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Position Profile

 

 

DEAN, SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS
Tulane University, an institution with an outstanding reputation and a strong commitment to academic excellence, invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for the position of Dean of the newly created School of Liberal Arts. As the chief academic officer of a new academic unit created under the University's Plan for Renewal, the Dean will oversee both undergraduate and graduate programs as part of a unique opportunity to foster and shape all aspects of liberal arts teaching and research within a private research university situated in an historic and culturally unique urban environment.

Candidates must have an earned doctorate or equivalent terminal degree in one of the liberal arts disciplines and a record of scholarly research or creative productivity appropriate for a full professor at a major research university. Candidates must also have a record of effective management and leadership in an academic program. As the School's chief administrator, the Dean will report to the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. Responsibilities will include recruiting and leading the School of Liberal Arts faculty and student body; working collaboratively with the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the President, and fellow Deans in advancing the goals of the University while promoting the School's best interests; planning and administering short term and long term budgets; leading fundraising activities for the School; and serving as the School's chief spokesperson and representative to the larger community in fundraising, recruitment, and outreach.

Liberal arts education has long played a central role in Tulane’s academic mission. The creation of a single school housing its academic departments and interdisciplinary programs in the liberal arts was implemented through the Plan for Renewal, a unique reinvention strategy formulated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation's worst national disaster. At its center was a reorganization strategy that focused the University's resources around four goals that capitalized upon its traditional strengths, its capacity and willingness to adapt to change, and its unique, culturally rich and diverse urban setting. These four goals included a vision of "an exceptional undergraduate program that is campus- and student-centric, and dedicated to the holistic development of students." A key component of realizing this vision was the creation of a single, unified (graduate and undergraduate) School of Liberal Arts.

In the nearly two years since the Plan was announced, the progress of Tulane's recovery has been extraordinary. This fall Tulane enrolled a class of 1,324 freshmen, an increase of over fifty percent from last year's class and far exceeding the year's goal of 1,200, while maintaining admission standards in place before Hurricane Katrina. Major steps have been taken to replace faculty and key administrators lost before and after Katrina. With 4,400 employees, Tulane remains the largest employer in New Orleans. Tulane's endowment recently surpassed $1 billion, and its current fund-raising campaign has already raised $652 million toward its $700 million goal. By all measures, under the leadership of President Cowen and with the support of the Board, faculty, administrators, students, staff, alumni, friends, and universities around the nation, Tulane University not only survived the hurricane, but remains a strong, dynamic, and competitive leader among its fellow academic institutions.

These strides have not come without sacrifice, and there are serious challenges as well as opportunities that face the University and its leaders. As such, they mandate the appointment of a liberal arts dean with extraordinary vision, a respect for tradition, and a receptivity to innovation. The University seeks an individual with a distinguished record of scholarship or creative productivity and demonstrated leadership skills in a complex academic environment; an academic leader with a commitment to undergraduate liberal arts education as a cornerstone of the university experience and to building and maintaining successful graduate programs in the liberal arts as an essential part of a research university. The University seeks as well a communicator with a commitment to consultation with faculty, staff, and students; an appreciation of and respect for the role of faculty governance in the operation of a university; an appreciation for disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research; a commitment to programs that increase diversity among faculty, staff and students; an appreciation for the importance of public service; and the ability to engender private and public support for, and excitement about, the mission and future of the liberal arts experience at Tulane.

 

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS
The School of Liberal Arts provides undergraduate and graduate students with an outstanding education in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. Students develop skills of analysis, research, and written and oral expression that will serve them in every profession they pursue after graduation. The liberal arts education gives students a broader understanding of the global environment in which they live, a deeper understanding of human behavior, and a more nuanced appreciation of culture and all that enriches human existence. Liberal arts students form close relationships with a faculty who are distinguished research scholars or creative artists in their fields and who are eager to engage students in their work.

Liberal arts has been at the core of undergraduate education for most of Tulane's existence, originally housed in separate men's and women's colleges before the creation of a unified Faculty of the Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1986. In the post-Katrina reorganization mandated in the Plan for Renewal, academic departments and programs in the fine arts, social sciences, and humanities were incorporated into the School of Liberal Arts, a wholly new academic division which likewise incorporated graduate programs in the liberal arts previously under the purview of the Graduate School. The School contains 15 academic departments and 22 interdisciplinary programs, and offers the B.A., B.F.A, and B.S. baccalaureate and the M.A., M.S., M.F.A., and Ph.D. post-baccalaureate degrees. The School has a current operating budget of over $27 million and a faculty of 340, including 168 tenured or tenure-track faculty and 65 visiting faculty and postdoctoral fellows. Its student body currently includes 1,837 undergraduates, whose average SAT score is 1315 (v+q), and 346 graduate students, among whom are those who matriculated in the current year with an average GRE score of 1219 (v+q). Over the past decade, award-winning students in the liberal arts include ten Fulbright scholars, three Marshall scholars, one Rhodes scholar, and recipients of Luce, Mellon, and Javits Awards or Fellowships.

