Michigan State University

Dean, College of Social Science

Michigan State University, the nation’s pioneer land-grant university, invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean, College of Social Science.

MSU is one of the top research universities in the world and a member of the Association of American Universities. The University has 34 undergraduate and graduate programs ranked in the top 20 nationally. MSU comprises a diverse community known for strong academic disciplines and professional programs with a commitment to community engagement throughout the state and across the world. Michigan State’s cross- and interdisciplinary programs connect the sciences, humanities, and professions in practical and innovative ways.

The College offers more than one-fifth of the credit hours at the University at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including 32 undergraduate majors, 23 interdisciplinary undergraduate minors, 24 graduate or graduate professional degrees, eight graduate specializations, and 15 graduate certificate programs, both for credit and noncredit. More than 5,200 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students are enrolled in eight departments, four schools, and five centers and institutes. Students acquire the communication and analytical skills needed to excel in complex and changing environments. Many of these programs are ranked in the nation’s top 30, with three ranked in the top 10 and two ranked number 1 nationally — African history and industrial organization psychology. The College community is the most diverse at MSU, nearly 1 in 4 undergraduate majors and 1 in 5 graduate students are under-represented minorities.

The Dean of the College of Social Science reports to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Dean is the chief academic and administrative officer of the College at MSU with oversight of the academic programs, financial affairs, student success, personnel, program evaluation, academic innovation, community engagement and the physical plant of the College. The Dean will have oversight of a roughly $120M budget and College personnel totaling more than 1000.

The Office of the Dean coordinates the management of the College and the implementation of its strategic plan and direction. The Dean leads and encourages generation of new initiatives as appropriate, is responsible for the financial management and stewardship of the College’s resources, supports the work of constituents and committees to successfully recruit faculty and staff, engages in the tenure and promotion process, produces annual reports and oversees units that report directly to the Dean. They will be a scholar and leader who supports the multi-disciplinary initiatives and offers consistent and transparent communication surrounding these initiatives, opportunities, and challenges within the College of Social Science to forge a clear path forward.  

The full position profile may be viewed here: https://assets.storbecksearch.com/files/resources/msu-socialsciencedean-pd.pdf

Review of application materials will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Nominations, inquiries, and applications, including letter of interest and resume, should be forwarded, in confidence, to:

Storbeck Search & Associates

Susan VanGilder, Partner

Beth McCarthy, Senior Associate

MSUSocialScienceDean@storbecksearch.com

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer.