Career Center

Dean - Oakland Campus

About the Opportunity

TO APPLY

Northeastern has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist with this search. Review of applications, nominations, and expressions of interest will begin immediately and continue on a confidential basis until an appointment is made. Applicants should send a cover letter and resume or curriculum vitae. Nominations, applications, and inquiries should be sent electronically in confidence to:

Andy Lee, Managing Partner

Elizabeth Dorr Weithman, Managing Associate

Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/northeastern-university/dean-oakland-campus

THE SEARCH

Building upon a decade of expansion in the United States and beyond, Northeastern University merged with Mills College in July 2022 to have broader impact across its global campus network. That impact is powered by Northeastern's renowned experiential learning model and world-class research enterprise and strengthened by Mills' legacy in women's leadership, equity, and social justice. Northeastern now welcomes applications and nominations for the position of inaugural dean of its Oakland campus.

Northeastern continues its astonishing upward trajectory, with tremendous advances in academic and research rankings and unprecedented growth in student applications coupled with one of the lowest selectivity rates of any U.S. university, expansive faculty and staff recruitment, and continued investment in physical plant resources. Annual external research funding has increased dramatically over the last 20 years, driven by the work of top-tier faculty, global expansion that creates opportunities for collaboration, and a robust and diverse array of research institutes and centers. Northeastern's signature co-op program has expanded in popularity beyond the undergraduate student experience, creating a unique learning experience that attracts top students at all stages of learning from around the world. With locations throughout North America, a significant footprint in the U.K., and ambitions for further growth, Northeastern is ideally positioned to advance the boundaries of knowledge, create and define new fields of application and economic impact, enrich the lives of students the world over and from all walks of life, and find interdisciplinary solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.

Northeastern seeks a dean to coordinate the establishment and operation of research and learning for its newest campus in Oakland, California. Reporting to the provost, the dean will serve as the campus academic lead and engage with the provost's office and all of the Northeastern colleges in order to create a robust set of academic and research programs at the Oakland campus. This leader must work hand-in-hand with the leadership team of the campus and across the university to build an academic culture that drives value for faculty, students, staff, community, and partners. Charged with innovating across all aspects of higher education, this position requires an entrepreneurial spirit and ability to create a strategic vision to guide excellence and growth.

Northeastern has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this search. All applications, inquiries, and nominations, which will remain confidential, should be directed to the search firm as indicated at the end of this document.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Trajectory

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University was a commuter school in the heart of Boston. Though absent from any national ranking, it had great assets in land, in its cooperative education program, and its location in Boston, a resurgent city powered at that time by its prestigious universities and medical centers and now complemented by other high-growth fields including finance, biotechnology, and high-tech startups.

Today, Northeastern is a technologically infused, globally located, diverse, research intensive R1 university and a recognized leader in experiential learning. It is a comprehensive university aimed at the future, teaching students to adapt to the age of artificial intelligence and to do what is human and cannot be duplicated: to create, to innovate, to work with cultural agility and empathy among the diverse peoples of the globe. Northeastern educates 25,800 undergraduate and more than 22,400 graduate students who are served by more than 7,000 faculty and staff. The university now offers around 325 undergraduate degree programs and nearly 400 graduate degree programs, including master's, professional, and doctoral degrees, as well as certificates of advanced study. Today, there are nine colleges and schools that offer Northeastern's degree programs throughout its global campus system, each led by an academic dean who reports to the provost.

The pace of change and progress has accelerated significantly under the leadership of President Joseph E. Aoun. Northeastern's research profile and external funding levels have risen sharply; in 2015, the university moved into the top tier for research activity when it achieved R1 status under the Carnegie Classification system. Northeastern was ranked 44th among national universities in U.S. News and World Report (2023 edition), an increase of 71 places in just 16 years and the 10th year in a row that the university was ranked in the top 50. The university had an endowment of $1.5 billion as of June 30, 2021 and an FY21 operating budget of $1.5 billion.

Northeastern's faculty totals nearly 3,100 and comprises a diverse and talented group of teachers and scholars. The Academic Plan prioritizes research, personalized experiential learning, and an orientation to global impact. The chairs, deans, and provost have built a tenure-track faculty aligned with Northeastern's strategic themes, supported by large investments in new campuses, facilities, and startup packages. Faculty productivity and distinction is at the heart of the Northeastern mission and of the university's commitment to grow its academic enterprise. The nontenure-track faculty receive progressive titles for promotion, training on the science of teaching and learning, and direct participation in shared governance. Full-time faculty are 47 percent female, 22 percent from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, and 11 percent from underrepresented minority groups. Faculty cite the interdisciplinary and translational intellectual culture of the campus, Northeastern's excellence in foundational disciplinary research, and institutional momentum as key reasons for joining the university community. Nearly 900 tenure and tenure-track faculty hires have been made since 2006, including 80 who started during the fall of 2022.

Northeastern's distinctive, internationally recognized programs for experiential learning attract an increasingly diverse and academically talented pool of students. The university's signature cooperative education program (co-op) and other experiential programs have enabled Northeastern undergraduate and graduate students to have professional, research, and service opportunities in 149 countries and 37 U.S. states, giving students real-world experience that adds enriching new dimensions to their classroom studies. A record 90,927 applications were received for the first-year class entering in Fall 2022, and the mean composite SAT score of Fall 2022 freshmen was 1487. Over the past five years, 97 percent of Northeastern graduates were employed (full or part-time) or in graduate school within nine months of graduation, and 91 percent of employed 2021 graduates were doing work related to their major. Approximately half of alumni obtain their first job placement at one of their co-op employers.

