Massachusetts

Wentworth Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Design
Dean, School of Architecture and Design

Date posted: 5/03/21

Job Details:

Wentworth Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Design offers programs in Architecture (BS and M.Arch), Industrial Design (BS), and Interior Design (BS). The School’s mission is to challenge and guide students of diverse backgrounds to become innovative design thinkers and leaders in their own field. The school guides students to engage locally and globally, to explore advanced technologies, to collaborate within and across disciplines, to gain industry experience via the Cooperative Education program, and to learn to design sustainably and equitably. The school comprises of approximately 740 undergraduate students, 70 graduate students, 30 full-time faculty, 65 adjunct faculty, and 5 full-time staff. Adjacently, the school has dedicated advisors in the new Success Studio (formerly Center for Academic Excellence) and in the Center for Cooperative Education and Career Development. The academic leadership team currently includes two associate deans and a graduate director.

Wentworth seeks to hire a Dean of the School of Architecture and Design during an exciting period in the institution’s history. In June 2019, Dr. Mark Thompson became Wentworth’s fifth President and has since articulated a strategic focus on diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence, high-value learning, transformational student experience, and next-generation partnerships. In June 2020, Dr. Ian Lapp became the Provost and Senior Vice President leading a major restructuring of the academic enterprise including the formation of five schools: School of Architecture and Design, School of Computing and Data Science, School of Engineering, School of Management, and School of Sciences and Humanities.

Reporting to the Provost and Senior Vice President, the Dean will provide leadership and vision for all three disciplines in the school, collaborate with other deans in guiding the institution’s strategic direction, manage academic operations efficiently, build on and expand current government, community, industry and alumni partnerships, foster a vibrant learning environment for faculty and students, and bring a strong commitment to recruitment and retention of students with diverse backgrounds. The position requires a creative and collegial leader who has interpersonal skills that demonstrate a high level of professionalism with the ability to communicate the School’s mission and vision with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other extramural constituencies. This is also a unique opportunity to leverage the exceptionally collaborative design community in Boston, develop partnerships that promote a transformative educational experience, and build on a well-established coop program.

Required Qualifications:

• Terminal degree in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, product design, design strategy, history/theory of design, or a related field.
• 5 – 8 years of experience as a Principal of a firm or as a member of academic leadership
• Demonstrated record of visionary, strategic and creative leadership.
• Demonstrated record of achievement in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Demonstrated financial acumen and fiscal responsibility.
• Established record of working across academic or disciplinary design units and programs.
• Collaboration with a variety of internal and external constituencies.
• Established record as an exceptional teacher and scholar or comparable professional achievement meriting the rank of a full professor.
• Experience with fundraising and the desire to engage in this work.
• Commitment to global engagement for study abroad and recruitment of students
• Commitment to developing strategic partnerships to advance learning, creative work, and scholarship.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to demonstrate clear, concise and persuasive skills in communications and active listening. Including an understanding of, and value for, communication across an array of media platforms.
• Demonstrated record of availability and appreciation for a wide range of disciplinary, scholarly, and pedagogical approaches across various design disciplines.
• Interpersonal skills that indicate a high level of professionalism, initiative, resourcefulness, and personal accountability.
• Capacity to attract, recruit, retain, motivate, and inspire constituencies through shared decision-making and collaboration central to the mission of the university.
• Demonstrated experience managing professionals with varying levels of autonomy, experience, pedagogy, communication skills, and academic rank.
• Demonstrated commitment to and knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Experience and ability in office administration that encompasses balanced and effective team management, delegation, and performance management.
• Established experience with fiscal management, facilitation, and negotiation including fundraising and a forward-thinking approach to growth and management.
• Demonstrated support for traditional and emergent technologies and the development of innovative, future-oriented curricula.
• Demonstrated record of identifying and partnering with professional and industry partners who advance curricular initiatives and strategic goals.
• Registrations and/or certifications appropriate for their discipline.

Wentworth is an AA/EEO employer. Women and underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

To apply, please click on the following link: https://jobs.wit.edu/postings/5246

Category: Full-Time

Requires U.S. Work Authorization?:Yes