Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty

Claremont McKenna College seeks an eminent scholar, intellectual leader, and effective administrator for the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty. The Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty (the Dean) serves as the chief academic officer of the College, working in close partnership with President Hiram Chodosh and collaborating with faculty, staff, and students to further the mission and success of the College.

Founded in 1946, Claremont McKenna serves a diverse and talented community of 1,300 students. Highly ranked and selective, the College has 12 academic departments, 10 research institutes, and more than 30 majors, and the vast majority of classes have fewer than 20 students. It is a member of The Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges and two graduate institutions nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, just east of Los Angeles. Uniquely positioned in higher education, Claremont McKenna is an eminent liberal arts college with a distinctive commitment to cutting-edge research, leadership education, and applied learning – all intended to generate a real world impact.

Reporting directly to the President, the Dean is responsible for leading and generating value through the strategic academic agenda of the College.  The Dean is responsible for the management of all faculty personnel matters, the entire academic budget, leadership of the curriculum, academic advising of students, oversight of the research institutes, academic planning and departmental reviews, oversight of campus, off-campus, and global functions and programs, oversight of the academic support staff, and management of accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The Dean will also serve as a peer to those in similar roles across the The Claremont Colleges and will play a leadership role within that group.

In leading Claremont McKenna College toward a successful future, the Dean will address a set of key opportunities and challenges:

• Join and embrace the Claremont McKenna community and work to help crystallize its identity
• Build, broaden, and promote the Claremont McKenna student identity
• Foster an internal strategy that aligns with and supports the external strategy of the College
• Recruit, mentor, and retain the highest caliber faculty
• Bring faculty together across academic boundaries and foster intellectual collaboration
• Champion the faculty as well as be a partner on the senior leadership team of the College
• Strategically manage resources, both financial and human, under the purview of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty office
• Serve as an ambassador for the academic strategy both internally and externally

The individual who assumes the position of Dean must be an accomplished scholar and leader, have the ability to articulate a strong vision for the university, and possess a commitment to teaching, scholarship, and research excellence. S/he must have a record of academic achievement that would qualify for a tenured faculty position at Claremont McKenna. Candidates should have a deep understanding of and commitment to the liberal arts and the undergraduate liberal arts college coupled with an appreciation of and enthusiasm for Claremont McKenna's unique mission of harnessing this model to educate its students more broadly and effectively for responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions.

Claremont McKenna College has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this search. Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters should be sent via the Isaacson, Miller website for the search: www.imsearch.com/5176. Electronic submission of materials is strongly encouraged.

David Bellshaw, Bernard Jones, Emily Chiswick-Patterson
Isaacson, Miller
1000 Sansome Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone:  415.655.4900, Fax:  415.655.4905