Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

KentStateUniversity

Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

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Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

KentStateUniversityseeks a recognized academic leader and scholar with energy and keen intellectual vision for the position of Dean, College of Arts and Sciences.

KentStateUniversity: OneUniversity with Multiple Access Points

Poised to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2010, KentState is an established academic leader in a major population and economic center. Northeast Ohio is home to 4.5 million people, 26 Fortune 1000 firms, one of the nation’s top five industrial markets, and is Ohio’s leading export region. The region is rich in natural and cultural amenities, including the splendor of the Great Lakes, one of the country’s most-visited national parks, the nation’s second-largest theatre district, a world-class symphony orchestra, eclectic neighborhoods, and multicultural experiences in settings from urban to rural. KentStateUniversityboasts an eight-campus system across Northeast Ohio, with a population of approximately 33,600 students, 3,300 full-time faculty and staff members, and 176,000 alumni. The University’s annual budget is $500 million, approximately 23% of which comes from the State of Ohio. The total assets of the Kent State University Foundation are $125 million. KentState is ranked among the nation’s 77 public research universities demonstrating high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The University consists of eight campuses, which include:

• Kent Campus, Kent
• Ashtabula Campus, Ashtabula
• East Liverpool Campus, East Liverpool
• Geauga Campus, Burton
• Salem Campus, Salem
• Stark Campus, Canton
• Trumbull Campus, Warren
• Tuscarawas Campus, New Philadelphia.

The Kent Campus, which has a student body of 22,000 and a thriving on-campus residential population of 6,000, is located on a beautiful 900-acre physical plant in Kent, Ohio, a city of 30,000, within the greater Cleveland-Akron metropolitan area. It provides the intellectual, scientific, social, economic, and artistic resources of a major research university in a safe and serene campus setting.

KentStateUniversity’s seven regional campuses draw full and part-time students, now totaling about 11,000, primarily from their local communities. Like the Kent Campus, each regional campus is thoroughly engaged in the surrounding community, making available the rich resources of a comprehensive and diverse university and significantly impacting that area’s economic well-being and quality of life. Each campus has the flexibility to meet wide-ranging local needs throughassociate or selected baccalaureate programs; continuing education and training; research/technology parks; and facilities for advanced technology, manufacturing, and the performing arts.

KentStateUniversity:Academic Points of Pride

KentStateUniversityis understandably proud of its world-class faculty, staff and students, its collaborative culture, and exceptional academic and research orientation. KentState is committed to engagement, academic excellence, and diversity. The University offers 32 associate, 272 baccalaureate, 214 master’s, and 59 doctoral degree programs. Through its regional campus system andCollege of Continuing Studies, Kent StateUniversity also offers certifications, workforce development, and corporate training serving part-time adult learners and organizations in the region and beyond. Academic programs are organized into eight degree-granting colleges: Architecture and Environmental Design; Arts and Sciences; the Arts; Business Administration; Communication and Information; Education, Health, and Human Services; Nursing; and Technology. The 2006-07 budgets for KentState’s eight campuses total $225 million. During fiscal year 2005-06, the University received more than $26 million in external research support.

KentState’s top priority of student success has led to the expansion of opportunities for undergraduate research, internships and other career-building experiences; establishment of learning communities linking students with shared majors and interests; and creation of new degree programs in high-demand and emerging fields. Thirteen living-learning communities, 10 freshman interest groups, and faculty members working in residential colleges support the social dimension of learning.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has placed KentState among a select group of colleges and universities to be considered for a new voluntary classification in community engagement. The University’s culture of collaboration is rooted internally in the conduct of academic programs and externally in the meaningful ways in which each campus engages with its local community and the region as a whole. The University houses many leading-edge consortia serving wide-ranging societal needs, such as the Northeastern Ohio Consortium for Biopreparedness, a regional center for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the OhioLiteracyResourceCenter, and the ResearchCenter in Educational Technology. In 2006, KentState forged an historic partnership, Complete to Compete, with OhioUniversity, creating a 14-campus system promoting degree completion to the estimated 450,000 adults across easternOhio with some college credit.

