Dean of The College of Art and Design

Position: Dean of The College of Art and Design

Company: Rochester Institute of Technology

Location: Rochester, New York

Reporting Relationship: Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Rochester Institute of Technology

From its beginnings, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has been deeply connected to the educational, artistic and practical training needs of both citizenry and industry. The university’s roots go back to 1829 when the city’s founders established the Rochester Athenaeum, a library and cultural center that offered public lectures and debates and attracted such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes. In 1891, the Athenaeum merged with the Mechanics Institute, which had been created and funded by local business and community leaders to provide technical training to meet industry’s growing demand for skilled workers. The merged institution—the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute—combined cultural education and practical technical training. In 1912, cooperative education was added to the programmatic mix and the core foundation was in place for Rochester Institute of Technology, as it has been named since 1944.

Today, RIT is a distinctive university offering a unique program mix of traditional “institute of technology” programs in science, technology, engineering, and business combined with strong programs in the liberal, design, and creative arts. RIT enrolls 18,900 full and part-time students (15,700 undergraduate and 3,200 graduate students), operates with a $594.6 million annual budget (FY2017), and reports a current value of its endowment of $890 million. Its student population represents all 50 states and 98 nations; over one-fifth of entering freshmen are minority and international students. The presence of 1,200 deaf and hard-of-hearing students enrolled in RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf adds a unique social and educational dynamic. RIT also offers an array of support services for deaf students who choose to enroll directly in any of the programs offered in the University’s other nine colleges.

RIT is in Henrietta, a suburb adjacent to Rochester, the third most populous city in New York state, situated on the south shore of Lake Ontario. This is a region that has long been a center for creative industries and crafts, resulting in exciting partnerships between RIT, the University of Rochester, and high-tech, imaging, communications, optics, research, and manufacturing companies. The RIT campus encompasses 238 academic, residential, and student life buildings on over 1,300 acres.

Over the last ten years, more than $300 million has been invested to renovate or expand existing facilities and construct new state-of-the-art buildings, including the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, the RIT Campus Center, the Global Village international-themed retail and residential complex, the College of Applied Science and Technology Building, the Center for Student Innovation, the Sebastian and Lenore Rosica Hall, Institute Hall, Sustainability Hall, and the Gene Polisseni Center, home to men’s and women’s hockey. MAGIC Spell Studios is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2018.

The RIT campus has received national and international recognition as one of the most sophisticated high technology campuses in the country, earning awards from both The Princeton Review and Yahoo Internet Life for its state-of-the-art technical environment.

Leadership

Dr. David C. Munson Jr. became president of Rochester Institute of Technology in 2017. Dr. Munson, the former dean of the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, is the 10th president of the University.

As RIT’s president, Dr. Munson is responsible for one of the nation’s leading research and career-oriented universities featuring 18,900 students, 114,000 alumni, $73 million in sponsored research and an endowment of $890 million.

RIT’s full-time undergraduate enrollment ranks RIT among the top 10 largest private universities in the United States. RIT is the third largest producer of undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math among all private universities in the U.S. RIT also is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and has one of the oldest and largest cooperative education programs in the country.

Dr. Munson has 38 years of experience in higher education, which includes serving as the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at Michigan from 2006 to 2016.

Dr. Munson earned his BS degree in electrical engineering (with distinction) from the University of Delaware in 1975. He earned an MS and MA in electrical engineering from Princeton University in 1977, followed by a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1979, also from Princeton. From 1979 to 2003, Dr. Munson was with the University of Illinois, where he was the Robert C. MacClinchie Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Research Professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and a faculty member in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

In 2003, he became chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan prior to becoming dean.

Dr. Munson’s teaching and research interests are in the area of signal and image processing. His current research is focused on radar imaging and computer tomography. He is co-founder of InstaRecon Inc., a start-up firm to commercialize fast algorithms for image formation in computer tomography. He is affiliated with the Infinity Project, where he is coauthor of a textbook on the digital world, which has been used in hundreds of high schools nationwide to introduce students to engineering.

