Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
Position Specification

• Executive Dean Search Committee Intranet
  

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, invites nominations and applications for the position of executive dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. The university seeks a distinguished scholar and executive whose visionary leadership will foster educational and research excellence at the Rutgers flagship New Brunswick Campus.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Chartered in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is the eighth-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It has a unique history: from its inception as a colonial liberal arts college, Rutgers grew to become the land-grant college of New Jersey in 1864, and to assume full university status in 1924. Legislative Acts of 1945 and 1956 designated it The State University of New Jersey.

Today, Rutgers is one of the leading public research universities in the nation and a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. Dedicated to a threefold mission, Rutgers is equally committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and public service. Driving all of Rutgers’ activities is the defining characteristic of a premier research university: the continuous and vigorous creation of intellectual capital—the new discoveries and insights that drive the advancement of human knowledge and contribute to the improvement of the human condition.

The university comprises 27 degree-granting divisions: 10 undergraduate colleges, 11 graduate schools, and six schools offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. These schools and divisions are spread across three campuses, in New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark. The university is also home to over 180 specialized research institutes.

Rutgers currently enrolls 38,000 undergraduates and approximately 13,000 graduate students across its three campuses, in more than 100 bachelor’s, 100 master’s, and 70 doctoral and professional programs. The university continues to grow and expand, not only in the quality of its student body, but also in the variety and depth of its educational and research programs, the quality and range of its facilities, and the amount of its federal and state research support. Last year, Rutgers received approximately $300 million in external grants and contracts.

Rutgers employs over 2,600 full-time faculty members and over 6,300 full-time staff to administer and support its academic and research programs, making it one of the largest employers in the State of New Jersey. Its faculty is nationally recognized for excellence:  individual members have been honored with an array of prestigious awards and grants, including MacArthur “genius” Fellowships, National Medals of Science, National Medals of Technology, Fulbright Scholarships, and Guggenheim Fellowships. Rutgers faculty are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academies, as well as other leading national research associations and professional organizations.

In addition to the excellent teaching, research, and public service offered on Rutgers’ campuses, one of the university’s great strengths is the diversity of its student body.  Rutgers’ diversity not only reflects the unique character of the state of New Jersey, but  also creates a distinctive community that prepares students exceptionally well for leadership in our multicultural and multiethnic nation.

Rutgers has an annual operating budget of approximately $1.6 billion. The value of its endowment as of June 30, 2006, was over $470 million.

The New Brunswick Campus

The Rutgers–New Brunswick Campus is an international research powerhouse located in the heart of New Jersey. The historic birthplace of Rutgers, it is the largest and oldest of the university’s three campuses and is actually made up of five smaller campuses— Busch, College Avenue, Cook, Douglass, and Livingston—which are geographically separated by the Raritan River and by downtown New Brunswick. The city of New Brunswick itself is a hub of governmental and legal activity, and also offers a vibrant theater district, excellent restaurants, bustling coffee shops, and alternative music venues.

The vast majority of Rutgers–New Brunswick’s 20,000 undergraduates are in the School of Arts and Sciences either as full-time matriculants or for a portion of their undergraduate coursework; undergraduates may also enroll in more specialized professional programs such as those offered by the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the Mason Gross School of the Arts, the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, or the School of Engineering. More than 60 percent of the undergraduate student body live on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campuses. The New Brunswick Campus also is home to some of the university’s most renowned graduate programs in such areas as the arts and sciences, planning and public policy, engineering, pharmacy, and the fine and performing arts.

University Leadership and Governance

President Richard L. McCormick, an American historian, became the 19th president of Rutgers in December 2002. Over the past five years, in conjunction with the senior leadership team he assembled, President McCormick has emphasized his commitment to two overarching aspirations for the university: to achieve even greater academic distinction and to provide more significant service to communities beyond its campuses, particularly to the citizens of New Jersey. To this end, President McCormick has articulated five specific strategic goals for the university:

• to improve the quality of Rutgers’ academic programs, especially in areas of comparative advantage and opportunity, such as health sciences;
• to enhance the effectiveness of student services, the quality of residence halls, and the attractiveness and accessibility of the campuses;
• to improve Rutgers’ service to, and reputation among, all the relevant internal and external constituencies, including alumni networks, public schools, and New Jersey’s various racial and ethnic communities;
• to increase Rutgers’ resources to the levels of peer AAU public universities and manage those resources more strategically and efficiently; and
• to continue to develop an administration that will provide leadership for achieving Rutgers’ strategic goals.

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Since 2003, cell biologist Philip Furmanski has served Rutgers as the executive vice president for academic affairs. In this capacity, Dr. Furmanski is the university’s chief academic and budget officer. He oversees undergraduate and graduate education, research, university budgeting, land grant programs, libraries, enrollment management, financial aid, student affairs, institutional research, continuing education, and the schools, faculties, centers, and institutes on the New Brunswick Campus. Dr. Furmanski has made clear his commitment to make Rutgers one of the great state research universities.

The School of Arts and Sciences

The School of Arts and Sciences supports research, teaching, and service in a wide variety of fields, with a full-time faculty of over 800. The school’s faculty are leading scholars, with outstanding records of publication and other research-related achievements. The school provides approximately 75 percent of all undergraduate instruction on the New Brunswick Campus, with responsibility for approximately 17,800 full-time and over 2,000 part-time students in the arts and sciences.

The school offers more than 70 different majors and is comprised of 35 departments, which include: Africana studies; American studies; anthropology; art history; Asian languages and cultures; cell biology and neuroscience; chemistry and chemical biology; classics; comparative literature; computer science; criminal justice; economics; English; exercise science and sport studies; French; genetics; geography; geological sciences; Germanic, Russian, and East European languages and literatures; history; Italian; Jewish studies; Latino and Hispanic Caribbean studies; linguistics; mathematics; molecular biology and biochemistry; philosophy; physics and astronomy; political science; psychology; religion; sociology; Spanish/Portuguese; statistics; and women’s and gender studies.

The graduate programs of the School of Arts and Sciences are among the best in the country, drawing students from around the world to study primarily in doctoral degree programs. The school promotes graduate instruction and graduate research, and the full professional development of graduate students. Eight School of Arts and Sciences graduate programs are ranked among the top 20 in the country. Current developmental efforts by the school are aimed at doubling this number within the next 10 years.

The Executive Dean

The executive dean is the intellectual and scholarly leader of the School of Arts and Sciences. Through compelling personal vision and ideas, the next dean will shape the school and find new ways of guiding it into the future. Directly reporting to the executive dean are the executive vice dean and four disciplinary area deans, who represent the life sciences, the physical and mathematical sciences, the humanities, and the social and behavioral sciences. The executive dean reports directly to the executive vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Philip Furmanski.

As the primary academic and administrative officer of the School of Arts and Sciences, the executive dean will lead the development of the disciplines to increasing national and international eminence. He or she will:

• provide initiative and direction to the development of the academic programs;
• coordinate the departments and foster interdisciplinary activities;
• ensure that the academic needs of undergraduate and graduate students are met effectively;
• develop strong programs of research;
• recruit, develop, and retain a diverse group of the highest caliber faculty and students; and
• serve as a central spokesperson for the arts and sciences both within and outside the university.

As a key member of the university’s leadership team, the executive dean must have the ability to work collaboratively across disciplinary and school boundaries. At the same time, the dean serves as an advocate for the school and its students to the executive vice president for academic affairs, the president, and the public at large, balancing the interests of the School of Arts and Sciences with those of the university as a whole. To this end, regular and effective communication that resonates with a range of constituent groups is essential. The dean, above all, must provide energetic and imaginative leadership, building upon and shaping the school’s strengths and forging change, when necessary, in order to enhance the quality, reputation, and visibility of Rutgers’ educational programs.

The dean has direct authority over an annual budget of approximately $300 million, including roughly $100 million in grants/contracts and $5 million in gifts. The generation of new resources through external fundraising will be an important and ongoing part of the executive dean’s portfolio.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will possess a Ph.D. and a distinguished record of scholarly accomplishment warranting appointment at the rank of full professor within the School of Arts and Sciences, as well as the administrative experience and acumen necessary to lead a large and complex academic organization.

The executive dean will possess broad intellectual sympathies, a passionate commitment to excellence in teaching, learning, and research across the disciplines, and a strong understanding of and dedication to undergraduate and graduate education. The capacity to articulate and build consensus around a strategic vision, as well as to implement policies and initiatives to achieve that vision, is critical. Commitment to diversity in all aspects of university life, aptitude and enthusiasm for fundraising and outreach, and strong fiscal and business management skills are also essential. A familiarity with the complexities of a large public research university is desirable.

The next executive dean of the School of Arts and Sciences must have the ability to:

• articulate a clear and inspired vision for the future and identify strategic plans that will ensure the ongoing success and vitality of the school and advance its programs nationally and internationally;
• form partnerships with faculty, staff, administration, alumni, community leaders, and students to advance the mission of the university;
• lead faculty, staff, and students in maintaining a collegial environment in which all are engaged in the process of advancing the school’s quality and reputation;
• manage effectively in an academic environment, demonstrating strong fiscal and business management skills while advocating for the school’s teaching, research, and service missions;
• provide leadership in creating collaborative relationships and partnerships between and among members of the academic community, both within the School of Arts and Science and with other decanal units in the university;
• continue to improve and support through retention diverse members of the student body, faculty, administration, and staff;
• create and sustain an environment for learning that provides opportunities in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs;
• provide leadership in implementing educational change and reform by raising issues related to program improvement;
• enhance research and increase the portfolio of externally funded research;
• play a key role in the fundraising activities of the school by managing all aspects of the development function and taking an active role in the university’s upcoming capital campaign;
• represent the school effectively in matters relating to public relations, including but not limited to serving as a compelling spokesperson and advocate of the school and its mission.

Personal Characteristics

The ideal candidate should possess the following personal characteristics:

• passionate commitment to the school and the university, and to its mission as a research and teaching institution of the highest quality;
• ability to communicate comfortably, effectively, and responsively with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and external constituents;
• willingness, ability, and demonstrated experience in making difficult and timely decisions;
• demonstrated commitment to enhancing the diversity of all university and school constituencies;
• aptitude and enthusiasm for fundraising.

Nominations, Applications, and Inquiries

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, has retained the services of Auerbach Associates to assist with the search for executive dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Nominations and applications, accompanied by a letter discussing the candidate’s relevant experience and accomplishments, a résumé or curriculum vitae, and the names of three references including their telephone numbers and email addresses, should be submitted to:

Judith A. Auerbach and Kit J. Nichols
Auerbach Associates, Inc.
385 Concord Avenue, Suite 103
Belmont, MA 02478
caitlin@auerbach-assc.com
Electronic submissions preferred.

An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer
For more information about the School of Arts and Sciences, please visit http://sas.rutgers.edu.
For more information about Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, please visit http://www.rutgers.edu.