The University of Virginia seeks a strategic, collaborative, and high-integrity leader to become the next Dean of the School of Education and Human Development (SEHD). SEHD is on an impressive growth trajectory, in recent years significantly increasing its rankings, sponsored research portfolio, and innovative, interdisciplinary academic programs, including a growing range of online opportunities. The School houses a broad range of disciplines and has partnered successfully with other schools across the University on interdisciplinary work. With more than 24 areas of study, SEHD offers degrees related to education, mental health, physical health and activity, and human development and serves undergraduates, master’s, and doctoral degree students’ preparation and needs, as well as working professionals. The next Dean will lead a diverse group of accomplished researchers and innovative educators at a School that is well positioned to spur transformative change in education and human development through rigorous practice-informed and community engaged scholarship, professional preparation, and partnerships to translate science into educational practice and policy. The faculty, students, and staff of SEHD are committed to pursuing these missions with a focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Reporting to the Executive Vice President and Provost, the Dean will continue to strategically move SEHD on an ambitious path that adheres to the school’s core values: rigorous scholarship; effective application of scholarship to solve problems; high academic standards and integrity; an inclusive community valuing diverse perspectives, identities, and disciplines; respectful and caring professional and learning environments, and; partnerships with our local, and greater communities. As the flagship public school of education in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and located within 100 miles of Washington, DC, SEHD is uniquely positioned to have statewide and national impact on educational practice and policies.
The next Dean will join the University at a time of change, opportunity, and a shared sense of vision. The University welcomed its ninth president, James E. Ryan, in August of 2018 and Provost M. Elizabeth (Liz) Magill followed in summer 2019. President Ryan formerly served as Dean for the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He and Provost Magill have a special appreciation for the significant contributions that SEHD makes to the broader University, the local community, and to society.
A PDF of the position description is available here.
The Role
The School of Education and Human Development is seeking an accomplished scholar and academic leader with a demonstrated commitment to innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration to serve as its next Dean. The Dean will have responsibility for the academic, strategic, programmatic, financial, fundraising, and management operations that support the mission and vision of the School and its role within the broader University. They will join a School that is thriving with a wide array of disciplines and academic programs, and they will have the opportunity to further refine these offerings and expand enrollments. The Dean will play an essential role in continuing to raise the profile of the School by promoting innovative scholarship, sponsored research, effective approaches to education and human development, a diverse portfolio of in-person and online educational programs, and partnerships to apply and test those approaches in real world settings, and meaningful community engagement.
Vision and Strategy
The Dean will build on a strong mission and vision, with a commitment to stay at the forefront of academic work that promotes education and human development. The Dean will value interdisciplinary and multi-method scholarship, sponsored research, value-added teaching, professional preparation, and solutions to problems of education and human development that are designed to benefit children, families, educators, and communities at scale. They will show a commitment to building an inclusive, diverse, and equitable community for all of the School’s faculty, staff, and students. They will value the breadth of disciplines in the School and collaborations with schools across the University on meaningful scholarly and academic work. The Dean will provide strategic and transformative leadership by further defining and executing an aspirational and focused vision for the future in collaboration with the School’s faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners. Key to this will be maintaining and building on the School’s strengths while proactively pursuing new and innovative goals in a global, highly competitive, and constantly evolving market.
The Dean will build on the School’s mission and vision, invest in its culture and community, and align the School’s strategy with the broader objectives of the University. The Dean will serve as a unifying force within the School and as an effective external leader and advocate, one who serves in partnership with the Provost and the Deans of the University’s other schools.
Learn more—and find application instructions—at the full announcement, here.