As of July 12th, RIT named Ellen Granberg as its new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Dr. Granberg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from UC Davis and spent 11 years working for Pacific Bell in the San Francisco Bay area as a project manager and technical director in software development. In 1995, she left industry to pursue advanced degrees, earning her Ph.D. in sociology from Vanderbilt University in 2001. That same year, she joined the faculty at Clemson, one of the nation’s Top 25-ranked public universities and went on to be promoted to Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Associate Provost for faculty affairs and Senior Associate Provost.

Among her accomplishments at Clemson are co-leading development and implementation of its strategic plan, an increased focus on research, improving student retention and growing the proportion of students from underrepresented groups. She also led efforts to revamp faculty hiring, putting in place new search procedures and an enhanced post-doctoral pipeline program that resulted in increasing the number of underrepresented faculty by 40 percent since 2015.

Dr. Granberg looks forward to her new role and to serving as an advocate and ambassador for RIT.

College of Art and Design

RIT is well known as one of the nation’s premier universities for art, design, film, photography, publishing media, and crafts. The university’s tradition of excellence in the visual arts began over a century ago with the founding of the Mechanics Institute in 1885. The applied nature of many of the CAD programs can be traced back to that institution, which was established to solve a pressing need for a school to train designers, and offered courses in industrial design, drawing, and architecture.

RIT’s programs in visual arts and sciences have evolved over the years in response to new technologies and the changing needs of industry. The College of Imaging Arts and Sciences (CIAS) came together in its current form in 1992, when the College of Graphic Arts and Photography merged with the College of Fine and Applied Arts. CIAS just changed its name to the College of Art and Design (CAD) in July 2018. Today CAD encompasses six schools:

• School of Art (SOA)
• School for American Crafts (SAC) – MFA programs
• School of Design (SOD)
• School of Film and Animation (SOFA)
• School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (SPAS)
• School of Media Sciences (SMS) – after the academic year 2018-2019, SMS will move to RIT’s College of Engineering Technology

CAD includes the Image Permanence Institute and the Vignelli Center for Design Studies. Additionally, Magic Spell Studios is scheduled to open in Fall 2018 and will offer state-of-the-art exhibition, production, and instructional facilities for film, animation, gaming, as well as campus-wide offerings.

The College comprises approximately 137 full-time tenured, tenure-track and non-tenured faculty, along with 6 visiting faculty. CAD faculty have achieved professional and artistic distinction in the fields in which they teach. The annual operating budget for the College is approximately $27.5 million. CAD currently enrolls 1,620 undergraduate students and 290 graduate students, and the College offers BS, BFA, MS, MST and MFA degree programs. An Honors Program offers a challenging, individualized experience for students who have demonstrated outstanding academic performance and CAD has the most active study abroad programs on campus.

The College’s 70 highly dedicated and talented staff members support and operate the first-rate facilities within CAD. Faculty, staff and students have access to computer animation, graphics, digital editing and sound labs; woodworking and furniture design, ceramics, glass, and metals and jewelry design studios; more than 20 computer labs; a 3D design shop; and many more art, design, and photography studios and specialized workspaces. In addition, the Bevier Gallery, William Harris Gallery, and Gallery r (located in downtown Rochester) are open to the public and feature student, alumni, and faculty work, as well as specially curated exhibitions. State-of-the-art technological infrastructure has been and will continue to be a key resource for recruiting the strongest faculty and students.

RIT’s MFA programs ranked 33rd nationwide, according to the US News and World Report survey of Best Graduate Schools of 2016. More specifically, the Master of Fine Art in Imaging Arts/Photography is nationally ranked 4th. The 2015 rankings ranked Industrial Design 8th, and Multimedia/Visual Communications is ranked 12th.