The School is organized into three divisions. The Humanities division houses seven departments and 12 programs offering 23 majors and minors, including African and African Diaspora Studies, American Studies, Classical Studies, Communication, English, French and Italian, Germanic and Slavic Studies, Jewish Studies, Philosophy, and Spanish and Portuguese. The Fine Arts division houses three departments and four programs offering 11 majors and minors, including Art, Music, Theater and Dance. The Social Sciences division houses five departments and five programs offering 13 majors and minors, including Anthropology, Economics, History, Latin American Studies, Political Economy, Political Science, Sociology, and Women's Studies. In addition to these departments and programs, the School of Liberal Arts collaborates regularly with the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, The Payson Center for International Development, and the Murphy Institute of Political Economy, and has recently initiated interdisciplinary programs in Social Policy and Practice and in Urban Studies, in conjunction with the School of Social Work and the School of Architecture, respectively.

The faculty of the School of Liberal Arts is an active community of educators, research scholars, and creative artists of national and international prominence. Their dual role as educators and researchers in a small University setting provides a dynamic and intimate learning experience and a unique opportunity for students to be active participants in the generation and dissemination of new knowledge (see SLA Faculty Awards & Honors).

A unique aspect of Tulane is the active role that faculty play in governance of matters of academic policy and the day-to-day running of the University. There are eight standing committees, for a total of 45 faculty, in the School of Liberal Arts, as well as five other university-wide committees whose membership includes 22 SLA faculty. The SLA Dean and the Deans of other Schools as well as the President are served by Executive committees largely populated by faculty and regularly seek the advice of faculty on matters of academic policy.

 

ABOUT TULANE
Tulane's purpose is to create, communicate and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom. Tulane pursues this mission by cultivating an environment that focuses on learning and the generation of new knowledge; by expecting and rewarding teaching and research of extraordinarily high quality and impact; and by fostering community building initiatives as well as scientific, cultural and social understanding that integrates with and strengthens learning and research. This mission is pursued in the context of the unique qualities of its location in New Orleans and the continual aspiration to be a truly distinctive international university.

Founded in 1834, Tulane is one of the most highly regarded and selective independent research universities in the United States. Tulane is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, a select group of 62 universities with “pre-eminent programs of graduate and professional education and scholarly research.” Its schools and colleges offer undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in the liberal arts, science and engineering, architecture, business, law, social work, medicine and public health and tropical medicine. Research in many disciplines has flourished at Tulane through the establishment of centers such as the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute, the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Middle American Research Institute, the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, the Murphy Institute, the Payson Center, the Tulane Cancer Center, the Tulane Center for Gene Therapy and the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women. Tulane is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a university with “very high research activity.” Of more than 4,300 institutions of higher education rated by the Foundation, Tulane remains in a prestigious category that includes only 2 percent of universities nationwide.

The undergraduate experience is marked by close student-faculty interaction, a variety of campus programs, and a diverse student body representing all 50 states and more than 40 different countries. Tulane students enjoy the instruction of full-time faculty at every stage of their program of study. The University is dedicated to attracting and retaining the very best faculty, staff and students as it moves forward toward the goal of universal recognition as one of the world’s most preeminent educational and research institutions.

Tulane strives to connect its values and mission to the needs of the city of New Orleans, the state, and the nation. Community involvement is now more important than ever as the University participates in the rebirth of New Orleans. Faculty and staff lend their expertise to rebuilding efforts and students gain real-world experience while putting their skills to use in the community. A major component of the Renewal Plan is the requirement of 2-3 credit hours of public service of all undergraduates, providing them the opportunity to apply academic skills and knowledge for the common good as well to be a part of history as New Orleans emerges from an unprecedented national disaster.

 

FROM RECOVERY TO RENEWAL IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE KATRINA
On August 29, 2005 New Orleans and the Gulf South experienced the worst natural and cultural disaster in the history of the United States. The leadership of Tulane University used the recovery period following Hurricane Katrina to take a hard look at the storm's immediate and future financial impact and how to reshape and renew the University in response to that impact. It took Tulane 172 years to become one of the most respected and highly regarded universities in the nation, and the University’s leadership pledged that, rather than allow disaster to destroy Tulane’s legacy and dream of world-class academic excellence, it would redefine and renew the University for the future. Toward this end, the University formulated a plan, known as the Plan for Renewal, that details the steps that must be taken in order to achieve financial viability in the post-Katrina environment while remaining true to the long-term goals of the University, advancing Tulane's status in the higher education community, strengthening its ties to and support of the city of New Orleans and maximizing its efficiency. Major elements of the Plan, which can be found in its entirety at http://renewal.tulane.edu, are summarized below:

AN ENHANCED UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE

Tulane has long been committed to providing an unparalleled undergraduate experience as well as continuing to attract and retain the brightest and most gifted students. A key component of the Plan involved continuing and enhancing this experience by adopting the following objectives:

  • To maintain existing academic standards in the face of smaller first-year classes that may follow Hurricane Katrina, in a move towards a smaller, stronger undergraduate population.
  • To enhance the undergraduate experience by ensuring that all full-time faculty teach undergraduate classes, providing students with the excitement of learning from senior faculty members.
  • To take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities in community building following Hurricane Katrina by requiring entering students, in the course of their undergraduate study, to participate in community-service work in helping rebuild the city of New Orleans.
  • To augment current professional school programs to increase interaction with undergraduate students.
  • To strengthen the undergraduate experience by developing a residential college system in which first- and second-year students live on campus in residential communities that include academic programming, co-curricular activities and oversight by Tulane faculty members and their families.

