Dean of the College of Business Administration

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) seeks a dynamic and visionary leader for the College of Business Administration (COBA). The next Dean, who will also hold the and Paul L. Foster and Alejandra de las Vega Foster Distinguished Chair in International Business, will have exceptional opportunities to promote access and excellence in education and research at UTEP, a university committed to serving a twenty-first century student demographic. The Dean will play a critical role in the University's strategic planning initiative, provide leadership and direction for the AACSB accredited College to ensure the highest standards of quality in Business Administration education and research.

The Dean is the chief academic officer and administrative leader of the College and serves as a key member of the University leadership team. Working collaboratively with faculty and staff to advance the College's mission. The Dean will represent the College’s faculty, students, and staff within the University and a wide range of external constituencies. The Dean will be responsible for development efforts in support of the goals of the College, with external partners as well as alumni and donors.

The College's department chairs, associate deans, and several college staff report directly to the Dean. The Dean has financial and administrative management responsibility for the College, guides and oversees its annual operating budget, and leads its development efforts. To ensure the College of Business Administration continues to grow with distinction, the next Dean is expected to place high on her/his agenda several key opportunities:

• developing a compelling vision and strategic direction for the College that is aligned with University goals and objectives, particularly over the next 5-10 years.
• communicating the College's vision to various audiences and constituencies
• developing a strategic financial plan, including the implementation of entrepreneurial initiatives and identification of new revenue streams
• creating a positive, cooperative climate conducive to inclusion and achievement
• promoting high academic standards while leading the College in diversification efforts and providing growth opportunities for students and faculty
• creating a culture of continuous improvement in which various assessments are employed as a means not only to measure program outcomes but also to improve student learning and experiences
• cultivating a community presence that is open and accessible to our many students who are first in their families to pursue higher education
• encouraging the generation of research proposals for extramural grant funding
• collaborating with El Paso's regional business, non-profit, and military community in developing and implementing initiatives that will enhance educational and research programs as well as provide employment opportunities for students
• growing the college’s international business programs
• creating and sustaining an environment supportive of research, scholarship, and creative activity
• providing oversight of the College’s instructional program including leadership in curriculum improvement, innovation, and assessment of student learning
• leading the College’s fundraising and grant-seeking efforts
• leading capital campaign efforts related to expanding and renewing the colleges buildings
• planning and administering the annual budgeting process and the budget for the College
• assuming responsibility for the supervision of the College’s support staff and personnel.

  Position Requirements:

  The College of Business Administration seeks an inspiring, intellectual, and entrepreneurial leader to set it on a dynamic course for the future. The new Dean will bring high academic standards and an outstanding record of research as well as strong management and leadership skills.

  Minimum requirements are:

• the ability to qualify for appointment as a tenured full Business Administration professor, and to hold the Paul L. Foster and Alejandra de las Vega Foster Distinguished Chair in International Business
• demonstrated excellence in leadership and management that is indicative of innovative approaches and the ability to make clear, informed decisions
• a record that shows a meaningful commitment to, and demonstrated accomplishment in, issues associated with advancing diversity and inclusion
• ability to work effectively with faculty across the College’s various departments and to demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among these fields
• superior communication skills, political adeptness, and the capacity to represent the College effectively to local, national, and international constituencies
• administrative experience as a dean, associate dean, department chair, or comparable position, including experience in strategic planning, policy development, budget oversight, effective leadership, supervision and management of faculty and staff personnel, and collegial collaboration as a member of an academic administrative team
• capacity for supporting faculty development in teaching, research, scholarship, and service
• administrative experience working with and supporting faculty, staff, students and programs that are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation, and physical ability
• capacity for implementing initiatives to facilitate student success, ensure learning outcomes are met, and narrow achievement gaps

  Preferred Qualifications are:

• three or more years of increasing administrative responsibilities at the level of department chair or higher
• significant experience solving a variety of complex curricular, fiscal/budgetary, human resources challenges, and organizational management experience in an accredited institution of higher learning similar to UTEP
• experience in international contexts and trends, and a vision of related opportunities
• experience in promoting economic development activities within universities and in partnership with local communities
• demonstrated experience
  • developing and maintaining partnerships outside of the university,
  • overseeing accreditation and/or program assessment,
  • generating external support and fundraising, and leading organizational change.

