Description:
Dean for Social Sciences
Hope College is seeking a visionary, innovative, and collaborative leader to oversee the largest academic division in the College. Strong applicants will build upon the division’s strength of faculty-student collaborative research, invest in developing inclusive teaching excellence, strengthen the cultural and intellectual diversity of the faculty, and advance the mission of Hope College and the originative goal of Hope Forward.
Hope College
Hope College is a Christian liberal arts college committed to the holistic development of our students. Faculty, administrators, and staff reflect daily on how individual and group actions and thoughts facilitate the implementation of our mission statement. On our exclusively undergraduate campus, we continually prepare each of our approximately 3,100 students to have the essential knowledge, skills, and habits to “think about life’s most important issues with clarity, wisdom, and a deep understanding of the foundational commitments of the historic Christian faith” (from Graduates Anchored in Hope). Hope is dedicated to providing a rich liberal arts curriculum and experience to all students, including those in our professional programs. We embrace multiple ways of knowing and have been nationally recognized by the Council on Undergraduate Research (2017 AURA Recipient) and the U.S. News & World Report (Ranked #24) for our excellence in undergraduate research and creative activity.
Hope College has four academic divisions: 1) Arts, 2) Humanities, 3) Social Sciences, and 4) Natural & Applied Sciences. Divisions contain multiple academic departments. Additionally, we have a number of interdisciplinary academic programs, living-learning communities, academic outreach programs, and focused leadership of our General Education program. Each of these divisions and programs are embodied by administrators, staff, and faculty that reach levels of excellence centered in an ecumenical Christian liberal arts education.
Social Sciences Division
The Social Sciences Division is the largest division on campus and encompasses seven academic departments (Communication, Economics & Business, Education, Kinesiology, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology & Social Work). Instructors in the Social Sciences Division emphasize learning by doing and incorporating global perspectives. Multiple faculty members in the Social Sciences Division have won regional, national, and international awards for their research, advising, and teaching.
Major Functions of the Social Sciences Divisional Dean
The Dean for the Social Sciences is responsible for overseeing the programs and activities of all the seven academic departments named above. Moreover, three academic outreach programs (the Children’s After School Achievement (CASA) program, the Upward Bound program, and the Program for Academic Talented at Hope (PATH)) are under the dean’s leadership. The living learning community Phelps Scholars is also in the dean’s academic portfolio.
The Dean is a member of the Deans’ Council, serving on this team of academic leaders for the entire college with the Provost, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Dean for the Natural & Applied Sciences, Dean for the Arts & Humanities, Dean of the Library, Dean for Academic Services & Registrar, and the Executive Director of the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career. The Dean will often collaborate with the Senior Director of the Fried Center for Global Engagement, Senior Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Director of the Office of Sponsored Research & Programs, Social Science department chairs, Directors of academic outreach programs, and Director of the Phelps Scholars Program.
Major functions of the Dean for the Social Sciences include the following:
Provide leadership in curriculum development and review for divisional departments
Connect academic leadership and priorities to the Hope Forward strategy to make higher education more accessible
Allocate and appoint part-time faculty and staff
Connect divisional faculty and staff to resources for professional/faculty development
Direct processes for the evaluation of faculty and recommendations for merit-based salary increases, salary equity adjustments, promotion, tenure, and leaves of absence
Monitor and approve teaching loads
Review departmental budget requests; monitor departmental and programmatic budgets
Allocate space assigned to divisional departments and programs
Direct planning for future space needs
Select and resource departmental chairs
Work with with college-wide offices to procure external funding for divisional needs and opportunities
Lead efforts in developing research programs and resources to support holistic scholarship activities
Monitor and approve independent study courses in the division
Manage logistics and provide resources for accredited programs in the division
Continue efforts to enhance global connections and engagements of the division
Qualifications:
The following are required educational, personal, and professional experiences:
Earned doctorate
Teaching and scholarship accomplishments that are commensurate with the appointment at the rank of professor in one of the Social Sciences departments
Previous successful administrative experience in the setting of a liberal arts college
Demonstrated support for and engagement with global, inclusive instruction
Personal commitment to the Christian faith
The following list contains desired personal characteristics and experiences:
Ability to communicate visions that inspire actions to accomplish immediate and long-term goals
A servant-leadership style supported by positive and transparent communication skills
Champion of the value of a liberal arts education
Ability to represent and advocate both internally and externally for the wide range of programs represented in the Social Science division
Demonstrated connections at the national level that will assist in promoting the division and college
Clear articulations of how commitment to the Christian faith informs vocation as a scholar and academic leader
Ability to effectively articulate how the Social Science division engages the overall mission of the college
Commitment to hiring personnel to enhance cultural and intellectual diversity
Application Instructions:
As part of the online application, candidates are asked to submit electronically: (1) cover letter discussing how they will engage the full mission of Hope College and describe demonstrated experience performing major functions of the Social Science dean, (2) a curriculum vitae, and (3) the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of five references, as well as your professional relationship with each reference listed. References will not be contacted without prior permission of the candidate.