Evidencing the depth and range of KentState’s academic excellence and student success are the following academic distinctions:

• The Liquid Crystal Institute is the leading academic center in the world in this field and has spun off a number of companies and advances in applications, such as display tablets, projection display devices, and flexible displays.
• KentState’s FashionSchool is ranked in the top tier of fashion education institutions in the nation by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, with programs in Kent, Florence, Hong Kong, and New York City, and affiliations in Paris and London.
• The interior designprogram, housed within the College ofArchitecture and Environmental Design, is one of the top 12 programs in the U.S. Graduates from the college consistently outperform those from other universities in professional accreditation examinations.
• KentState’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and School of Visual Communication Design are among the nation’s most respected schools in their fields. They are components of a vibrant College of Communication and Information, whose distinctive offerings include a unique M.S. in information architecture and knowledge management.
• The University’s School of Library and Information Science is ranked 19th by U.S. News and World Report. It houses one of most respected youth librarianship programs in the nation.
• KentState is home to the nation’s only derivatives-oriented simulated trading floor in an academic institution and one of just 39 M.S. in financial engineering programs in the world. Because of its preeminence in this field, KentState was selected by the Chicago Board of Trade to host an annual Asia-Pacific Futures Research Symposium.
• The HonorsCollege was one of the first honors programs in the U.S. to achieve college status (in 1965). Today, it enrolls 1,300 exceptional students across six campuses. A new HonorsCenter and integrated residence hall opened in Fall 2006.
• The Department of Pan-African Studies is home to one of the oldest African-American studies programs in the country. Renovation of the Oscar Ritchie Hall, housing the University’s multicultural programs, is scheduled to begin in the 2007-08 year.
• The WickPoetryCenter, established in 1984 and one of only 10 poetry centers in the country, promotes educational and artistic opportunities for emerging and established poets and poetry audiences.
• The Kent/Blossom Music program, housed in the newly reorganized College of the Arts, partners with members of the renowned Cleveland Orchestra each summer. The Porthouse Theatre on the Blossom grounds partners with nationally renowned directors, designers and actors each summer and enjoys the highest subscriber base of any northeast Ohio theatre. The Kent/Blossom Art program partners students with professional artists in its summer program.
• KentState offers the only complete undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral sequence in translation in the nation and the only B.A. in American Sign Language east of the Mississippi River.
• KentStategraduates more professionals in art education, education, nursing and other health and human services professions than any other university inOhio.

• KentState’s School of Biomedical Sciences provides master’s and doctoral programs in multiple biomedical science disciplines, engaging faculty at KentState, neighboring Northeast Ohio universities, NEOUCOM, and the Cleveland Clinic. It is the largest inter-institutional graduate program in Ohio.

• KentStateUniversity and Summa Health System of Akron have teamed to form the Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress. Through its work, the center is having regional, national, and international impact in advancing the science of traumatic stress and the well-being of people affected by traumatic events.
• KentStatepursues a strong international emphasis, with 90 international exchanges, 938 students from 90 countries, and distinguished overseas study programs including campuses in Florence, Italy, and Geneva, Switzerland.
• The University Research Council generously funds and supports faculty research and diverse scholarly and creative projects and collaborates with the University Teaching Council and the FacultyProfessionalDevelopmentCenter to assist and promote faculty scholarship. Annually, the councils recognize distinguished faculty andfundresearch-leave appointments.
• The University’s Libraries and Media Services is a member of the Association of Research Libraries. It is also a member of the highly respectedOhio Library and Information Network, known as OhioLINK.

An Ambitious Leadership Agenda

KentStateUniversityis embarking on an aggressive agenda under the leadership of Dr. Lester A. Lefton, who became KentState’s 11th President on July 1, 2006. The charge to the university’s new leadership centers around four priorities: promoting academic excellence as job one; launching the most ambitious capital campaign in Kent State history; ensuring the University has a strong fiscal and physical infrastructure; and applying Kent State’s extraordinary strengths to local, regional, national, and global challenges, often in partnership with other public and private organizations.

The College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Liberal Arts was created in 1929 after school superintendents, who were impressed with the teachers from KentState, insisted that such a quality undergraduate education be available to their students who were interested in pursuing other careers. This resulted in a grassroots movement of service clubs, chambers of commerce, American Legion posts, and many civic organizations to bring a liberal arts college to northeast Ohio. The College was established with two objectives: to provide the opportunity for contact with a variety of fields of human knowledge necessary for general culture and to provide the opportunity for special study in the field of the student’s individual interest.

Karl Leabrick, President of Kent State University from 1938-43, advocated that the College of Liberal Arts become, in his words, “the backbone of the university.” He reorganized the University into three colleges: liberal arts, education, and business, but insisted that the College of Liberal Arts hold the central position of the University.

In 1956 the College of Liberal Arts was renamed the College of Arts and Sciences and grouped into the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Currently, the College of Arts and Sciences houses 19 departments. It offers 45baccalaureate degrees, masters degrees in 35 programs, and 30 doctorates in 14 disciplines. The College has long appreciated and taken advantage of the interrelationships among the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. There are currently 10 interdisciplinary undergraduate majors and 24 interdisciplinary minors. No matter what major a student chooses, the first year of each student’s academic career is spent mostly in courses from the College of Arts and Sciences learning basic writing, quantitative, and critical thinking skills. The College also provides the vast majority of diversity courses, many times giving students their first exposure to cultures other than their own.