Key attributes in a successful candidate for Dean of the UTEP College of Business Administration:

• a dedication to the principles of UTEP’s Access and Excellence mission
• a commitment to student success initiatives including the UTEP Edge, a program that honors and builds upon UTEP students’ strengths and assets
• an open and consultative leadership style, partnering with and motivating faculty, staff, and students to take the College to a heightened level of success
• an ability to orchestrate successful engagement with external funding agencies and sponsors
• a demonstrated track record of accomplishments that exhibits a balanced commitment to academic excellence and advancement of research
• a record of success as an administrator in a complex organization
• a clear understanding of leading-edge methods and instructional technologies to support teaching and learning in face-to-face and online settings
• a record of providing strong, consistent, and fair leadership
• a record of collaborating across the University and with the external community
• understanding the college’s role in supporting the economic development of the region

  The College of Business Administration:

  The College of Business Administration shares with the University of Texas at El Paso its fundamental mission to provide the highest quality education to the El Paso region and well beyond. The college celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017, a half-century that has been marked with continual growth and success. 

  With over 3,000 undergraduates and 320 graduate students, it is one of the larger colleges on the UTEP campus. It offers certificates as well as bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in Business Administration disciplines including Accounting, Economics, Information Systems, Finance, Marketing, Management, and Operations and Supply Chain Management.  Additional statistics can be found here:  https://cierpdata.utep.edu/UTEPFacts/Home.aspx.

  The College has 75 faculty FTE’s, including 60 full-time faculty, organized into 10 research and teaching groups: Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Finance, Information Systems, International and Cross-Border Business, Management, Marketing, Operations and Supply Chain Management, and Quantitative Methods and Analysis. 

The College has received national recognition including the following:

• Ranked “Best of the Best MBA Programs” by Professional Woman’s, Hispanic Network and Black EOE Journal magazines since 2014
• MBA Program ranked #1 by Hispanic Business Magazine for five consecutive years.
• Ranked #1 Graduate Program in Nation by Excelencia in Education 2012
• Selected with Dartmouth, Northwestern, and the University of Maryland by Public Relations Society of America for National Pilot Program in Strategic Communications Curriculum
• In Diverse Magazine’s 2014 Issue in Higher Education, COBA was ranked 3rd in Finance, 5th in Accounting and Marketing, 6th in Management

The uptick in enrollment caused by such rankings spurred physical growth. In 2010, a 12,000-square-foot facility opened in the Chase Building in Downtown El Paso that featured classrooms, student work areas and administrative offices.

COBA has taken a direct role in economic development through an innovative and proactive approach. By creating academic programs that meet the demand for growing sectors, COBA has been able to help attract and retain Fortune 500 employers in the area. Since 2016, the college has launched Corporate Academies for Human Capital Management, Risk Management, and Enterprise Resource Planning that have created a direct talent pipeline to ADP, Prudential, and Lockheed Martin. (https://www.utep.edu/business/undergraduate/Corporate-Academies.html)

COBA is also dedicated to spurring entrepreneurship through the Mike Loya Center for Innovation & Commerce (http://loyacenter.utep.edu/) which links the Business and Engineering disciplines. The Loya Center provides faculty from both colleges with research funding and supports students in the creation of new businesses. In 2014, the Loya Center launched a joint BS-MBA program that enabled undergraduate Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Industrial Engineering students to earn a B.S. degree in their discipline along with an MBA in a compressed five-year format.

