Dean, Experiential Learning and Career Planning |
| October 07, 2011 - November 30, 2011 |
| Location: | Greencastle, IN | | Exempt/Non-Exempt: | Exempt | | Benefits: | Full Benefits | | Employment Type: | Full-time | | Department: | Civic, Global and Professional Opportunities | | Description: | DePauw University is seeking a visionary educator and administrator to lead and strengthen its integrated programs in the areas of experiential learning and career planning, including civic engagement, service learning, international and off-campus study, internships, and career planning, preparation, and placement.
DePauw University
Founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury University, DePauw University is today a private, coeducational, wholly residential, undergraduate institution consisting of a College of Liberal Arts and a School of Music. Located in Greencastle, Indiana, DePauw University is 45 miles west of Indianapolis. DePauw University’s 695-acre campus, centered on historic East College, includes new or newly renovated state of the art facilities for the teaching of art and art history, music and theatre, and science and mathematics. DePauw’s investment in instructional technologies and digital resources led to its recognition as one of the nation’s most wired campuses.
With a faculty of 240 FTE, DePauw provides its nearly 2,400 students with a 10:1 student-faculty ratio and an average class size of 16. The 20 departments and nine interdisciplinary programs in the College of Liberal Arts offer students a choice of 44 majors. Students in the School of Music can choose from degree programs in performance, musical arts, and music education.
In addition to its regular academic program, DePauw University provides students with multiple opportunities to engage in out-of-class experiential learning. Through the University’s three-week January Winter Term, its Honors and Fellows programs, and its off-campus study program, approximately 45% of DePauw graduates complete an off-campus internship. DePauw is among the top 10 small colleges and universities in the United States for sending students to study abroad, with nearly two-thirds of DePauw’s graduates completing an international off-campus program during Winter Term or an academic semester. Collectively, approximately 95% of DePauw’s graduates complete at least one off-campus academic experience.
| | Duties: | Experiential Learning and Career Planning
DePauw University’s program of experiential learning and career planning consists of three cooperative offices that assist students in extending their education outside the classroom. The programs administered through these offices help students apply and test their knowledge and skills in “real-world” situations so they feel more prepared—and are more prepared—for that world. Staff members engage students in a thoughtful process of discernment, articulation, action, and reflection, so that students find the experience that best fits their needs, and have the tools necessary to comprehend what that experience means, and why it matters.
While DePauw’s programs in experiential learning and career planning are listed separately below, their outlook is shared, their methods coordinated, and their staff and operations overlap. It is truly an integrated operation (the staffing assignments listed below are somewhat artificially divided). The ”front door” to the office is centrally located in the lobby of the Union Building so that students passing by are challenged, on a daily basis, with stretching their knowledge and making connections amongst their classroom education, experiential learning, and post-college plans.
Civic Opportunities.
The Office of Civic Opportunities helps students craft lives of meaning and significance through service learning and community engagement. Civic Opportunities links students and student organizations to local schools and non-profit organizations, and trains and mentors students in becoming civic leaders. Through the Bonner-inspired philosophical progression of expectation, exploration, experience, example, and excellence, students develop an outlook and habit of citizenship through shared responsibility. Through the specific services described below, students learn how to translate the “capacity to contribute” into making a tangible difference in the world.
Services include: connecting students to their local community through 125 positions made available during the First-Year Service Plunge; expanding the understanding of community through alternative Fall and Spring breaks; the management of volunteer programming through the Civic Intern program; the four-year Bonner Scholar Program; and numerous community service and outreach programs such as Sports Night, Giving Tree, and Rebuilding Together.
Staff: assistant interim director, community service coordinator, advisor, and two half-time support staff.
Global Opportunities.
The Office of Global Opportunities helps students craft lives of meaning and significance through short- and long-term domestic and international experiences. Through guided and immersive learning, students connect to a wider world; perceive and examine significant issues of the 21st century firsthand; explore beauty and creativity in other cultural and historical contexts; and develop relationships with colleagues and peers from around the world. Through reflection on how international encounters facilitate skills, knowledge, and a habit of connecting beyond oneself, students become aware of what they value and how they want to live their life personally and professionally within a global context.