The national and international reputation of the College has been built on the accomplishments of its faculty and its current and past students who have made significant professional contributions both to their fields and who regularly receive awards for their work. Since 1979, SPAS graduates have earned 12 Pulitzer Prizes by 8 alumni. An alumnus of the industrial design program has been awarded the National Design Award by the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, the highest national honor bestowed in the field of design. Students and alumni from SOFA have earned Academy Award nominations. CAD faculty and alumni are represented in museum collections throughout the world. Faculty are regularly invited to be visiting speakers throughout the nation and abroad and several faculty have initiated international exchange programs for students and faculty.

Because of its location, the College’s technical evolution has, in many ways, mirrored that of many of the leading high-tech, imaging, communications, optics, research and manufacturing companies in the area. Eastman Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, Xerox and other leading firms continue to be important CAD partners in the region, and as the University’s reputation has grown, the College has been fortunate to develop increasingly strong ties with companies across the country and around the world. CAD programs have been successful, in part, because of long-lasting relationships with industry and professional associations.

For additional information on the College’s many Schools, Programs, Departments and Centers, please see the appendix to this document or the College’s website at https://artdesign.rit.edu/.

Dean Profile

We seek a dynamic academic leader who is a strong champion of high standards in teaching and scholarship and who is dedicated to fostering a diverse community within CAD and RIT. The individual should have interdisciplinary scholarly skills and a distinguished record of accomplishment. CAD is one of RIT’s nine colleges. It includes five schools and a diverse portfolio of programs, many of which are consistently rated among the best in their fields. The schools within CAD are: School of Art, School for American Crafts, School of Design, School of Film and Animation, and School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. The School of Media Sciences is scheduled to move to RIT’s College of Engineering Technology in July 2019.

The College comprises 137 faculty members, 70 staff members, and over 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students and has an operating budget of approximately $27.5 million.

This is a unique opportunity for a creative individual to further the vision for CAD and its distinction in global education among the national and international art, design, imaging arts and sciences communities. As the chief academic and administrative officer, the Dean will have a key role in shaping the College’s identity and leading educational reform in the areas of creativity and innovation within the college and within the University. The Dean will work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students as an effective advocate for the college in its future direction within RIT and on a global stage.

The Dean of CAD must also advocate for the College’s unique needs and opportunities within the broader university setting. CAD programs are, by their nature, resource-intensive to teach, and in conversations around broader university goals, budget and capital allocations, and cross-disciplinary program development, the Dean must articulate these challenges to administrative colleagues. In addition, faculty research and productivity in the CAD context does not lend itself easily to the standards applied to other academic units, and the Dean must be able to communicate, advocate for, and celebrate these differences. At the same time, because the programs within CAD are uniquely suited to many of RIT’s aspirations around innovation, the Dean must be a spokesperson for the strengths and potential of the College as a central player within RIT.

Position Responsibilities

The Dean is the chief academic officer for the College of Art and Design and reports to the Provost. Reporting to the Dean are the Associate Deans, Assistant Deans, Administrative Chairs, Director of Operations, Marketing Communications Director, Executive Director of the Image Permanence Institute, Gallery Director, and a team of administrative, finance, and support personnel. Shared reports include CAD Director of Development and CAD Director of Alumni Relations.

The Dean is responsible for all program and unit activities within the College; leads planning, administrative, personnel, fundraising and program development efforts to build and sustain excellence in College operations; and is the principal representative of the College and its constituent programs and units. The Dean works collaboratively and closely with students, faculty, staff, other Deans, and university leadership. In particular, the Dean works in partnership with the Senior Vice Provost and Assistant Provost of Undergraduate Education, who has overall responsibility for the integration of university-wide undergraduate curricular and co- curricular initiatives, as well as the Dean of Graduate Studies, to promote and sustain excellence in graduate education.

The Dean of the College of Art and Design will have an exceptional opportunity to join a new generation of leadership at RIT; to lead, inspire and energize the College; and to have a major impact on the institution’s development and evolution. The major opportunities and challenges ahead for the Dean include:

Develop a shared vision and mission for the College in partnership with faculty, staff, and students.

RIT is a unique institution in the midst of change, and the ambitions of President Munson to embrace innovation have energized the faculty, staff, and students of CAD. There is a need at all levels for an inspiring vision for the role of CAD both within the university and in the broader worlds of art, design and imaging science.

