STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT GENESEO
DEAN OF THE ELLA CLINE SHEAR SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
The State University of New York at Geneseo (Geneseo) invites applications and
nominations for a dynamic, innovative, and collaborative leader with a strong
record of success in academic leadership to assume the position of Dean of the
Ella Cline Shear School of Education. The Dean of the School of Education
carries the primary responsibility for enriching the collegiate experience of
School of Education students and staff by strengthening the integration between
curricular and co-curricular programs as well as supporting the development of
faculty as teachers and scholars. It is anticipated that the successful
candidate will begin duties by July 1, 2012.
Geneseo seeks an academic leader with experience in program and curriculum
development, management and fiscal skills, and a demonstrated commitment to
educational access, success, and academic excellence. The successful candidate
will have a terminal degree in the field of education and a record of
accomplishment in teaching, research, and professional service. The Dean
reports directly to the Provost and will be expected to provide collaborative
academic and administrative leadership and to advance a strategic academic
vision for the School consistent with the College's mission. The Dean of the
School of Education is responsible for supervision of a staff of 26 full-time
faculty and staff members, which includes the supervision of an Assistant to
the Dean, the Directors of the Xerox Multicultural Center and Field Experiences
and the Coordinators of Field Placements and NCATE. S/he will be familiar with
public school settings as well as the Common Core Standards, Race to the Top,
and other initiatives and regulations promulgated by the State Board of
Regents. The leader of the SOE must be committed to promoting, supporting,
enhancing, and extending the values of inclusion, access, and diversity.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The next Dean of the Ella Cline Shear School of Education at SUNY Geneseo will
work closely with faculty and staff in the SOE and the Provost to further
enhance the College's reputation and standing as one of the premier public
liberal arts institutions in the nation. S/he will work with the faculty and
staff to maintain and enhance academic quality, foster engaged learning, and
sustain high impact educational practices such as undergraduate research,
international studies and global experiences, and service learning. S/he will
continue to build the education programs on the foundation of a strong liberal
arts program that integrates curricular and co-curricular learning to educate
the whole student.
THE COLLEGE
The State University of New York at Geneseo, one of thirteen university
colleges within the SUNY System, is widely recognized as one of the nation's
top public liberal arts colleges. The most selective of SUNY's undergraduate
institutions and a long-standing member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts
Colleges, Geneseo offers a liberal education comparable in quality to the
nation's finest private colleges and universities.
Nestled in the Genesee Valley, 30 minutes south of Rochester and one hour
east of Buffalo, the Town and Village of Geneseo are bordered by the Finger
Lakes to the east and Letchworth State Park to the west, affording numerous
recreational opportunities. The Geneseo Village Historic District, one of only
24 communities in the nation to be included on the National Register of
Historic Places, boasts numerous finely preserved, historic homes and buildings
as well as a picturesque and thriving Main Street. The nearby greater Rochester
area offers many institutions of higher education and diverse cultural amenities.
Students, faculty, and staff enjoy and contribute to the cultural vibrancy that
characterizes the Town and Village of Geneseo.
Geneseo provides its students with a distinctive liberal arts education and a
breadth of programs within a small college setting. A rigorous and distinctive
liberal arts education is the cornerstone of the Geneseo experience. The
institution's 5,485 undergraduate students complete the Common Core, which
includes courses in western humanities, fine arts, social and natural sciences,
foreign languages, non-western traditions, United States history, numeric and
symbolic reasoning, and critical reading and writing. The College consists of
21 academic departments as well as a School of Business and the Ella Cline
Shear School of Education. Together, these departments and schools, each with
distinctive programs and national standing, offer a total of 60 undergraduate
degree programs, five Master's programs, and 25 interdisciplinary minors. In
addition, faculty and staff have developed a number of cooperative programs in
several fields with other institutions, including a 3-2 engineering and 3-2 and
4-1 MBA programs. Geneseo is the only public undergraduate institution in New
York with a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. A number of Geneseo's curricular and
co-curricular programs have received, and continue to receive, national
recognition as best practices in higher education and as exemplars of
integrating the academic and student life experience. Deep integration - of
curricular and co-curricular activities, living and learning, liberal learning
and professional pursuits - defines the learning experience of students at the
College.
