The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University invites applications for the full-time, benefit eligible position of Dean for Student Academic Success. This position reports to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Faculty.

The Dean for Student Academic Success (Dean) will lead student engagement by promoting student academic success and co-curricular experiences. The Dean will be a leader in student retention, making appropriate decisions based on assessment and student success data. The dean will lead and oversee the First-Year Experience. The Dean will lead and facilitate transfer and retention programs. The Dean will oversee the assessment of student support systems and programs and co-curricular experiences to ensure student success. 

College of Saint Benedict (CSB), a liberal arts college for women; Saint John’s University (SJU), a liberal arts college for men; a graduate School of Theology; and graduate Nursing programs for both men and women. The campuses are located in the central lakes area of Minnesota, surrounded by more than 3,000 acres of pristine forests, prairies, and lakes. The campuses are minutes away from the St. Cloud area, an increasingly diverse regional center with a population of more than 100,000, and 70 miles from Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some CSB and SJU faculty and staff choose to reside locally, while others commute from the Twin Cities. Both St. Cloud and the Twin Cities offer a wide range of fine arts, cultural, dining, recreational, and sporting opportunities.
  
 CSB and SJU are Catholic colleges in the Benedictine tradition enlivened by values of community, hospitality, stewardship, and justice. The schools are dedicated to cultivating an equitable, inclusive community founded on respect for all persons. Students, staff, and faculty from many diverse belief systems and backgrounds collectively bring a rich dimension to the academic, cultural, and religious experience at CSB and SJU. We welcome faculty who devote themselves with passion and integrity to their disciplines and to a transformative education of their students. Learn more in our Institutional Statement on Diversity and in our brochure regarding Higher Education in the Catholic and Benedictine Tradition.
  
With a total enrollment of approximately 3,000 students, faculty members develop relationships with students in small classroom settings and have opportunities to work closely with students on research projects, experiential learning experiences, and study abroad programs. Recent initiatives to create a dynamic general education curriculum and a new teaching and learning center demonstrate strong institutional support for faculty development. CSB and SJU are unique in all of higher education, distinguished by their commitment to the holistic transformational development of women and men within the context of a unified, coeducational experience. All students, faculty, and staff have the opportunity to experience and engage with the two institutions. For further information, see http://www.csbsju.edu/about.
 
CSB and SJU offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits program.    

Responsibilities

• Inspire, promote, and implement excellent student academic experience in support of the mission
• Lead and coordinate student retention efforts across the institutions to ensure best practices for student engagement, retention, and success
• Lead and oversee the First-Year Experience (including the student success course) to promote retention, equity, inclusion, diversity, and belonging
• Design and oversee a robust and impactful student advising program
• Lead and oversee the Student Academic Achievement Network (Academic Advising , The Study, Student Accessibility Services, Writing Center, Math Center)
• Lead and facilitate transfer student initiatives
• Oversee curricular mapping and the assessment of student engagement in co-curricular programs
• Implement and promote the student success platform/Starfish (i.e., The Hive) and oversee associated data analytics to improve student outcomes
• Oversee the Libraries

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (terminal degree preferred)
• Experience in higher education leadership
• Demonstrated commitment to and experience fostering and promoting student academic engagement and student-centered experiences
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts
• Deep understanding of student experience, student learning, and student academic engagement theories and best practices, particularly as it relates to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
• Experience working on student retention issues
• Demonstrated ability to lead staff and faculty in providing high quality student engagement
• Understanding of assessment best practices and demonstrated ability to implement changes based on data
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong organizational skills
• Results oriented, while sensitive to process