Dean of the College of Fine Arts

Ball State University seeks a visionary, strategic, and creative leader to serve as its next dean of the College of Fine Arts and invites inquiries, nominations, and applications.

Located in Muncie, Indiana, Ball State University serves approximately 22,000 graduate and undergraduate students with about 190 undergraduate programs. Ball State offers more than 140 master's, doctoral, certificate, and specialist degrees, many of them ranking among the best in the nation. Originally founded to fill a need for more and better teachers, Ball State graduates scholars who are leaders in their professions and communities.

The College of Fine Arts is one of seven academic colleges that along with the Honors College and Graduate School, compose Ball State. Its academic programs are housed in School of Arts, School of Music, and Department of Theatre and Dance. The college offers bachelors and master's degrees in art; bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in music and bachelor's degrees in theatre and dance. The college is also home to the David Owsley Museum of Art featuring a collection that spans millennia and continents, from prehistoric hand tools to Renaissance paintings to American furniture. Each year the college's 139 faculty serve more than 1,400 majors, including approximately 100 graduate students. Additional information on the college may be found at bsu.edu/cfa.

Reporting directly to the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, the dean of the College of Fine Arts serves as the chief academic and administrative officer of the college. The dean is responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating the operational, personnel, budgetary, fundraising, and student activities of the college and providing leadership and direction in the development and implementation of curricula and academic programming. The dean is expected to foster interdisciplinary collaborations within the college and across campus, promote open communication, and facilitate strategic planning and goal development across the academic departments and units in unison with the campus's broader strategic plan.

The next dean of the College of Fine Arts will be a proactive, collaborative, and creative thinker who will lead and partner with the college’s faculty, staff, and others to shape, develop, and implement a vision for the future of the college. The dean will nurture high-quality teaching, creative activity, scholarship, and diversity as critical components of excellence. The next dean will also be a visible and compelling advocate and spokesperson for the college — across the university and out in the community — with a strong capacity for fundraising as well as understanding and management of complex budgets and resource allocation models. In addition, the dean will be forward-thinking and open to new ideas and approaches; demonstrate transparency and a willingness to listen and communicate actively; passionately interested in students and their development as artists, scholars, and makers; exhibit strong organizational, budgetary, and management skills; and embody a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The dean will possess a record of accomplishment sufficient to qualify for tenure and appointment at the level of professor in the college. A terminal degree is required.  For more information about this search, please visit www.wittkieffer.com.

Inquiries, nominations, and applications are invited. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. For fullest consideration, applicant materials should be received by January 18, 2019. Candidates should provide, as four separate documents, a curriculum vitae, a letter of application that addresses the responsibilities and requirements described in the leadership profile, a diversity statement describing ability to promote and advance inclusive excellence, and the names and contact information of five references. References will not be contacted without prior knowledge and approval of candidates. Send these materials, nominations or inquires by e-mail to Ball State University consultants, Suzanne Teer and Veena Abraham, at BallStateDeanCFA@wittkieffer.com.

 

Ball State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that is strongly and actively committed to diversity within its community. Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected status.