Oakland University announced a new dean of the School of Nursing. The decision is waiting final approval by the Board of Trustees.

Judy Didion, current dean of the College of Nursing at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio, accepted the position and will officially start at OU on July 25.

Didion was hired after a national search drew a pool of about a dozen candidates, said Jon Margerum-Leys, chair of the search committee and dean of the School of Education and Human Services.

The committee was made up of students, staff and administration from the School of Nursing, and there were about 16 people on the committee. The committee looked for someone who is active in the nursing profession, and has teaching and administrative experience.

Margerum-Leys said all of the candidates were highly qualified, so it was a Skype interview and visit to campus that set Didion apart.

“She really connected well with faculty and staff and students,” he said, adding that a dean is a “middle job.” Deans have to work with everyone from faculty to the president and provost.

Margerum-Leys is confident in the committee’s choice.

“She’ll do great things,” he said.

Didion is a registered nurse in Michigan and Ohio and has work published in peer-reviewed publications.

She met OU School of Nursing faculty members at a nursing conference, and they said people love teaching at OU.

“If faculty feel that way about each other, I think it also trickles down to students,” she said.

Non-competitive environments like the one OU’s faculty described are necessary in healthcare, Didion said. If healthcare professionals treat each other with respect, they will treat their patients with respect.

Didion also likes that OU students have opportunities to get involved in the community.

Once Didion starts, she said she wants to introduce resources at OU to increase diversity in the nursing field. She plans to do this by accommodating the specific needs of different students. For example, she talked about helping international students with both English and healthcare jargon and including them in social activities.

Didion’s first step is to get to know more faculty and students at OU, she said.

She will move to Michigan soon.

“It’s important for me to be close to the college and be accessible,” she said.

She’s looking forward to her time at OU.

“The more I learn about it, the more excited I get,” she said.