CAD needs a dean who will embrace the diverse missions and accomplishments of its various units and who will work collaboratively with a diverse group of faculty, staff and students to articulate a mission and identify a set of strategic priorities for the College as a whole.

Develop teaching, scholarship and research expectations and goals.

As the Dean establishes priorities for the College, she or he must also work closely with faculty to examine professional scholarship, research and teaching loads and to set clear expectations and goals for faculty members at all levels. The Dean must understand the unique nature of research and scholarship within an art and design, imaging arts, and applied sciences context. She or he will need to create an environment which supports and celebrates many forms of creative and scientific productivity. Attention to the curricular requirements for students, thereby ensuring that a balance is struck between the development of specific skills and the encouragement of broader intellectual engagement, is of key importance.

Strengthen the College community through enhanced communication and collaboration and increased interdisciplinary engagement.

For the College to be at its best, the ties between the individual schools and programs, as well as between CAD and the other colleges, need to be nurtured. CAD faculty, staff and students generally feel a stronger connection to their departments or programs than they feel to the College or University as a whole. Members of CAD have expressed a strong desire for increased opportunities for interdisciplinary work, both within the College and at the University level. There is a strong movement on the academic front for the emergence of a hybrid approach to scholarship inquiry and curriculum development. The College has great potential to become a national and international leader in this approach to higher education. CAD is a unique College with a rich diversity of programs, approaches, methods and interdisciplinary potential. The Dean will need to promote and enhance opportunities for collaboration and be a spokesperson for faculty and students.

The Dean will need to work closely with the members of the Dean’s Council and other key administrators, as a citizen of the Univeristy, while balancing the strategic and philosophical goals of CAD with the overall vision of the University. In creating a shared sense of purpose for the College, the Dean must set the standard for transparency, consistency and collaboration through a shared governance process. She or he must work closely with faculty, students and staff from all programs to identify opportunities for increased collaboration between units and to promote the development or enhancement of interdisciplinary initiatives within the College and across campus. The Dean will need to provide leadership on the policies and procedures within the College. She or he must develop consistent and fair policies for the support and evaluation of administration, faculty and staff.

Raise the profile of the College and increase visibility locally, nationally, and globally.

RIT programs in art and design, and imaging arts and sciences lead their fields in both the quality of the graduates they produce and in the use of cutting- edge techniques and technologies. As the College develops a stronger and more unified identity, the Dean must be proactive in educating the world about the many diverse programs of the College and the uniqueness of our graduates.

Consistency of purpose must be matched by a consistency of materials and message. As the Dean represents the College to the world, she or he must also ensure that the College’s marketing and branding efforts are presenting a consistent and clear image of the institution, as well as one that is compatible with the identity of the university as a whole.

The engagement of the Dean in the imaging arts and sciences communities at all levels is critical, not only to recruiting and retaining the finest students, faculty and staff, but also to nurturing the connection between CAD faculty, students and alumni with leading corporate, academic, and cultural entities. Innovation thrives in a context of communication and collaboration, and RIT should be as active a participant in the creative context of Rochester and the Northeast as it is in the international art, design and imaging world.

Build the College’s resources through a proactive, focused development effort.

Resource development will be a key priority for the Dean. She or he will lead college-wide fundraising efforts with a FY 2018 - 2019 goal of approximately $1.5 million. As the chief ambassador for the College, there is an expectation that the Dean will regularly interface with individual, corporate and foundation donors. There are unexplored opportunities to increase philanthropic support for endowed chairs in all areas, as well as increased scholarship aid for all students. Ongoing capital needs will require significant support in the coming years. The Dean must also work with key stakeholders to attract corporate gifts-in-kind, contributed income, sponsored research and government grants. Moreover, in the spirit of ongoing innovation, the Dean should continue to explore inventive and out-of-the-box revenue generating sources for the College.

