Bryn Mawr College
Associate Dean
Center for Leadership, Innovation, and the Liberal Arts
With a strategic goal of creating “today’s learning for tomorrow’s lives” the College is establishing an endowed Center for Leadership, Innovation, and the Liberal Arts (Center) that will bridge the curricular and co-curricular components of a Bryn Mawr education, enhancing graduate success. The Center will integrate career-development strategies that align with the curriculum; facilitate leadership development and the acquisition of professional skills through certificate and career pathway programs; and coordinate increased engagement of alumnae/i, parents, and employers with students for mentoring, internships, and job opportunities. Due to its proximity to Philadelphia, the campus is ideally situated to afford students ready access to a wealth of experiential, career building opportunities across many non-profit, corporate, educational, and governmental sectors. Bryn Mawr benefits from an historic and strong “Bi-Co” collaboration with Haverford College, through which students have shared access to a wide variety of opportunities, from courses to job listings.
The Position
The Associate Dean for the Center for Leadership, Innovation, and the Liberal Arts is a new position reporting to the Dean of the Undergraduate College. It provides an exciting opportunity for the selected candidate to build a Center that capitalizes on the synergies between careers, professional/personal development, leadership, internships, experiential education, community-based learning, and certificate programs. The ultimate goal is to enhance student capacity, from the first year, to make the most of their liberal arts education while simultaneously preparing for successful and meaningful lives after Bryn Mawr. The Associate Dean will lead an expanding organization of 13 staff members and manage an overall AY2014 budget of $1.5 million. The Center is a central component of Bryn Mawr’s current capital campaign. Undergraduates, graduate students, and alumnae/i are all served by the Center.
This is a highly visible position that frequently represents the Dean of the Undergraduate College. The Associate Dean will build strategic alliances to leverage the support of faculty, departments, alumnae/i and parents, as well as the Bi-Co community. S/he will also establish a proactive relationship with employers, and internship/community engagement sponsors to expand jobs, internships and externships, and take advantage of opportunities for collegiate women leaders.
Qualifications
The successful candidate will possess a bachelor’s degree (master’s degree preferred), a track record of leadership and innovation, and a broad understanding of the prerequisites for finding professional opportunities with a liberal arts degree. The Associate Dean will be able to gain commitment for a common vision; establish career-related goals that align with institutional strategic objectives; design metrics to measure progress and guide change; and get things done in an academic environment. A skilled manager and systems thinker, the Associate Dean will demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit, orchestrating opportunities and thinking holistically about how best to serve the career needs of all students. The Associate Dean will also be adept at leveraging financial, technological and people resources to achieve goals, paying particular attention to enhancing student paraprofessional programs, creating bridges to faculty, and building a “career community” of alumnae/i, parents and friends. Knowledge of best practices in career preparation for college graduates is essential. Equally important, will be the ability to articulate to multiple audiences the strengths of Bryn Mawr students and the value of a Bryn Mawr education. The selected candidate will be an excellent writer, connector, collaborator, and communicator—someone who can build relationships, identify and seize opportunity, see meaning in data, and hold her or his department accountable for helping all students connect their academic and co-curricular work to life after Bryn Mawr.
