Dean College of Liberal Arts. NORWICH UNIVERSITY Dean of College of Liberal Arts Position Description POSITION DESCRIPTION

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1 NORWICH UNIVERSITY Dean of College of Liberal Arts Position Description POSITION DESCRIPTION Dean College of Liberal Arts KULPER & COMPANY, LLC Executive Search Consulting Search #

2 Opportunity Summary This is an outstanding opportunity for a candidate seeking career growth and development at a university with a long legacy of excellence and innovation in higher education. The Dean, College of Liberal Arts is the chief administrative and academic officer of the College. The newly constituted College of Liberal Arts will include: the School of Justice Studies and Sociology, the Departments of Modern Languages, History and Political Science, Psychology and Education, as well as English and Communications. Responsibilities include but are not limited to academic planning, supervision of department chairs/directors, faculty development, program planning (residential and online), learning outcomes assessment, curriculum development for internationalization, facilitation of interdisciplinary teaching and research, continuing improvement of academic standards, harmonious governance of the College, and active participation in fundraising initiatives. The Dean reports to the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and sits on the Deans Council. Norwich University has a clear strategic vision and plan with a focus on the dynamic growth of the university while continually improving all aspects of the institution. The university needs an experienced and forward looking academic administrator to become the first Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The university is located in Northfield, VT, 8 miles from the city of Montpelier. Its beautiful campus is near I-89 making it easily accessible to major cities throughout the northeast. Norwich University has a proud tradition dating back to its founding in 1819 by Alden Partridge. Captain Partridge s original vision for the university to educate citizen soldiers in an American style is vibrantly alive and continuing to evolve. From its origin, the curriculum embraced a cutting edge educational philosophy designed to prepare graduates for a wide variety of 2

3 active roles in society including military, government and professional careers. Liberal arts at Norwich in the 19th century included not only classical studies, but also modern languages, science, history, literature, and mathematics, along with a professional curriculum that covered instruction in military tactics, engineering, agriculture and other applied topics. The foundational philosophy of Captain Partridge paved the way for many innovative firsts such as the founding of ROTC, the admission of the first female cadets in a military college and other important educational innovations. To this day, Norwich is dedicated to stretching educational boundaries to drive the continued growth and development of this unique university and culture and its broader impact on our country. Norwich enrolls approximately 3,300 students in undergraduate and graduate programs, with 1,400 in a Corps of Cadets, 900 civilian undergraduate students, and over 1,000 online graduate students. The university offers many graduate academic and professional degrees and has very robust on-line programs serving students around the world and representing an important revenue stream for the university. The faculty is an intellectually active and politically diverse group. In keeping with a long-standing tradition of the institution most faculty wear their service uniform or the uniform of the Vermont Militia on campus; it will be a requirement for the new Dean to wear a uniform. The new Dean will work closely with and report directly to Dr. Guiyou Huang, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and Professor of English. The SVPAA is committed to liberal arts education and the development of professional programs. Some of the SVPAA s priorities include learning outcomes assessment, internationalization, academic planning, and innovation in pedagogy. Norwich is restructuring the academic division and consolidating its eight schools into five new colleges: The College of Liberal Arts, the College of Sciences, the College of Professional Schools, the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies, and the College of National Services, to be implemented in Fall The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts will be the first dean hired in the new structure and will play a key role in shaping the academic life of Norwich University in the decade to come. Guiyou Huang, SVP Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Dr. Huang joined Norwich in July of He was previously Dean of Biscayne College at St. Thomas University in Miami, FL. In addition to being the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Huang is also a Professor of English. He is a graduate of Peking University and Texas A&M University. Dr. Huang and his wife Yufeng Qian have two young children. The new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts will be coming to Norwich at a particularly good time. President Richard Schneider, SVPAA Huang, the Board of Trustees, the Board of Fellows, the faculty, students and alumni are excited about the many anticipated benefits from the restructuring. The new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts will be a key leader in the implementation of the new structure of the University. 3