ACADEMIC REORGANIZATION

As historic and organic institutions, universities traditionally grow to meet the needs of changing academic climates and social developments. As a result, most universities have very large and complex organizational structures. The economic pressures caused by Hurricane Katrina required Tulane to examine every part of its organizational structure and look at ways the academic areas could be reorganized. The goal was to maximize organizational efficiency and at the same time become a smaller university more focused on areas with established strengths.

The Faculty of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering have been reorganized into two schools: the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Science and Engineering. A total of five programs—Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Exercise and Sports Science—were eliminated. Students in these programs were given the opportunity to continue their studies at Tulane and finish degree requirements by May 2007, or offered assistance in selecting another major at Tulane or transferring to another institution.

All full-time undergraduates now enter the University through a newly created Undergraduate College which coordinates all undergraduate initiatives. As such, the College oversees core curriculum, works with the schools to define core and major requirements for degree, and handles general undergraduate advising.

MORE FOCUSED GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS

Tulane has focused its energy and resources in graduate level programs that have proven or emerging areas of expertise and, in the sciences and engineering, have the proven ability to obtain competitively awarded grant funding. Some of the existing doctoral programs were combined to maximize interdisciplinary opportunities, while others were suspended. Students in the latter programs have been allowed to continue to graduation. Supervision of graduate programs now falls within the various schools, with oversight by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

The graduate and professional student experience has been enhanced by expanding opportunities for public service and extracurricular activities in the School of Social Work, the School of Law, the School of Architecture, the A.B. Freeman School of Business, the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and the School of Medicine.

COMMUNITY FOCUS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Tulane’s unique relationship to the culturally rich and diverse city of New Orleans provides an opportunity for it to play a leading role in the city's recovery, in conjunction with its long-standing relationship with other institutions of higher education in the city.

A newly created program—The Partnership for the Transformation of Urban Communities—supports educational, outreach and research programs of national and international relevance stemming from the Hurricane Katrina experience, and further the growth in urban studies that Tulane has been pursuing for a number of years. Its focus is in transforming and sustaining healthy communities locally, regionally and around the world. This intra- and inter-university partnership is unique in America. Issues that the Partnership addresses include race and poverty, social justice, educational policies and strategies for public school systems and the physical development of urban communities.

Tulane seeks to transform its current partnership with Dillard and Xavier universities into a nationally known and respected example of academic collaboration between a major research university and two Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This effort will strengthen all three of our institutions individually and collectively and accelerate Tulane's ongoing diversity efforts, in an effort to ultimately be a model for other universities to follow.

INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS

Because of financial issues caused by Hurricane Katrina, the NCAA has assured the University of its support to secure a five-year exemption from meeting both NCAA Division I-A and Conference USA membership criteria.

Tulane now supports six Division I-A programs—football, men and women's basketball, baseball, women's volleyball, and women's indoor and outdoor track—and next fall will add men’s and women’s cross country track, men’s outdoor track, and women’s golf and tennis.

Tulane has honored athletic scholarships for all eligible student-athletes in suspended programs and has assisted those who wished to transfer.

Long term goals include a renewal strategy for intercollegiate athletics based on the recovery of New Orleans and the University.

FINANCIAL RECOVERY

The University has continued to reconfigure, and in some cases reduce its school-based and shared-service administrative functions. In making these decisions, the relevance and cost effectiveness of the administrative functions will be evaluated against the University's mission and size.

LOOKING AHEAD

The changes to Tulane University outlined in the Renewal Plan, which received Board of Tulane approval on December 8, 2005 are far-reaching and dramatic. As far-reaching as the changes are, their impact will reverberate in a positive way through future years. A smaller but much stronger and more focused Tulane University will lead the way in helping to rebuild New Orleans and will serve as a model for other institutions of higher education seeking to refocus their resources and energy in order to have the maximum impact on their communities and on our world.

 

TULANE UNIVERSITY SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS
Scott S. Cowen, president
Michael A. Bernstein, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost
Alan M. Miller, interim senior vice president for health sciences
Yvette M. Jones, chief operating officer and senior vice president for external affairs
Anthony P. Lorino, senior vice president for operations and chief financial officer
Paul L. Barron, chief information officer
Victoria D. Johnson, general counsel
Anne P. Baños, chief of staff and vice president

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Tulane University Office of Academic Affairs and Provost
6823 St. Charles Avenue, 200 Gibson Hall
New Orleans, LA 70118
(504) 865-5261, (504) 865-6723 (fax)