Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

The dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences assumes leadership of a new college, inspiring a new vision, solidarity, and the pursuit of a future-facing curriculum with a strong liberal arts foundation. The dean serves over an expanded portfolio, serving the departments of Art/Art History, Business, Drama, Economics, English, History, Interdisciplinary and Global Programs, Literature and Languages, Music, Mass Communication, Sociology & Anthropology, Political Science, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies as well as oversight of the following programs: Africana Studies, Education, Humanities.

The dean will provide transformative leadership for the new college in the face of existing circumstances within and outside the university that render "the way we've always done it" unsustainable. The dean must value differences within the college and inclusively incorporate every voice in decision-making and demonstrate a commitment to collaboration with diverse campus partners.

The dean will value the extraordinary relationships faculty and staff maintain with students and will be committed to supporting this engagement that characterizes the undergraduate educational experience at UNC Asheville.

The dean will need to actively promote the relevance of the college, demonstrating the intrinsic value of individual disciplines, while pursuing interdisciplinarity and cross-disciplinary alliances in strategic ways that balance the desire for creativity within the boundaries of available financial resources. The dean will ensure ongoing quality and continuous improvement in the inventory

of academic programs by advancing assessment and academic portfolio review efforts and strategies. The dean will play an integral role in soliciting input from faculty and department chairs about developing new and improved academic programs; however, the dean will also need to be keenly aware of external stakeholders, regional relevance, and larger higher education trends. This includes providing recommendations to the provost regarding the allocation of financial resources, the awarding of new faculty lines, and providing leadership and professional development opportunities to foster the growth in our faculty, to grow enrollment, and to have maximum impact upon our region.

The dean will be a representative and enthusiastic spokesperson for the college and university that extends into the larger community and beyond. Within the college, the dean will provide leadership, mentorship to department chairs, faculty, staff and students. The dean will foster an environment of integrity and united purpose. The dean will ensure the continued engagement of faculty with students, the university, and the larger community. Encouraging participation in the first-year experience, the senior year seminar, core curriculum, undergraduate research, and experiential learning will be important. A leader who can inspire, motivate and empower engagement and productivity without relying solely on monetary incentives will be prioritized.

The dean will need to transform a previous organizational structure of separate divisions under a new and dynamic college. The university is embarking on a campus-wide dialogue surrounding four exciting strategic objectives, identified by Chancellor Kimberly vanNoort as:

* A Technology Integrated Curriculum

* Career and Leadership Development

* Future-Facing Academic Programs

* Student Success and the Student Experience

In addition to ensuring alignment with the chancellor's strategic priorities, the dean will align all actions, decisions, and strategic plans to the vision, core values, and competencies of the division of academic affairs. The priorities of the office of the provost include:

1) Results-based accountability: establishing clear responsibilities, setting expectations for performance, measuring results accurately, and incorporating feedback.

2) Commitment to excellence in all that we do. While staying true to our liberal arts and sciences heritage, foster the courage to do things better, faster, and smarter than we have done in the past. We seek to promote lifelong learning among faculty to stay abreast of not

only their disciplinary knowledge, but also the evolving best practices in pedagogy, research practices, instructional modalities, and cultivating a sense of belonging in

students, faculty, and staff in a post-pandemic world.

3) Data-informed, strategic decision making: Leveraging data and the university strategic plan to see the actions of Academic Affairs as set within the larger ecosystem of the university and community and prioritize goals and resource allocation to align with these imperatives. Have a future-facing orientation and be poised to have a campus-wide impact leveraging the diverse talents of the college in all actions and initiatives.

4) Commitment to student success and career readiness. Resolving to remove barriers that exist in academic policies or procedures that inhibit a seamless educational experience. This involves ensuring the highest-quality curriculum and teaching effectiveness in all modalities and for all learners. We will also embed career readiness and durable skills throughout the curriculum, from the first-year experience through the senior year seminar. The dean will help to create a culture of student success and career readiness that is as much a part of our ethos as is the liberal arts and experiential education.

5) Innovation and relevance: Academic Affairs will lead

the institution by implementing an applied liberal arts and sciences focus those results in career-ready graduates who can tackle contemporary challenges in an ever-changing world,

with solutions that require adaptability and the application of multiple perspectives. This will be accomplished through project-based learning, community partnerships,

experiential learning, interdisciplinarity, and the cultivation of career-ready outcomes in all degree programs. Academic Affairs will also need to expand the capacity of education

programming beyond our traditional students to include increased online offerings, graduate programs, and

educational opportunities that are not a traditional four-year

degree (certificates, badges, micro-credentials).