4 Location For a person who loves and appreciates natural beauty, Vermont s Green Mountain Region is clearly among the most spectacular and unspoiled in the United States. Its close proximity to Boston and Montreal offers easy access to a wealth of educational and cultural activities offering a blend of sophistication with authentic New England charm. Montpelier, the state capital, is within 8 miles of campus and the city of Burlington, considered among the top 5 most livable cities in the United States, is less than an hour away. The university s location in central Vermont offers many recreational opportunities including some of the best skiing, mountain biking and fishing in the country. The cost of housing in the Northfield area ranges from $ ,000 for comfortable homes with acreage; taxes are about $2500/100K of the property s assessed valuation. Public schools offer solid educational instruction with small class sizes; private schools are available in central Vermont and in nearby Burlington. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, ranked among the nation s top hospitals, is about 60 minutes from Northfield. The campus of 1200-acres is very beautiful and conveniently compact. Its facilities are both historic and modern with a harmonious architectural style. The Wise Campus Center, dedicated in 2007, serves as the social hub of the university. Norwich athletics boasts championship teams in hockey (Div III) and offers many other sports for both men and women. 4

5 The Sullivan Museum & History Center, named in honor of Army Chief of Staff (ret.) and Norwich Chairman of the Board of Trustees, General Gordon R. Sullivan ( 59), is a repository of university and military history, and school traditions. University History and Culture In 1819, Alden Partridge established Norwich University as a military college, originally called the American Literary Scientific and Military Academy, with an innovative, practical approach to educating the citizen-soldier. See In the nearly two centuries since its founding, Norwich University has continued to take a pioneering role. The Reserve Officer Training Corps program, providing officer training for all branches of the military, originated at Norwich. International students have been coming to Norwich since soon after the University was founded. African-American students joined the student body in the early 1900s. Civilian students have mixed in the classrooms with Cadets for many decades. In 1974, Norwich became the first military college to admit women to the corps of cadets. Norwich is also officially designated by the National Security Agency as an academic Center of Excellence for information assurance. See 5

6 Norwich continues to educate a diverse student body of military and civilian students. For 20 years, Cadets and traditional undergraduate students have shared the same campus at Norwich University. With the addition of a vibrant virtual campus of graduate students Norwich has further lengthened its educational reach. While students in The Corps of Cadets participate in intense military training, all of the students benefit from a distinctive and structured learning environment that promotes academic success as well as leadership development. All members of the Norwich community live by The Norwich Honor Code, a standard of ethical behavior that demands the highest degree of personal honesty and integrity from every member of the Norwich community. Norwich fulfills Alden Partridge s vision of preparing citizen-leaders in a variety of fields guided by its mission statement which is among the most unique found in higher education. To give our youth an education that shall be American in character to enable them to act as well as to think to execute as well as to conceive to tolerate all opinions when reason is left free to combat them to make moral, patriotic, efficient, and useful citizens, and to qualify them for all those high responsibilities resting upon a citizen of this free republic. Norwich students tend to have a strong sense of obligation and responsibility to their communities and nation. Architecture students at Norwich emphasize sustainability in their designs. Education students spend summers working with children in Gambia. Norwich engineers assist in design and construction projects 6

7 around the world. Within the new College of Liberal Arts there are many excellent student activities including: Model UN, the Real CSI conference, the Colby Military Writers Symposium, the Criminal Justice Seminar in Washington, DC and many others. Most Norwich graduates ultimately assume leadership roles in government, business, and education as well as officer commissions in all branches of the armed forces as well as local and federal law enforcement. The Norwich culture is inclusive and democratic in a truly American manner. All members of the Norwich community have the ability to make their voices heard. Alumni, parents of students, trustees and university fellows represent some of the most accomplished and engaged leaders in our country. Norwich maintains close ties with leaders in business, government and in all branches of the military. Academics at Norwich emphasize experiential learning in all components of its academic mission. Class sizes tend to be small and intimate to promote student participation and development. The undergraduate students learn out in the field through labs, internships, service learning, and conducting real research. Most graduate students take advanced coursework online that emphasizes mentoring relationships with faculty designed to be relevant to the students everyday professional life. Norwich faculty are teachers/scholars, and are strongly encouraged to pursue their research and creative interests. Norwich seeks to engage faculty and students in stimulating and important academic research; over $100,000 has been appropriated to fund student research and participation at professional conferences. Norwich University s Office of Academic Research serves faculty and students by providing access to internal and external resources to support their scholarly activities and professional development. 7