Qualifications and Experience

For this important leadership role, RIT seeks an innovative and strategic academic leader with a passion for the many forms of creativity found in the College of Art and Design. The position calls for vision; breadth and depth of experience; good judgment; intellectual leadership skills; a collegial focus; and the ability to lead and motivate in a complex environment. The next Dean of CAD should come from an academic art and design setting.

Although no one candidate will likely possess them all, the successful candidate will bring many of the following skills and qualities:

• Organizational leadership experience with a strong work ethic
• Experience in strategic planning and program assessment
• The ability to establish strong relationships within the Rochester community, as well as in the cultural and business world, which extends nationally and internationally
• Distinguished scholarly, artistic, and professional accomplishment. Preferably, including experience that crosses traditional disciplines
• The ability to articulate a vision and to engage faculty, administrative staff, students and community support in implementing that vision through commitment to shared governance
• Financial acumen. Experience with managing budgets and advocating for resources on behalf of a division or unit
• Experience with and a commitment to resource development, including major gifts, sponsored research, and government grants
• A “hands on” management style which is goal-oriented but flexible and innovative, which respects the capabilities, independence, and diversity of faculty and staff in accomplishing organizational objectives, but also provides them with a clear sense of direction. Willingness to circulate widely, communicate openly, listen well, and learn from others
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. The ability to relate well to the College’s diverse constituencies and to convey complex concepts to lay audiences. Public presence and the inclination to be a visible spokesperson for the College
• Experience in faculty and staff recruitment and development, and sensitivity to the unique needs of a diverse community of practicing professionals
• Demonstrated support for traditional and emerging technologies and the development of leading edge curricula
• Creativity, resilience, flexibility, tenacity, optimism and a high energy level

Year One Success Factors

• Immersive approach to understanding and identifying strengths, challenges and opportunities for growth for each CAD school.
• Inspire collaboration and global perspective across all CAD schools to promote value proposition throughout university and wider.
• Take efforts to finalize CAD Strategic Plan with specific goals and benchmarks with timelines for resource/fund development.
• Continue to expand fundraising efforts to meet current and future needs of CAD students, faculty and programs.
• Close involvement with new University Strategic Plan to ensure CAD is aligned and that needs have a clear voice in the larger university conversation.
• Work with faculty and Chairs to develop innovative curriculum to recruit top students.
• Take significant steps toward bringing the entire college together and align with achievable, measurable and collective goals.
• Partner with the Provost and Senior Leadership Team to increase CAD profile on and off campus.
• Clearly define the role of foundations for portfolio programs.
• Meaningful implementation of student-centered multidisciplinary directive.

Education

A terminal degree (e.g. PhD or MFA) in a discipline relevant to one of the many programs in CAD is required.

Compensation

A competitive compensation package will be offered to the final candidate.

University Statement

RIT does not discriminate. RIT promotes and values diversity, pluralism and inclusion in the work place. RIT provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientations, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status or disability in its hiring, admissions, educational programs, and activities.

The hiring process for this position may require a criminal background check and/or motor vehicle records check. Any verbal or written offer made is contingent on satisfactory results, as determined by RIT’s Human Resources.

RIT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Human Rights Law, or similar applicable law. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, and you wish to discuss potential accommodations related to your application for employment at RIT, please contact Korn Ferry at the address below.

Application Process

Interested and qualified candidates are welcome to submit a resume and cover letter to: RIT_CAD_DEAN@kornferry.com

 

Korn Ferry Contacts

Paul Chou

Co-Managing Director and Senior Client Partner, Global Education Practice

E-mail: paul.chou@kornferry.com    

Direct: 215-656-5316

 

Jodi Weiss

Practice Leader, Higher Education & Nonprofit Practice

E-mail: jodi.weiss@kornferry.com

Direct: 202-955-5943

 

Brendan Gallagher

Managing Associate, Higher Education & Nonprofit Practice

E-mail: Brendan.gallagher@kornferry.com

Direct: 215-656-5342

 

Megan Gallagher

Recruiter, Higher Education & Nonprofit Practice

E-mail: megan.gallagher@kornferry.com

Direct: 215-861-2521

 

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