SUNY Geneseo is a highly selective institution with a first year retention rate
above 90%; the College is a first choice for many applicants. Over 330 faculty
members mentor and teach the student body. Eighty-five percent of the courses
offered on campus are taught by full-time faculty, 89% of whom hold terminal
degrees in their field. With a student to faculty ratio of 19:1, the College's
graduation rate is among the highest in the nation for public colleges and
universities. Almost half (49%) of Geneseo students attend graduate or
professional school within one year of graduation. SUNY Geneseo's faculty,
staff, and administrators strive to sustain an environment where all students
feel valued and are nurtured both personally and intellectually.
In Fall 2006, Geneseo opened a state-of-the-art Integrated Science Center,
providing technology and mentoring opportunities to prepare students for
graduate school and to serve western New York as leaders in science and math
education and to support research which will help drive a knowledge-based local
economy.
In addition, Geneseo participated in a Knight Foundation Collaborative on
strategic community partnerships that sought to relate the College's multiple
relationships with the regional community more closely to its liberal arts
mission. With other SUNY presidents, President Dahl has provided strong
leadership in solving significant state budgetary challenges that resulted from
the downturn in the economy. The College is currently operating from a strong
but cautious budgetary position.
SUNY Geneseo has been recognized by numerous publications as one of the best
public institutions in the nation. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has rated the College first or second
among public universities in the north. The
New York Times calls Geneseo "one of the nation's most selective, highly
regarded public colleges," a "hidden gem" that is "increasingly seen as a first
choice for high achievers." In 2012, Kiplinger's
Personal Finance ranked Geneseo third nationally as a "Best Value Public
College" in the nation for out-of-state students and 11th in the nation for
in-state residents. Geneseo is listed in the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" as a
"Best Buy" school, and is lauded for its academic programs, accessible
professors and hometown atmosphere.
The College is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and
Schools. Carnegie classifies the institution as Master's M.
LEADERSHIP
Institutional leadership by President Christopher C. Dahl and academic
leadership by Provost Carol Long have led Geneseo towards refining and
strengthening its identity and mission as a distinctive public liberal arts
college and center of excellence in undergraduate education in New York State.
SUNY Geneseo is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges
(COPLAC: www. coplac.org,) a group of the nation's distinguished public liberal
arts colleges which combine their public mission with the high quality learning
and teaching experience more typically associated with the nation's most highly
ranked private small colleges.
MISSION
SUNY Geneseo Mission Statement
The State University of New York College at Geneseo, nationally recognized as a
center of excellence in undergraduate education, is a public liberal arts college
with selected professional and master's level programs. It combines a rigorous
curriculum and a rich co-curricular life to create an integrated
learning-centered environment. The entire college community works together to
develop socially responsible citizens with skills and values important to the
pursuit of an enriched life and success in the world.
THE ELLA CLINE SHEAR SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
The Ella Cline Shear School of Education takes great pride in SUNY Geneseo's
founding identity as a normal school in 1871 and its foundational commitments
to education and teacher preparation. A sustaining feature of this founding
identity is that teacher education remains one of the College's largest majors.
The School of Education is dedicated to preparing teachers committed to
improving society and the lives of students through education. Combining a
solid foundation in SUNY Geneseo's liberal arts and sciences tradition with
it's conceptual framework, School of Education graduates draw from and
contribute to dedicated partnerships with the area's public and private school
communities, urban, suburban and rural.
SUNY Geneseo's School of Education was formally renamed the Ella Cline Shear
School of Education in 1998, in recognition of a generous endowment made by
Ella Cline Shear. Mrs. Shear graduated from Geneseo in 1935 and spent the next
41 years as a dedicated elementary school teacher. Mrs. Shear said,
"Geneseo played a significant role in my preparation as a teacher. I felt
the school offered what I needed in building a foundation to fulfill a dream of
becoming a teacher - a dream I had since childhood." Her regard for the
School of Education inspired Mrs. Shear to give back to the college so that new
generations could realize their dreams of becoming educators. Throughout her
career, Ella Cline Shear was a role model for teachers, and the School of
Education continues to remember and celebrate her life and legacy through its
programs and sustained commitment to service and community.
Offering teacher education candidates a comprehensive experience rich in
scholarly programs, diverse field placements, a range of student activities,
and continuous academic advisement, Ella Cline Shear School of Education
graduates are thoroughly prepared and enter the profession with the highest
level of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Drawing from over a century of
dedication to teacher development and ongoing innovations in teacher
preparation, teacher candidates explore constructivist theory and practice with
a depth that ensures graduates of the highest caliber.
Accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education
(NCATE), the Ella Cline Shear School of Education offers undergraduate programs
leading to initial teacher certification in Early Childhood and Childhood,
Childhood, Childhood with Special Education, and Adolescence Education, and
graduate programs leading to professional certification in Early Childhood,
Multicultural Childhood Education, Literacy (B-12), and Adolescent Education.
Among its signature elements, the Ella Cline Shear School of Education takes
pride in the integrated experiences it offers students, combining field work
with the classroom; it has international programs in England and Ghana,
offering students rich and varied experiences of the learning process, and a
commitment to diversity, working with urban, suburban and rural area schools in
ways that prepare Geneseo students for professional life and provide area
students with rich, new opportunities.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Opportunities and challenges for the new Dean of the Ella Cline Shear School of
Education include:
1. Advance a Strategic Plan for the
School of Education that synchronizes with and supports Geneseo's Strategic
Plan and Vision:
Like most public universities, SUNY Geneseo faced and dealt with budget
challenges over the past few years, which were propelled by the global and
national economic downturn. State support for higher education, which has been
declining, continues to be threatened by the current weakness in the economy.
As the College strategically prepares for continued economic and other
challenges, the new Dean will have the opportunity in concert with the
leadership of the President and academic leadership by the Provost to be
innovative, entrepreneurial, and visionary about future possibilities while
also being attentive to Geneseo's traditional strengths and distinctive
initiatives. Despite the challenges of the immediate past, there is
considerable optimism among members of the community, propelled in part by new
leadership from the SUNY Chancellor, by recent support of SUNY from the State
and by the continued public reaffirmations and recognitions of Geneseo's
strengths as a public liberal arts college. The new Dean will be able to tap
into this optimism and build on the School's aspirations for its future.
2. Expand horizons and opportunities for
students in the field of Education at the undergraduate and graduate levels:
Currently, over 90% of SUNY Geneseo's students come from New York State. Over
20% of this year's entering students are ethnically diverse, the number of
international students has grown, and the College continues to expand education
opportunities for all students. The new Dean will be expected to lead strategic
programmatic growth and work closely with faculty to ensure and sustain
academic excellence in all programs and expand horizons and opportunities for
students while preparing them for success in an increasingly diverse and
technological world. Leading the faculty in articulating a vision for the
School of Education that retains its liberal arts foundation while responding
to the needs of students in the twenty-first century will be vital. The new
Dean will also work closely with faculty and staff in co-curricular offices to
ensure deep integration of curricular and co-curricular learning. The Dean will
also be expected to ensure continuous programmatic assessment and to work with
his/her peers in other departments and the Provost on institutional assessment
and effectiveness.
3. Recruit, retain, and support a diverse
faculty:
The new Dean will work to attract, retain, support, and develop a diverse
faculty in the field of Education who are committed to student development and
success. The School of Education faculty and staff are key to its success. The
Dean will continue and extend this commitment. S/he will also work with College
offices to ensure adequate support for the use of technology for teaching and
other operations as an integral element of the student learning experience and
the teaching experience of faculty. The new Dean will promote a community of
learners who take pride in the sense of collaboration which defines the
College.
4. Sustain and extend Geneseo's strong
retention and completion rates:
The freshman retention rate at SUNY Geneseo is 91%, and the overall 6 year
graduation rate is 80%.The Dean will be expected to work with faculty and
offices to sustain this important hallmark of Geneseo's identity as a premier
liberal arts college. SUNY Geneseo's deep interest in ensuring high completion
rates precedes national attention to this issue by legislators and the public,
and has historically been driven by faculty and staff members who are student
focused and deeply committed to preparing students for success in their
professional and personal lives. The Dean should be an ardent and articulate
spokesperson for this record of success, both in the College and the Ella Cline
Shear School of Education.
5. Manage the School of Education Budget:
The Dean of the School of Education is responsible for managing the School's
budget, and should have experience collaborating with budget officers, fellow
School and department heads, and the Provost to ensure efficiency and maintain
a primary focus on learning and teaching.