Minimum Education/Experience/Skills: This position requires a PhD or terminal degree from an accredited institution. The successful candidate should hold tenure from an accredited institution at the associate professor or higher. Five to seven years of higher education experience, with prior leadership and/or supervisor experience. This is a 12-month position with no teaching or research expectations. The successful candidate will have faculty status with a right of return to the faculty. The initial appointment will be for three years, with the possibility to extend after a 360-review and negotiation with the provost. This position serves at the discretion of the provost which may render terms shorter or longer than three years.

Preferred Education/Experience/Skills: At least three years of higher education administrative experience. Strong preference for a candidate who hold holds tenure in a discipline of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: The dean will exhibit the following qualities and experiences. A candidate who does not already possess these traits must demonstrate a commitment and capacity to grow into these characteristics over time:
* High academic standards that support excellence in teaching, research, and service.
* Demonstrated commitment to student success, including knowledge of high-impact practices, enrollment and retention strategies, and a willingness to infuse the curriculum with career readiness considerations.
* An action-oriented focus on solutions that drive results.
* An inspirational, empowering and approachable style that builds relationships with faculty, staff, and students. A team player who is collaborative, interpersonally skilled, inclusive, and committed to bringing others along with them.
* A leader with a track record of effective cross-campus collaboration.
* Demonstrated ability to gain cooperation and support from faculty and other individuals when initiating new policies, procedures, or programs.
* Experience working in a shared governance context.
* An advocate for educational opportunity and access for all, including non-traditional, online, and hybrid students, and those not seeking a 4-year degree.
* A commitment to set and meet high expectations for self and others with complete accountability.
* Demonstrated ability to foster excellence in research, especially mentoring of students and incorporation of students into faculty research agendas.
* Demonstrated ability to foster excellence in teaching, especially service learning, experiential education, and online learning.
* Knowledge of grant-writing and the administration of grant-funded budgets.
* Experience in fiscal stewardship of complex budgets with special attention to pursuing our status as an "emerging research institution".
* A capacity for fundraising to establish new partnerships, increase the visibility of existing, create new fiscal revenue sources, and expand the current inventory of endowed professorships.
* Superb organizational skills with excellent execution of plans and priorities.
* A strategic thinker who maintains awareness of higher education trends, including learning technologies.
* Familiarity with policies, processes of SACSCOC, discipline-specific accreditation, UNCA, and the UNC System.
* The highest standards of integrity, ethics, and transparency.
* Confidence, humility, and an attitude that welcomes challenge and feedback.

Responsibilities and Duties: In alignment with the priorities of academic affairs, outlined above, the dean will be expected to develop concrete and measurable plans that address the following expectations. These expectations will form the basis for their yearly goal-setting and evaluation by the provost.

1] Strategic visioning and planning. The dean will lead strategic planning initiatives that align the college with the vision of academic affairs and the larger university. Through transformative leadership, the dean will work collaboratively and inclusively to create, convey, and drive a new and united vision for the college. They will infuse energy and motivate the team to contribute to a set of common objectives that will result in enrollment growth, retention, and student success. The vision will be forward-facing, propelling the college to align with the strategic objectives of the university, outlined above.

2] Optimizing work processes. Establish robust business practices that utilize our resources (people and finances) effectively; encourage collegiality, transparency, and accountability; demonstrate sound fiscal management in supervising departmental budgets, trust fund allocation, endowed professorships, course releases, stipends, and the use of adjuncts; shepherd progressive enrollment management plans by enforcing course enrollments, class sizes, and overloads; develop an initiative to increase summer teaching and enrollment.

3] Ensuring accountability. The dean will be a key component of academic program reviews, ensuring the viability and relevance of programs. The dean will oversee enrollment and retention targets, and provide resource allocation to departments in accordance with performance on these measures.

4] Innovation and relevance. We must increase the significance of each division by being future-facing, agile to the opportunities in our region, and sensitive to the challenges in the higher education landscape. The dean will drive vision and purpose by having the courage to take calculated risks and foster a culture of innovation where initiatives can be piloted.

Please note that any documents submitted to Human Resources or the hiring departments become property of UNC Asheville and will not be returned.