8 The undergraduate Student Research Program supports the involvement of students in original research, scholarship and creative work, and provides internal support for Student Research Grants, Student Travel Awards, and Student Summer Research Fellowships. Students at the graduate level enjoy a level of research that goes far beyond undergraduate scholarship into the realm of critical thinking and analysis. In most graduate programs, a built in design feature is centered on the fact that students choose their own direction when it comes to a research subject, so that they have the opportunity to explore subject matter that is of particular interest to them. Faculty research and professional development is well funded and provides allocations for Faculty Development Activity Grants, Research and Publication Grants, Curriculum Development Projects, School/College Grants, Book Fund Grants, Independent Study Leaves, and fellowships. A brief overview of recent research activities of the university offers useful insight into the research activities of Norwich s many principal researchers who actively publish and discuss their diverse intellectual pursuits. 8

9 Norwich University by the Numbers Norwich enrolls about 3,400 students in undergraduate and graduate programs, with approximately 1,400 in a Corps of Cadets, 900 civilian undergraduate students, and more than 1,000 online graduate students. A successful candidate must be able to bridge these cultures by living the university s institutional guiding values and by providing inspiring and effective leadership to Norwich s diverse population. Enrollment: The undergraduate population has been growing at about 45 students per year for the past ten years. The annual enrollment increase in the Corps of Cadets has been outpacing that of the traditional or civilian students, with a large jump in the fall of New Corps enrollment was 404 in 2009, 518 in 2010 and 476 in Degrees Awarded: Over the past five years the number of students earning the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Bachelor of Science degree has remained rather consistent. The number earning the Bachelor of Science degree has been slightly greater than the number of Bachelor of Arts degrees awarded, with an average number being about 200 of each. In the same time frame the number of graduate degrees has increased remarkably, to almost three times of either Bachelor s degree. Tuition and Fees: From 1977 to 1997 the combination of tuition and fees charged to the residential student increased by $871 per year. From 1997 through 2001 Norwich reduced the annual increase to a point where there was almost no increase in tuition and fees. Since 2001 the university has changed this philosophy and the average annual increase has averaged $1,500 per year. Selectivity of Students: Prior to 2000 Norwich was accepting about 94 percent of the students who applied. At that time the incoming class approximated the national SAT average (1014). Over the past ten years enrollment has increased, the SAT average score is outpacing the national average (1061 vs. 1016), and the percentage of students accepted has decreased. Current SAT scores increased 20 points to 1079 and ACT scores increased 0.7 to 23.5; You Earned It Scholarships have helped attract more academically strong students. The average student GPA is For the class that entered in the fall of 2009, only 73 percent of students seeking to be in the Corps of Cadets and 57 percent of those selecting the traditional lifestyle were accepted. The current overall acceptance rate is 55%. Class Size: Norwich supports small class sizes as demonstrated with an average lecture section of 19. 9

10 High School Metrics: Since the fall of 2004 the incoming classes have consistently had a majority of students above 3.00 for high school Grade Point Average (GPA). High school rank showed a major change with the class that entered in the fall of Prior to 2002 only 42.6 percent of the students entering were in the top half of their high school class. The entering class of 2002 had 62.1 percent from the top 50 percent of their high school class. Currently, high school rank has increased; 74% of students are in the top half of their classes. Norwich accomplished some of this increase by developing the You Earned It scholarship, which rewarded students graduating in the top ten and twenty percent of their high school class. Endowment: From fiscal year 1983 through the present, the Norwich endowment has grown 900 percent, or an average of 9.9 percent per year. During the national and international economic downturn of the endowment was affected by adverse market conditions. At the end of 2011, however, the endowment rebounded materially and currently stands at $180MM. University Development: University Fundraising is centralized in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. The recently completed Norwich Forever! campaign raised $82MM, 50% over the goal of $55MM. Planning for the University s bi-centennial celebration in 2019 is actively underway. Faculty Data: The number of full-time faculty has been fairly stable at 150. The number of parttime faculty has shown a marked increase due to the growth of the online graduate programs. Over the past six years the number of part-time faculty has increased by 94, more than doubling in number. The age distribution of the faculty is bi-modal. One peak is between 61 and 65 where there are 25 faculty members, and the other peak is between 36 and 40 where there are 21 faculty members. Norwich pays its faculty members based upon discipline. We are now at 97 percent of the national average based upon data that comes from CUPA (The College & University Professional Association for Human Resources). Eighty-three percent of the faculty has an earned doctorate and that has been increasing; close to 100% of the faculty in College of Liberal Arts have a doctoral degree. Fifty-five percent of the teaching faculties are tenured and there are eleven more faculty members who hold administrative positions and are also tenured; prior to the fall of 2007, these individuals were considered teaching faculty. 10

