Position DetailsPosting ID:16064Position Title:Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the FacultyCategory:Tenure-trackDepartment:Office of the Dean of the FacultyDepartment URL:https://www.cmc.edu/dean-of-facultyDescription:“Crescit cum commercio civitas”
Civilization Prospers with Commerce

Claremont McKenna College seeks to “educate its students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions, and to support faculty and student scholarship that contribute to intellectual vitality and the understanding of public policy issues.” – Mission Statement

Since its founding in 1946, the Claremont McKenna College (CMC) community has implemented this unique mission by attracting a distinguished group of scholars committed to a liberal arts education and the practical application of knowledge in business, government, and the professions. At this critical juncture in the College's history, CMC seeks an eminent scholar, intellectual leader, and effective administrator for the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty.

CMC’s Dean has always had the responsibility to champion, recruit, mentor, and retain the highest caliber, most diverse faculty and help them transcend academic boundaries to foster intellectual collaboration and pedagogical innovation in the liberal arts. The next Dean will lead the faculty through critically transformative commitments that advance the College’s unique mission and singular contributions to higher education and the broader society.

Public policy challenges as diverse as climate change and the global pandemic illustrate the paramount importance of science to CMC’s mission. The new Dean’s first opportunity for academic leadership arises from the creation of CMC’s new interdisciplinary science and computation strategy. CMC has embarked on the creation of a new program that integrates the sciences, social sciences, and humanities in response to this challenge. As the College's chief academic officer, the new Dean will oversee the hiring of a founding chair and up to 25 new faculty in a new department of integrated sciences. The Dean will also be responsible for overseeing the development of the curriculum in this department.

At a time when the effectiveness of higher education to achieve social mobility is in question, the second transformative opportunity for the next Dean is to build on CMC's commitment to expanding opportunity through its powerful liberal arts program. Since its founding, CMC has sought to provide a superb education to those who could not afford it. Honoring its early commitment to veterans through the GI Bill, CMC has developed a wide number of programs to increase access and expand opportunities both during College and after graduation. The College has raised over $200M in short- to long-term support for scholarships and financial aid (the Student Imperative and the Scholar Communities) financial support beyond tuition and room and board (the Kravis Opportunity Fund), signature professional experiences and internships, and many other forms of professional support (the Soll Center for Student Opportunity), and strong collaborations with the student affairs team on academic success through new peer tutoring and advisory programs. The new Dean will build on this foundation of College-wide collaboration to ensure access and create opportunities for all students.

In a time of political polarization and heightened awareness of structural racism, the final transformative opportunity for the next Dean will be to implement the CMC’s commitments expressed in the Open Academy initiative and to integrate fully into CMC’s institutional fabric the accomplishments of the Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America. The Dean will have the opportunity to ensure that CMC leads in the national understanding of the nature of racism and how best to combat it. The Dean will be responsible for supporting both the intellectual achievements of the College in the elimination of racism and the expansion of the African American community. Most importantly, the Dean will be responsible for supporting diversity and inclusion efforts within the faculty and the broader CMC community and ensuring the College's success in hiring a diverse faculty, including African American faculty in particular. In keeping with CMC's longstanding commitment to academic freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and effective dialogue, the new Dean will oversee and implement CMC's Open Academy initiative. In a period of increasing ideological polarization, CMC believes that a liberal arts education requires exposure to a variety of viewpoints and the ability to engage and learn from them. The Dean will be responsible for this priority and maintaining the faculty's intellectual diversity and heterodoxy and oversee the Athenaeum and collaborate with the CARE Center to build on successful programs in the application of these educational goals.

Key Qualifications and Characteristics:

In pursuit of the College mission, the next Dean must embody several characteristics and capabilities.

•A commitment to the undergraduate liberal arts education and a full appreciation of and enthusiasm for CMC’s unique mission.
•An exceptional academic judgment in recruiting, developing, and retaining a world-class faculty and the ability to manage a team of academic leaders and staff.
•A commitment to serving the needs and enhancing the strengths of students.
•Financial management skills and ability to develop financial strategies.
•A history of supporting a culture of integrity and mutual respect.
•A demonstrated commitment to or an evidenced capacity for diversity and inclusion principles and practices.
•A strong record of demonstrated excellence in teaching and scholarship that would qualify for tenure in one of CMC’s academic departments.

The Dean serves as the chief academic officer of the College, and works closely in one-on-one partnership with the President, represents the faculty, and works in collaboration with staff, students, and the Board of Trustees to advance the unique mission of the College. Each new Dean at CMC has the opportunity to reimagine the position. As the position has grown in scope and importance, CMC is committed to providing the new Dean the resources necessary to undertake and succeed in this critically important position.

Reporting directly to the President, the Dean is responsible for leading the full academic program, including managing 200 faculty and staff; the entire academic budget of $35 million per year; the curriculum; academic advising of students; oversight of the research institutes, academic planning, and departmental reviews; oversight of campus, off-campus, and global functions and programs; oversight of the academic support staff, including those responsible for accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges; and close collaborations with programs that support all aspects of student life and leadership development.

The Dean is a member of the President’s Executive Cabinet, the College’s Senior Advisory Council, and the Academic Deans Council Committee of The Claremont Colleges. The Dean directly supervises the two Associate Deans of the Faculty, the Director of the Athenaeum, the Director of Academic Planning, the Director of Academic Administration, the Assistant Director of Academic Planning and Administration, the Executive Director of the Center for Global Education, the Director of Off-Campus Study, the Director of Forensics, and Registrar and Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Director of Institutional Research. The Dean staffs the Academic Affairs committee of the Board of Trustees and its sub-committee on Research and Research Institutes, the Committee of Chairs, the Diversity Committee, the Keck Science Dean’s Council, the Curriculum Committee, and the Administration Committee.Procedures
and Timetable:Interested candidates should submit an online application with cover letter and CV.

Candidate nominations may be sent to Dean2020@cmc.edu.

Review of applications will begin immediately.