Executive Director, National Center for Urban Education

Position Summary:

The National Center for Urban Education (NCUE) at Illinois State University (ISU) works to cultivate and sustain innovative, resilient, and effective educators for urban schools and their communities. Currently, there are three Urban Teacher Pipeline programs (Chicago, Decatur, and Peoria) associated with NCUE. Each Pipeline program involves an established partnership between a respective school district, a community agency, and Illinois State University faculty and staff; each program also designs and implements an immersive co-curricular educational model that is grounded in social justice and focused on recruitment, preparation, and induction of culturally-responsive urban teachers. 

The College of Education at Illinois State University is seeking an Executive Director to provide vision and support for current Pipeline initiatives as well as regional and national expansion of the center. The Executive Director is responsible for leading system-wide efforts to improve the quality of teacher preparation, strengthen partnerships with schools and communities of practice, and represent ISU at the state, national, and international levels. 

The Executive Director will expand the NCUE's national profile and growth trajectory, ensure financial viability through careful expansion into new and existing markets, and provide oversight of all operations of the organization. This position is also responsible for other decisions essential to NCUE's developmental operations, including but not limited to research and development priorities; strategic community-based partnerships and contractual agreements; and the development of consultation with other universities, school districts, and community-based agencies to expand the work and impact of the center.  

The successful candidate will develop short- and long-term strategies to accomplish the goals and objectives of the NCUE.

This position requires regular travel between Chicago, Decatur, Normal, and Peoria, Illinois.  

Required Qualifications:

1. A terminal degree in Education (Ed.D; Ph.D.) from an accredited university and university-level teaching experience.
2. A minimum of three years of administrative experience in higher education.
3. A successful record of writing and receiving external grant awards.
4. The demonstrated ability to plan, organize, coordinate and execute multiple large-scale projects with competing deadlines and unit objectives with a shared vision; to build and strengthen infrastructure; and to communicate and network with multiple stakeholders.
5. If this position is Security Sensitive or if you are subject to a criminal background investigation based on University policy, then employment is contingent upon you passing a satisfactory criminal background investigation. You may not begin work until the criminal background investigation results have been received and cleared by Human Resources.  

Desired Qualifications:

1. Broad understanding of and experience in urban education at both the K-12 and university levels.
2. Broad understanding of urban teacher education in Illinois and a familiarity with trends in university-based teacher preparation, including national issues and trends surrounding urban teacher education.
3. Excellent interpersonal and communications skills (oral and written) with the ability to cultivate professional and business partnerships.
4. A commitment to social justice and culturally-responsive teaching and learning.  

Application Process:

To assure full consideration, an application along with a resume/curriculum vita, reference list (specifically, the names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of at least three professional references), and cover letter must be submitted online at http://www.jobs.ilstu.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=73458

Review of applications will begin October 31, 2017 and continue until the position is filled.

Illinois State University:

Founded in 1857, Illinois State is a coeducational, residential university that emphasizes undergraduate study. Its 34 academic departments in 6 colleges offer 72 undergraduate programs in more than 160 fields of study.  The Graduate School coordinates 42 masters, 2 specialist, and 10 doctoral programs. Illinois State ranks 79th among the top 100 public universities in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report rankings of “Best National Universities” released in fall 2015 and has been named a “Great College to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Bloomington-Normal Community:

Illinois State University is located in the twin-city community of Bloomington-Normal, with a population of approximately 125,000 and is located within easy driving distance of the financial and business centers in Chicago and St. Louis. Expansion Management Magazine rated Bloomington-Normal as one of two metro areas with a five-star quality of life, giving the community high rankings in such areas as standard of living, quality of schools, and traffic and commute. In 2016, Huffington Post named Bloomington one of the “11 Amazing Cities You’ve Never Thought To Live In, But Should.”  Bloomington was also recently placed on Livability.com’s list of 100 Best Places to Live.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.ilstu.edu/

Illinois State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.