Inaugural Dean of the College of Design, Media and the Arts

About the role

Kent State University seeks an inspiring, forward-thinking, and entrepreneurial academic leader to serve as the inaugural Dean of the College of Design, Media and the Arts. The College will unite seven schools and the Kent State University Museum, serving more than 3,000 undergraduate and approximately 250 graduate students. It encompasses the School of Art, School of Fashion, School of Music, School of Theatre and Dance, School of Emerging Media and Technology, School of Media and Journalism, and School of Visual Communication Design. Located on Kent State's flagship campus in Kent, Ohio, the College will be positioned within Northeast Ohio, a region rich in cultural institutions, health care, industry, technology, and creative enterprise. The College emerges from Kent State's Transformation 2028 initiative, aiming to encourage greater collaboration, innovation, and long‑term sustainability. Reporting directly to the Executive Vice President and Provost, the Dean will serve as the College's Chief Academic and Administrative Officer, providing strategic leadership across academic, creative, financial, organizational and external affairs.

Responsibilities

• Define the College's identity and cultivate trust and shared purpose.
• Strengthen the distinctive excellence of its disciplines and create new possibilities at their intersections.
• Champion faculty excellence, research, scholarship, and creative practice.
• Strengthen enrollment and student success.
• Foster curricular and experiential innovation.
• Support meaningful collaboration across disciplinary boundaries.
• Serve as a compelling advocate for the College, expanding philanthropic support and external partnerships.
• Articulate the value of design, media, the arts, scholarship, creative practice, and cultural production.
• Embrace design thinking and human‑centered problem solving, support thoughtful experimentation, and help the College explore new programs, institutes, partnerships, research and creative initiatives, and revenue opportunities.
• Appreciate the distinctive identities, cultures, pedagogies and measures of excellence across the College, ensuring that interdisciplinarity strengthens rather than diminishes disciplinary depth.

Requirements

• Hold a doctoral degree or terminal degree from an accredited institution in one of the disciplines represented in the College, or demonstrate highly distinguished performance within one or more of those disciplines.
• Have seven years of significant administrative experience in an academic setting, including experience as a faculty member and administrator at a level commensurate with a department chair or school director.
• Possess an academic record sufficient to qualify for faculty appointment at senior rank.

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience with a deep appreciation for the breadth of scholarly and creative work represented within the College.
• Strong financial and fundraising acumen.
• Ability to lead effectively within a complex public research university.
• Strategic imagination combined with relational intelligence, transparency, empathy, and a servant‑leadership orientation.
• Capacity to empower talented people, navigate change with patience and courage, and inspire a diverse community around a shared sense of possibility.