Additionally, the new Dean will be expected to:
- Bring new ideas and academic best practices to the School;
- Create greater visibility and recognition for the School of Education, its
programs, and accomplishments, and thus extend its reach and reputation;
- Strengthen relations with urban, suburban and rural schools and the New York
State Education Department;
- Build greater collaboration between liberal arts and education;
- Support and extend the graduate programs of the School of Education;
- Promote faculty and professional staff development and student engagement in
scholarship, creative endeavors and preparation for the profession;
- Support the School and College's efforts to seek external funding for
academic programs;
- Refine
shared governance with the faculty and promote the School of Education's
already robust committee structure;
- Support the Admissions Office in the recruitment and enrollment of students;
- Support and extend the use of technology as a pedagogical tool.
QUALIFICATIONS
The Geneseo community seeks a strong academic leader who is dedicated to the
mission of the College and will serve as a transformational, collaborative, and
effective leader with a commitment to academic quality and to the mission of
teacher preparation. The introduction of distinctive professional Schools
within the College as an undergraduate liberal arts institution is relatively new
(first established in 2006); the Dean of the School of Education, working with
the Provost and Dean of the School of Business has the opportunity to
strengthen and define the role of Deans as leaders of distinctive professional
schools that build upon and extend the College's mission and identity centered
in the liberal arts.
The successful candidate will:
- Possess a strong academic background in teaching, research, and service; have
an earned doctorate degree and scholarship appropriate for appointment as a
tenured professor;
- Have progressive administrative experience, including management of personnel
resources, budgets, and program evaluation; experience as a dean, associate
dean, or academic chair will be vital;
- Support the School's integrated approach to teaching and learning, curricular
and co-curricular experiences, liberal arts foundation and professional
preparation;
- Support faculty involvement in the area schools and build deep and
sustainable connections with area schools;
- Believe in the transformative power of education, the value of the liberal
arts and inter-disciplinary programs, and the education of the whole human
being in a residential college setting and nurturing environment;
- Demonstrate a collaborative administrative style and a commitment to shared
governance, open communication and transparency;
- Be personable and approachable, comfortable with collegial decision-making,
and committed to diversity and inclusion;
- Champion best practices in teaching and learning;
- Have experience with NCATE accreditation procedures and institutional
accreditation (an NCATE reaccreditation visit is scheduled in Fall 2012);
- Possess creativity, flexibility, and vision
DESIRED ATTRIBUTES
- Creative and innovative leadership with a commitment to shared governance and
transparency that will inspire trust and instill confidence;
- Educational background and experience to understand and appreciate the
academic culture and knowledge of public higher education that combines the
best attributes of public education with the qualities that typify the best
small private liberal arts institutions in the country;
- Distinguished administrative experience and demonstrated skill in financial
and budgetary management and a proven ability to solve problems and implement
best practices in financing and management;
- Commitment to sustaining a student-centered environment dedicated to the
intellectual, cultural, social, civic, and professional development of
students;
- Ability to communicate effectively with faculty, staff, students, parents,
alumni, and the community and to earn their trust and support;
- Outstanding personal and professional integrity.
APPLICATION AND NOMINATION PROCEDURE
Applications and nominations are due by February 25 2012, when screening will
commence. Nominations may be forwarded to Dr. Molly Easo Smith, Senior
Consultant at Academic Search, Inc., who is supporting the search, at:
mes@academic-search.com. Interested candidates are encouraged to explore the
Ella Cline Shear School of Education and its distinctive programs through SUNY
Geneseo's web pages at www.geneseo.edu. Candidates interested in this exciting
opportunity in service and leadership should e-mail the following materials as
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat attachments: 1) a cover letter which responds
to the Position Profile 2) a current curriculum vitae, and 3) the contact
information for five professional references with e-mail and telephone numbers.
References will not be contacted until later in the search process, and candidates
will be notified prior to reference checks. All submissions will be treated in
confidence and should be sent electronically to: Geneseo@academic-search.com.
Academic Search, Inc. is committed to the highest standards of professionalism
in all dealings with candidates, sources, and references. We fully respect the
need for confidentiality and assure interested parties that their background
and interests will not be discussed without consent of the applicant prior to
her or his becoming a candidate.
SUNY Geneseo is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer
committed to recruiting, supporting, and fostering a diverse community of
outstanding faculty, staff, and students. The College actively seeks
applications from women and members of underrepresented groups.