility, reputation, and external partnerships.
- Experience working effectively within a large, complex university environment is desirable; experience with performance-based budgeting or similar resource-allocation models is preferred but not required.
Please direct nominations and inquiries to the Search Committee Chair, Dennis Shea, via e-mail at [email protected]. To receive full consideration, candidates should submit the following by November 15th, 2026, for priority review:
- A cover letter (up to 3 pages) detailing the applicant’s interest in the position. Please highlight relevant experiences in leadership positions, a leadership vision, and a description of personal leadership style and values, including how they resonate with Penn State Values. Please also describe your vision for teaching and scholarship and your approach to integrating the teaching, research and service priorities of the department.
- Curriculum vitae.
- Names and contact information for 5 individuals willing to serve as references (to be contacted only prior to invitations for on-campus interviews).
About Penn State
Penn State is a public, land-grant, research-intensive university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate, professional, and continuing education offered through resident instruction and online delivery. Annual enrollment at its 24 physical campuses totals more than 100,000 graduate and undergraduate students, making it one of the largest universities in the United States. As an R1 research institution, Penn State’s annual research expenditure exceeds $1 billion. This rich university environment offers unparalleled opportunities for cross-disciplinary partnerships in education, community outreach, and research. Of particular note is Penn State’s unique approach to university-level research institutes. Penn State’s well-resourced university-designated research institutes (https://www.psu.edu/research/interdisciplinary-institutes/) are not siloed “closed shops,” but entities that exist principally to strategically disseminate funding that fosters cross-college, transdisciplinary research collaborations and makes needed shared resources widely available. This approach has led to Penn State being recognized as standing out for effective promotion of team research collaboration. HHD maintains robust partnerships with nearly all of these institutes.
Penn State’s University Park campus is located in the town of State College in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Employment at Penn State at University Park will allow you to live amid the beauty of the central Pennsylvania outdoors while enjoying all the culture, sports, and entertainment that a large university community can bring. More information on the area and all of its amenities can be found here: http://www.visitpennstate.org.
Our campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora), Lenape (Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe, Stockbridge-Munsee), Monongahela, Shawnee (Absentee, Eastern, and Oklahoma), Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe (Osage) Nations. As a land grant institution, we acknowledge and honor the traditional caretakers of these lands and strive to understand and model their responsible stewardship. We also acknowledge the long history of these lands and our place in that history.
Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with university policies.
BACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES
Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. Due to the financial and fiduciary responsibilities of this position, successful completion of a credit history check will be required in addition to standard background checks.
BENEFITS
Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional wellbeing. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans. One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children.
For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page. (Note: For Postdoctoral benefits, please see our Postdoctoral Benefits page.)
CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS
Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here.
EEO IS THE LAW
Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.