The tradition of the liberal arts and sciences at KentState extends beyond the undergraduate program to the graduate program. The Master’s program in Liberal Studies, housed in Arts and Sciences, encourages students to continue, or return to, studies that integrate several disciplines. They find their own unifying theme for their individual programs, follow their intellectual curiosity beyond the boundaries of specialization, and recharge their imaginations with the energy of a great tradition. That tradition, with roots in ancient Greece, manifests itself in all of these areas in two complementary ways. Its conservative force comes from its function of transmitting culture from generation to generation. Its radical force comes from its function of questioning everything, including that cultural heritage. The result is a powerful blend of tradition and innovation, stability and progress—not a bad result for its students as they sort out their own values and make decisions as social and political beings in society.

The heart of the College is the dedicated faculty who conduct original research, and who teach students in the classroom, in the laboratory, and in the community the skills, values, and wisdom of a liberal arts education. This education is the greatest gift the University can provide for the public good. Citizens who can think critically are the necessary ingredient for a healthy democracy.

As they continue delivering a liberal arts education, the College remains dedicated to the pursuit of human excellence. They continue to devote their lives to educating a person rather than training a worker. The Woodrow Wilson Foundation states that short-sighted careerism is impractical as well as intellectually narrow and predicts that as jobs quickly become outmoded in the 21st century, careers will depend on the capacity for quantitative, literary, historical, and scientific thinking—the very foundations of a liberal arts education. As a College, they take their role as the backbone of the University very seriously. The College of Arts and Sciences may be old-fashioned in continuing to hold fast to traditional values, but the liberal education it provides is as important to the students in the professional programs as it is to the students in its own college.

Qualifications of the Next Dean

The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Kent State will be a distinguished leader who will hold an earned doctorate or equivalent terminal degree, have a strong appreciation for and commitment to academic research, come with impeccable academic credentials, and will be recognized as a scholar and a leader among peers. The Dean will have the breadth of background essential to understanding the multitude of disciplines at KentState; foster an environment encouraging discovery, creativity, and scholarship; have demonstrated the ability to attract and retain a diverse superior faculty, student body, and staff; and have a record of building high-quality programs.

The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Kent State will be an effective leader who understands and can build upon its rich traditions and special resources as it continues as a premier institution. This leader will appreciate the uniqueness and contributions of each of the University’s campuses and the resulting diverse and complex, but complementary, nature of the system. The Dean will take bold action and make decisions that reflect both intellect and foresight. This leader will have a clear sense of vision based on strongly held principles. The Dean will inspire others and instill pride in all stakeholders of KentState; appreciate and support the University’s role in the region, state and beyond; and be flexible and forward-looking as change is managed.

This person will be an adept communicator who is accessible to all constituencies of the University, both internal and external. The Dean will have in-depth knowledge and experience with contemporary higher education issues. This leader must be effective in presenting the needs and opportunities that lie ahead for KentState, the region, the state and beyond.

The Dean will be a proven, capable, and successful administrator who will have a record of promoting diversity among students, faculty, and staff. The Dean will appreciate the vital and visible role of students and the important and visible role of intercollegiate athletics in establishing the institution’s image. The Dean will understand the compelling need to prepare students and the region and state for success in a global and pluralistic society. This leader will have the sensitivity and mature judgment to select effective and diverse team members, share authority with them, and be totally committed to participatory decision-making and shared governance. The Dean will have superior strategic planning skills and will be an exemplary fiscal and budgetary manager. By example the Dean will encourage and support excellence in learning, discovery, and engagement, and promote leadership development at all academic and administrative levels.

In summary, it is expected that the next Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Kent Statewill:

1. possess the skill and demonstrated abilityto manage a complex and diverse College;
2. be committed to a relevant and rigorous education for every student;
3. promote the academic mission of the University and position the faculty fully to benefit students, balancing teaching, scholarship, and service;
4. have an unquestioned dedication to the role of research and scholarship;
5. have an unquestioned commitment to, and a record of success in, all areas of diversity and globalization;
6. be committed to innovation and change;
7. foster collaboration and collegiality among faculty, staff, students, and the administration;
8. be an effective advocate for the University and build a trust-based relationship with people of diverse interests and affiliations;
9. understand the changing economic environment for higher education in the state and nation and partner with the public and private sectors to develop solutions in the public interest.

The next Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Kent State University will need to: