Position Description for Dean of Boston University Metropolitan College
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
As you know, this past July, I announced the formation of a Search Advisory Committee to identify a permanent dean for Metropolitan College. In the weeks since, I am pleased to report that we have completed the step of naming the Committee, chaired by Chrysthanthos Dellarocas, Professor and Chair of Information Systems in the Questrom School of Business, and that a formal position description has been drafted as we commence this important search. This position description is provided below:
Boston University Metropolitan College
Position Description: Dean of the BU Metropolitan College
Position: Dean, Boston University Metropolitan College
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Position Summary: The Dean provides academic, intellectual, and administrative leadership of Metropolitan College (MET), home to Boston University’s continuing education and distance learning programs. The Dean promotes excellence in all aspects of the College’s teaching, research, and service missions. S/he will lead the ongoing development of the vision and goals of MET, integrate the plans of the MET with those of the University, and effectively communicate the vision and goals to constituencies within and external to BU.
The successful candidate will be committed to enhancing the quality, variety and flexibility of degree and program offerings in MET and to ensuring that the intellectual and instructional resources of BU are increasingly made accessible in a variety of delivery formats. The Dean will be a creative and entrepreneurial leader with experience in developing and supporting pedagogical innovation, including educational technologies in the classroom and online.
Responsibilities
The following describe the primary duties and responsibilities of the Dean:
- In collaboration with the faculty, staff and other key stakeholders, imagines, articulates and implements a vision for Metropolitan College; advocates for and drives strategies aimed at achieving the College’s mission and vision.
- Oversees development and effective utilization of financial resources, human resources, and physical infrastructure.
- Engages in fundraising as part of the University’s ongoing comprehensive campaign.
- Actively monitors the institutional and external environments and assesses support for initiatives from institutional leaders, faculty and staff, and potential benefactors.
- Motivates and facilitates inter-organizational collaboration in research and education between the College and other schools and colleges of the University.
- Effectively communicates with a wide audience of students, faculty, University administrators, alumni, community members and potential benefactors.
- Engages in strategic planning from inception to implementation; establishes specific, measurable goals and other performance expectations; employs a systematic review of progress toward goals and objectives.
- Effectively manages numerous programs and activities within the College, including coordination of curriculum, evaluation of teaching, and promotion of pedagogical excellence and innovation.
- Empowers and supports faculty and staff to achieve performance goals and objectives; consistently “raises the bar” with regard to performance expectations; inspires accomplishment of goals and objectives; models professional excellence.
- Establishes appropriate mechanisms to select, support and retain highly qualified faculty, department chairs, administrators and other staff; acts to ensure their professional success, maximizing their ability to contribute to Metropolitan College and Boston University.
- Determines, implements, maintains and leads an effective management structure and team.
- Creates a positive, diverse and inclusive work environment; ensures all faculty and staff are treated with dignity and respect.
- Establishes and maintains effective relationships with other deans and leaders within the University.
Required Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have:
- A demonstrated track record of progressively responsible administrative experience and academic leadership, and a portfolio of professional successes.
- Strong and proven capabilities in complex organizational management including strategic planning, financial stewardship, budget creation, resource allocation, human resource management, faculty development, risk management, and related decision-making.
- A record of distinguished scholarly accomplishment and a strong commitment to research, teaching and public service in a field appropriate for appointment as a full professor in one of the departments in the College: Actuarial Science, Administrative Sciences, Applied Social Sciences, Computer Science, or Liberal Studies.
- Experience and proven success in fundraising.
- Enthusiasm for educational technology and experience in organizations at the leading-edge of online education.
- The proven ability to work collaboratively with leaders across organizations.
- Exemplary interpersonal and communication skills.
- Impeccable integrity, sense of professionalism, and sound judgment.
- Demonstrates a high level of personal and professional commitment, enthusiasm, integrity and pride in the University and its values.
Organization
Boston University (BU), a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), is one of the leading private research and teaching institutions in the world, with two primary campuses in the heart of Boston and programs around the globe. Chartered in 1869, the University today enrolls over 33,000 students including over 16,000 undergraduates and employs nearly 4,000 faculty members across 16 schools and colleges.
BU is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of the Boston area’s largest employers. BU’s students come from all 50 states and over 135 countries. Students pursue studies on the Charles River and Medical Campuses as well as study abroad programs in over 30 cities around the world. The growth of Boston University over the last quarter century is profound, as it has evolved from a regional university, with a focus on undergraduate and professional education, to an internationally recognized, residential, research university that performed over $350 million of sponsored research last year across both Boston campuses.
BU’s Metropolitan College (MET) incorporates BU’s standards for excellence in teaching and scholarship into academic programs that address the educational needs of a broad range of students, at various stages of their lives and careers, who desire continued educational development and prefer convenient, flexible, and innovative delivery formats. MET offers a variety of unique academic programs that are characterized by their quality, rigor, and distinguished by their responsiveness to changing societal, institutional, and professional needs. Degree programs in MET are led by dedicated full-time faculty who actively pursue scholarship and work closely with industry to design and develop curricula that meet the educational needs of mature and motivated students. Metropolitan College serves as an extension of BU externally, and also serves an important internal role by sharing expertise and capabilities in teaching innovation, distance and blended learning and outreach.
MET offers more than 60 degree and certificate programs along with hundreds of individual courses. MET offerings include degree and certificate programs at the graduate, undergraduate and post-baccalaureate levels, as well as noncredit programs for professional lifelong learners. Programs are offered at BU’s Charles River and Medical Campuses, as well as accessible locations throughout the East Coast and beyond. MET also offers many programs that may be completed entirely online as well as blended programs that combine the benefits of face-to-face classroom interaction with flexible, online learning.
Compensation
Boston University will provide a competitive compensation and benefits package appropriate for a position of this scope, stature, and level of responsibility.
Contact
Exceptional candidates are encouraged to submit a confidential letter of interest and resume to:
MET Dean Search Advisory Committee
c/o Chrysanthos Dellarocas, Chair
Office of the University Provost
One Silber Way
Boston, Massachusetts 02215
metsearch@bu.edu
Boston University is committed to fostering a diverse University community within a supportive and respectful environment. We believe that faculty diversity is essential to our success as a leading research university with a global reach, and that diversity is an integral component of faculty excellence.
Boston University prohibits discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. Boston University strongly encourages minority group members, veterans, disabled individuals, and women to apply for positions for which they are qualified and that are of interest to them.