The Center for Hispanic Entrepreneurship (CFHE), a research entity within the College of Business Administration conducts research in new business creation and to assist in the development of Hispanic businesses.  It provides, in partnership with the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the necessary information and training to those in need of business knowledge, and supports the business community of professionals, students, and scholars. 

The Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness, founded in 2014, serves as a multi-disciplinary research platform for the creation and application of practical research to help foster the region’s competitive capacity. The Hunt Institute brings together regional stakeholders from the public and private sectors to examine issues and offer policy insight into areas such as business development, education, infrastructure and urban planning, energy and natural resources and public health.

The University of Texas at El Paso:

Founded in 1914 as the Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy, UTEP has grown into a dynamic urban university enrolling over 25,000 students enrolled in 73 baccalaureate, 75 master's, and 22 doctoral programs. UTEP is nationally recognized for its leadership role in changing the face of U.S. higher education. Our student body, which is approximately 80% Hispanic, mirrors the population of the Paso del Norte region. As Texas and the United States become increasingly diverse, UTEP is positioned to play a critical role in ensuring that talented students of all backgrounds have the opportunity to realize their potential.

UTEP, a public research university, takes pride in success of fulfilling our Access and Excellence mission, which has allowed it to forge a path in becoming the first national research university in the U.S. with a 21st century student demographic. UTEP is recognized for its success in enabling students from modest backgrounds to set and attain the highest educational and life aspirations. The Brookings Institution in 2017 ranked UTEP as the No. 1 leader in equal access to higher education, based on a combination of research productivity and student social mobility (https://www.utep.edu/newsfeed/campus/UTEP-Ranks-No-1-in-Brookings-Institution-Study-of-US-Public-Universities.html). UTEP faculty and staff are active in research, generating over $90 million in annual research expenditures and an active grant portfolio of over $300 million—as well as conferring doctoral degrees and fostering a campus climate of civic engagement and service to our region and the nation.

UTEP is a member of the University of Texas System and ranks first nationally in the number of Hispanic graduates in Business Administration, Mathematics and Statistics, and Education, and third among all U.S. colleges and universities in the total number of bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics in all academic disciplines. UTEP remains committed to advancing higher education in the region and partners with the El Paso Community College to push toward the state’s goal for 60 percent of Texans ages 25-34 to earn a degree or certificate by the year 2030 (http://www.60x30tx.com/).

UTEP is one of the major economic engines in the Paso del Norte region and adds $1.4 billion annually in business volume to the region's economy. UTEP and COBA are taking on new roles in economic development. By working the local governments and economic development organizations, like The Borderplex Alliance (https://borderplexalliance.org/about-us/program-areas-and-incentives/borderplex-2020), UTEP provides insight to the local talent pipeline and creates opportunities for collaboration to bring new business to the region.  

El Paso has an economic climate that makes it one of the best places to explore business opportunities while experiencing a vibrant blend of culture, with diverse cuisines and more than 300 days of sunshine a year. It also boasts great landscapes, activities, and events (http://visitelpaso.com/) such as historic site tours, mountain hiking and biking, music festivals, vineyards and wineries, and nearby snow skiing.

Additional Information:

In keeping with its Access and Excellence mission, the University of Texas at El Paso is committed to an open, diverse, and inclusive learning and working environment that honors the talents, respects the differences, and nurtures the growth and development of all.   

The University of Texas at El Paso is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity in employment or the provision of services.

For accommodation information for employees and applicants with disabilities, please contact UTEP's Equal Opportunity Office at eoaa@utep.edu.

Application Instructions:

Candidates must submit a letter of interest, a CV, and a list of five professional references. No references will be contacted without prior notification to the candidate. Applications are expected to be reviewed beginning November 1, 2018, and will be accepted until the position is filled. Individuals from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.  Application queries or nominations should be sent to:

Dr. Robert A. Kirken

Search Committee Chair

cobadeansearch@utep.edu

To apply, please visit http://utep.edu/employment