Overview
Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences seeks an accomplished and dynamic leader to be the next Director of our Experimental College.
By bringing together students, staff, and faculty from a broad range of professions, the Experimental College has served as a hub for advancing the intellectual life of Tufts through innovative and collaborative learning for more than 50 years. The approximately eighty seminar-style, interdisciplinary, and interactive courses that the Experimental College offers annually provide a broad, forward-looking curriculum that augments and enhances the more traditional offerings at Tufts, and bridges to the world outside academe. Undergraduate students actively shape the curriculum by helping to select courses each semester, and they teach their peers in credit-bearing classes through the Explorations and Peer Teaching Programs—a feature unique to Tufts. The Experimental College also serves as an incubator for the development and assessment of new academic offerings that extend the educational horizons of Tufts. Visiting instructors from outside of the academy teach many of these courses, which supplement and enrich our curricular offerings. The Experimental College also partners with various offices, academic departments, and student organizations to implement new initiatives within and beyond the classroom.
This is a hybrid role. The position is expected to be in person during most of the academic year, with additional opportunities for remote work during summer and winter breaks.
Who We Are
The School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University.
The School of Arts and Sciences is the largest academic unit at Tufts, comprising the College of Liberal Arts, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. The Dean of Arts and Sciences is responsible for all undergraduate and graduate departments, programs, research centers, and institutes within the School of Arts and Sciences. There are 26 departments and numerous interdisciplinary programs offering undergraduate majors and minors; twenty of these departments also grant graduate degrees. Currently, the School offers 17 different doctoral programs and a number of professional certificate programs, enrolls approximately 5,200 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students each year, and employs about 750 faculty (including visiting, research, and other non-tenure track faculty) and more than 1,000 staff members.
What You'll Do
The Director provides vision for the Experimental College through planning and oversight of annual and long-term agendas grounded in strategies designed to create unique value to Tufts. These strategies inform the selection of courses each year and the implementation of educational philosophy, both of which the Director leads. The Director also instructs and mentors student peer teachers in the Explorations and Peer-Teaching program by teaching weekly seminars.
The Director supervises a team of professional staff members, leads groups of faculty and student volunteers in the selection of courses, works with the Experimental College Board and Experimental College Advisory Council, and oversees the annual operating budget and various gift accounts. Success of the Experimental College depends on the Director developing and maintaining strong relationships with various constituencies, including School and University leadership, student advising and student services professionals, faculty, the admissions office, a loyal alumni base, and a large number of former, current, and future visiting faculty.
What We're Looking For
Basic Requirements:
- 10+ years relevant experience in a college or university setting, or commensurate experience at other organizations, such as the non-profit sector, government, or corporate organizations.
- Experience teaching undergraduate students.
- Master’s degree or the equivalent.
- Track record of successful leadership in a collaborative, high energy, student-centered environment.
- Demonstrated commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in professional settings.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate across disciplines to implement new initiatives.
- Experience with creating innovative and/or interdisciplinary higher education initiatives.
- Experience advising students in higher education settings.
- Demonstrated excellence in supervising/managing a team of professional staff.
- Demonstrated excellence in oral and written communication skills.
- Facility with relevant technology and software, including especially educational technology.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Doctoral degree or the equivalent.
- Experience with budget forecasting and management.
- Demonstrated ability to guide and support adjunct instructors.
- Experience with a wide variety of pedagogies, especially including experiential or other innovative approaches to teaching and learning.
- Demonstrated ability to train and mentor college teachers.
- Tangible evidence of commitment to excellence in leadership and/or management, such as may be established through a leadership certificate or other recognition.