The application can be found at hope.edu/jobs and will be open until February 11.
Hope College is a four-year liberal arts college where academic excellence and vibrant Christian faith join together in a supportive and welcoming community. Hope offers an academically rigorous, co-educational and residential education to more than 3,050 students from 37 states and territories and 30 countries. Affiliated with the Reformed Church in America since its founding in 1866, Hope College is known for its invitational ecumenical Christian atmosphere, friendly campus community, and well-balanced academic and co-curricular offerings. Hope's beautiful campus is located just steps from award-winning downtown Holland, Michigan, and fewer than seven miles from Lake Michigan.
At Hope College, accomplished faculty and staff mentor students to recognize the interconnectedness of the world and cultivate the skills, perspectives and habits that help them flourish inside and outside the classroom. Recognized as a national leader in undergraduate research and scholarship, Hope provides exceptional professional preparation and life-changing educational experiences that equip students for success after graduation. The college has consistently ranked among the nation's top liberal arts colleges and is featured in the book Colleges That Change Lives.
Hope College is financially sound, with an endowment of over $200 million and no deferred maintenance, and over $140 million invested in the construction of new facilities during the past 12 years. Since 2015, the college has completed four new buildings – the Kruizenga Art Museum (2015), the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts (2015), the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center (2017), and the van Andel Huys der Hope home for the college's Campus Ministries programs (2019).
In 2015, Hope College launched its 10-year strategic plan, Hope for the World: 2025, which consists of six goals, focused on: academics; Christian formation; global engagement; community; reputation and influence; and value. Developed by the campus community, the strategic plan supports the college's mission, "to educate students for lives of leadership and service in a global society through academic and co-curricular programs of recognized excellence in the liberal arts and in the context of the historic Christian faith."
Hope College is a community that aspires to be faithful, welcoming and transformational. Accordingly, the college is committed to being a place where all experience a sense of belonging. Students of all faiths -- and no faith -- are welcome at Hope, as are students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. During the 2019-20 academic year, 18 percent of the student body identified as a race other than white. On Hope’s campus, there is broad understanding that, in order to best prepare students for lives of leadership and service in a global society, the college must have diversity among its faculty and staff. Twenty-four percent of Hope's tenure-track faculty are from underrepresented groups, coming from both the U.S. and abroad.
ABOUT HOLLAND
Holland, Michigan is located in the heart of West Michigan, on the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa. The city is known for being a friendly college town, a beautiful vacation destination, and annual host of both the Tulip Time Festival and Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival. With a city population of 33,000, Holland resides within the greater Holland-Zeeland area populated by 100,000 -- 30 minutes from Grand Rapids, 2.5 hours from Ann Arbor and Chicago and 3 hours from Detroit. Holland features a picturesque downtown just steps from the Hope College campus -- home to restaurants, cafés, shops and a popular farmer's market -- as well as miles of sandy beaches, nationally ranked school districts and charming parks throughout the surrounding area. In recent years, Holland has earned recognition for being one of the "Best Beach Towns to Live In" (WalletHub, 2018), "Prettiest Towns" (Architectural Digest, 2018) and "Best Cities for Global Trade" (Global Trade Magazine, 2017) as well as the #1 "Best Small City to Start a Business" (WalletHub 2018). The City of Holland has also earned several top honors for the "America in Bloom" competition, including awards for "Environmental Efforts" and "Coolest Downtown." The Holland area is strengthened by its diversity, with people of color comprising 33% of the city's population. The Latino community is particularly vibrant, accounting for 24% of Holland residents. For more about neighborhoods, recreation, businesses and life in Holland, visit the city's "Live in Holland Michigan" website.
Hope College seeks to be a community that affirms the dignity of all persons as bearers of God's image. It is Hope College policy not to discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, family status, genetic information, height, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, or weight, except in the event of a bona fide occupational qualification. Hope College is an equal opportunity employer.