Description:
Position Summary:A Private, Catholic Research University seeks an accomplished, entrepreneurial, and collaborative leader to serve as the Dean of the School of Law, commencing in 2024. The next Dean will bring strategic leadership abilities, exceptional budgetary and management skills, and an appreciation for the University's Catholic and Marianist mission to build on the Law School's recent accomplishments and innovate for the future.
A Private, Catholic Research University is a top-tier, national Catholic research university and the largest private university in Ohio. The University instills a strong commitment to community within students, provides education to develop the whole person, and strives to be a university dedicated to the common good.
A Private, Catholic Research University School of Law offers JD students robust practical skills training in a beautiful, light-filled facility and online in the innovative A Private, Catholic Research University program. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), UDSL is committed to student success. UDSL consistently ranks at the top of Ohio law schools for student diversity and in the top quarter of law schools for job placement. In recent years, it has also achieved unparalleled growth in student credentials, bar pass rates, and national rankings. In addition to its core JD program, UDSL offers graduate degrees to lawyers and non-lawyers in the form of a Master of Laws (LL.M.) and a Master's Degree in the Study of Law (M.S.L.).
Reporting to the Provost, the Dean will provide vision and leadership to the academic and administrative activities of the Law School; manage its finances and human resources to focus the enterprise on student success; ensure the recruitment and development of exceptional faculty, staff, and students; encourage a collaborative environment of shared governance that promotes and rewards excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service; secure the financial resources required to sustain UDSL's successful JD and other degree programs; and continue to build strong relationships with alumni, members of the bench and bar, and the local A Private, Catholic Research University community.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Law School teaching experience and distinguished scholarship, with accomplishments meriting tenure at the rank of professor;
- A deep understanding of the challenges facing legal education and experience in crafting solutions to meet these challenges;
- Experience with, and a commitment to, a legal education that combines theory and practice and blends experiential learning across the curriculum, including innovative programs;
- An understanding of the special responsibilities and contributions of a professional school within a comprehensive university that is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service;
- A deep, demonstrable commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and
- Exceptional communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
While not everyone may meet all preferred qualifications, the ideal candidate will bring many of the following:
- An appreciation of and capacity for sustaining and strengthening the Catholic, Marianist character of UD;
- Experience as an administrator of an institution of higher education, or an academic unit thereof, with evidence of strong management and financial skills, and a demonstrable capacity for encouraging innovation to enhance the mission of academic excellence at the Law School and promote its financial strength;
- An ability to articulate a clear, creative, and compelling academic vision for the Law School that can engage faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others, and that promises to elevate the Law School to a position of distinction among law schools regionally and nationwide;
- Exceptional interpersonal skills with an ability to relate well to a broad range of constituencies;
- Fundraising capacity and versatility to help attract resources;
- The ability to work effectively with alumni;
- The capacity for and interest in collaborating with the University administration and the deans of the other academic units at UD, and stakeholders across the country;
- The capacity to lead effectively within an academic community based upon consensus-building, transparency, and candid communication; demonstrated appreciation and support for shared governance;
- An ability to recruit, hire, develop, and retain talented faculty and staff, and evidence of effective supervisory and team-building skills;
- A commitment to improving the profile and diversity of the entering student body while raising the expectations of performance for current students;
- A commitment to diversity that will be reflected in the composition of the student body, faculty, and staff an in ensuring an inclusive and welcoming community for all;
- An appreciation of the challenges facing private universities, particularly those competing with public universities;
- An appreciation for a balance between excellence and innovation in teaching, scholarship, and service in law schools;
- A collaborative leadership style conjoined with assertiveness, flexibility, integrity, patience, and humor.