Services include: Winter Term, Winter Term In Service, and semester off-campus study; in-dependent scholarly, creative and artistic projects; internships; and advising that connects experiential and in-class learning so that students become more competitive for national awards and fellowships, bridge programs, and professional opportunities.
Staff: director, assistant director, advisor, and secretary.
Professional Opportunities.
The Office of Professional Opportunities helps students (and alumni/ae) craft lives of meaning and significance through a process of advising and coaching that helps develop and implement an intentional and effective transition from college to career. Through a four-year process of conversation, practice, and contemplation, students become not only more prepared for entering the world, but better able to adapt—conceptually and practically—to the profound changes that are inevitable in their lives.
Services include: career and life discernment; professional identity and skills development; developing strategic professional and alumni/ae relationships for exploration and experience; internship planning and application; job shadowing; graduate school planning and application; post-graduate service, employment, and bridge program planning and application; event planning and implementation (career fairs, employer and graduate school visits, alumni/ae events, etc.); alumni/ae career coaching including discernment, transitions, and job search strategy; alumni/ae career, life, and leadership seminars and programs; alumni/ae volunteer programs; and faculty and staff training and development.
Staff: director, assistant director, internship coordinator, and secretary.
The Dean
The Dean will join the University at an exciting time, when a new President and leadership team are lifting expectations and enlivening the campus. Reporting to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Dean is expected to demonstrate a commitment to the mission of a liberal arts education and its role in preparing students to be engaged citizens in their private and professional lives. The Dean will lead, motivate, and inspire a staff of a dozen professionals who help students secure transformational learning opportunities.
Working in consultation with the faculty, staff, and administration, the Dean is charged with determining the overall strategic direction for the University’s programs in experiential learning and career planning. Among the opportunities and expectations for the new Dean are the following:
Oversee the regular operations of the Offices of Civic, Global, and Professional Opportunities, including strengthening connections with other University offices that serve student needs, and ensuring greater visibility of the programs to our students.
The Dean is expected to work with the staff to develop an efficient organizational structure that better allows the offices to carry out their missions. The Dean should also work with the Offices of Academic Life and Student Life to develop and maintain effective cooperative partnerships. The goal is to create a better integrated and more effective administrative structure to support the University’s programs in experiential learning and career planning.
Work with the faculty, staff, and administration to enrich the University’s programs in experiential learning and career planning.
The Dean is expected to lead conversations with the faculty, staff, and administration to better define the purpose and role of experiential learning and career planning as part of the institution’s overall educational mission. The Dean should also lead efforts to develop better tools for reaching and informing students about the opportunities available to them in the areas of experiential learning and career planning. The overall goal is to ensure that these programs are more compelling and visible to the University’s students.
Lead efforts to measure each program’s outcomes and to evaluate each program’s success.
The Dean, working with the Registrar and the Office of Institutional Research, is expected to develop comprehensive strategies for collecting, analyzing, and sharing data on the out-comes and successes of the University’s programs in experiential learning and career planning. The goal is to develop robust tools that will help make adjustments to and improvements in each program’s operations and functions.
Communicate with external audiences and partners about the University’s programs in experiential and applied learning.
The Dean will work with the Admission Office and Alumni Office to communicate the purpose and role of experiential learning and career planning to prospective students and parents, and to alumni/ae. The Dean will also report on the programs’ activities to the Board of Trustees and Board of Visitors, external partners, and other similar bodies. The goal is to ensure that DePauw’s programs in experiential learning and career planning are fully understood by external audiences and partners.
Secure new external resources to support operations and initiatives that enhance student access to civic, global, and professional opportunities on campus and beyond the University.
Through the preparation of grants to external funding agencies and by working with the Office of Advancement, the Dean will help secure new external resources to support those operations and initiatives that enhance our students’ access to civic, global, and professional opportunities on campus and beyond the University. The goal is to both provide for and enhance current programs.
| | Qualifications: | The successful candidate should have experience in at least two of the following three areas: off-campus or international education; civic or service education; and professional or career discernment and development. The candidate should have significant experience in higher education, with preference to candidates having both administrative and teaching experience, as well as practice in student advising, counseling, and/or programming. A doctorate or terminal master’s degree is strongly preferred.
Please include a 1–2 page letter of interest, a CV or resume, and contact information for three references with your application. |
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