11 Norwich University: Strategic Positioning Document NU 2019 In 2004, university trustees authorized the creation of a long-term strategic positioning statement that is designed to provide a living framework for the continual development and improvement of every aspect of the university. This document will be shared with qualified candidates as they advance through the interview process. Key Challenges for NU: Next 5 Years Positively work through external financial conditions that put pressure on building the endowment, providing student financial aid and funding long-term growth initiatives outlined in NU2019. The university is at steady state for undergraduate enrollment. It is important to align academic offerings with student needs and desires while strengthening university financial performance in undergraduate enrollment. Build graduate student enrollment and improve bottom line results for the university. Complete implementation of leadership development education for all undergraduate students. Improve undergraduate student retention rate from current level of 57% to 70% or higher. Lead the continuing development of distance education and online instruction. Key Performance Indicators First 6-12 months Work closely with the SVPAA on becoming familiar with the details of the restructuring plan as it involves the College of Liberal Arts and other key elements of the University. Visit with all key constituents (students, faculty, administrators, Board of Fellows, alumni) and develop rapport and trust. Inaugurate the College of Liberal Arts beginning in the fall of Work closely with department chairs, faculty and administrative leadership to gain and assure support of the implementation plan. Work with the International Center to develop curricular mapping for internationalization. Work with the University Assessment Committee, Department Chairs and faculty to develop a college assessment plan. 11

12 At months Work on plan to improve student enrollment and retention in the new College of Liberal Arts as well as to improve student and faculty performance/overall satisfaction. Meet with key alumni, development staff, and other key financial supporters to help them get to know you as the new Dean and better understand how they can support the growth and development of the new College of Liberal Arts. Financial performance of the College of Liberal Arts is showing positive improvement from academic year base. Faculty and department chairs as well as administrative leaders and other key constituents are generally pleased with the direction that the new College of Liberal Arts is taking under the leadership of the new Dean. The changes being implemented are well received and are enjoying solid support. At months An academic plan for the college is established. The ranking of the College of Liberal Arts -- as measured by US&WR, Princeton Review or others is showing solid results. The College of Liberal Arts is moving in the right direction and the constituencies are increasingly pleased with the results being generated by the College. Faculty research is up, student learning outcomes are improving, outside financial support is increasing -- and trustees, the president, the SVPAA are very pleased. Qualifications/ Experience Qualifications include a Ph.D. or terminal degree in a field aligned with the College and a minimum of five years of administrative experience at the department chair level or above; a clear leadership vision for the College; a record of effective teaching and scholarly/creative accomplishments that support appointment as a tenured associate or full professor; a solid understanding of current trends and practices in higher education, as well as a familiarity with sponsored research and a record of successful grant procurement. Key Personal Qualities/ Experience & Work Style The new Dean will be articulate, curious, collegial, and very approachable by all key constituents. She or he will be a natural leader, who is friendly and outgoing and possesses a solid record of academic achievement over many years of development. Because Norwich is rooted in experiential learning, the new Dean will be a person who will appreciate and foster the entire Norwich experience. He or she will embrace it in as many ways as possible to consistently demonstrate his or her deep commitment to the growth and development of the University, as well as to the satisfaction of all groups that depend on the Dean for leadership, integrity and as a positive example to the entire Norwich community. 12

13 Compensation Salary is competitive. A full benefit package will be offered. More detailed information about compensation will be provided to qualified candidates. Interested Candidates Please send Cover Letter and CV in confidence to deancolanu@kulpercompany.com We are looking forward to receiving responses from qualified candidates as soon as possible. It is the goal of the search committee to begin interviewing candidates February 1, Interviews will continue until a finalist group is selected. 13

14 Norwich University is an equal opportunity employer This position specification is subject to change at the sole discretion of the employer. Copyright 2012 KULPER & COMPANY, LLC