For additional information on Northeastern, including its strategic plan, research, and senior leadership, please see the appendices at the end of this document.

Global Campus Network

Northeastern has built a network of campuses in cities in the U.S. and abroad, offering varying combinations of undergraduate, graduate, and professional learning; use-inspired research; and entrepreneurship-aligned with the talent and innovation needs of the region. Campuses are located in Boston; Arlington, VA; Charlotte, NC; Miami; Portland, ME; Seattle; San Jose, CA; San Francisco; Toronto; Vancouver; and London. In July 2022, Northeastern merged with Mills College in Oakland, CA where several hundred Northeastern undergraduates have joined hundreds of continuing Mills students. Northeastern is now the only university with comprehensive residential campuses on both U.S. coasts.
The university aspires to be a truly distributed global network rather than a central flagship campus surrounded by satellite locations. For example, new programs may be developed and established at one of the network campuses, enhanced locally, and then offered throughout the broader university, consistent with local needs and demand. The successful Align computer science master's program-which accelerates people with no prior computer science education or training into a career in computing- is an example of this approach; it was designed, implemented, and revised in Seattle before being offered in Boston and other campuses. The university also encourages and enables students to benefit from pursuing learning at more than one campus in the system. The Academic Plan envisions that all Northeastern students will have a 'passport' to the university's global network of campuses, and so will members of the faculty, staff, and alumni/ae communities.

OAKLAND CAMPUS

Vision
As the West Coast hub in Northeastern's global university system, the Oakland campus offers excellent student support and many ways to explore professional opportunities in the vibrant Bay Area, experience new cultural contexts, and engage with the university's worldwide network. Employers and organizations will find unique opportunities to partner on research and talent development. Mills College at Northeastern carries forward Mills' high standards as an educational innovator and community partner in the heart of Oakland, California. Students will now also benefit from the great reach of Northeastern's global system of campuses and partners.

Building on the legacy of Mills College, the Mills Institute strives to meet changing educational needs in higher education and do research that advances gender and racial justice and supports women, gender non-binary individuals, and communities of color. The Mills Institute will do this through programs and partnerships that support transformative teaching and learning, research, and career development for women, gender non-binary individuals, and historically marginalized racial and ethnic communities.
Mills Institute has received $30 million in foundational support from Northeastern.

Northeastern's Oakland campus is a 135-acre green oasis with deep connections to a vibrant urban community. The campus features 65 historic and contemporary buildings, many of which are award-winning. These buildings house 47,600 square feet of academic and laboratory space. As part of the City of Oakland, the campus affords students and faculty the opportunity to study, work, and live in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the U.S.-one with an avant-garde arts scene, science and cultural opportunities, excellent cuisine, and a progressive, engaged community.

Academic Program
The Oakland campus educational program will initially feature existing Northeastern courses, degrees, and certificates, with a curricular and experiential emphasis on developing the type of entrepreneurial mindset and skills that organizations everywhere look for in college graduates. There is also the potential to develop new signature programs that are scalable, distinctive to the Oakland market, and provide excellent and tangible student outcomes. All academic programs will be governed, taught, and continually revised by Northeastern faculty as the needs, experiences, and knowledge of the learners on the Oakland campus evolve.
Current programs enrolling on the Oakland campus span business, communications, computer science, education, health sciences, and the natural sciences. For a complete list of programs offered, please refer to: Academics - Northeastern University Oakland.

Approximately 600 students are currently studying on the Oakland campus for the 2022 - 2023 academic year. That includes about 100 continuing Mills College undergraduates and approximately 500 Northeastern students, including first-year students in the Northeastern Global Scholars and N.U.in Program.

Research
The Oakland campus affords Northeastern the opportunity to expand its growing research footprint. The goal is to create robust, cross-disciplinary research activities and initiatives in Oakland that attract government funding, preeminent scholars, and employer investment in the region. The dean of Oakland will work with the senior vice provost for research and other senior leaders to establish short and long- term research goals, establish Oakland's research program, and identify interdisciplinary priority foci.

ROLE OF THE DEAN

A dedicated Oakland- and Boston-based team is currently working to operationalize the university's strategy for the Oakland campus and welcomes the thought partnership and leadership of the incoming inaugural campus dean. The academic operations of the Oakland campus will be led by this campus dean, reporting to the provost. The dean is responsible for the campus learning and research initiatives, collaborating with deans at Northeastern's colleges to establish and support the faculty, and guiding the evolution of the academic and research portfolios in Oakland. The campus dean will be supported by and work in close collaboration with the vice president for campus administration for Oakland as well as a head of partnerships, shared academic services, the Mills Institute, and the leadership of Mills College at Northeastern.
Responsibilities of the campus dean will center upon the quality delivery of academic programming at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, as well as for life-long learners among Northeastern's partner organizations and the community. This will require a deep understanding of the Northeastern global university system, administrative operations, and governance surrounding academic programming and faculty policies. These responsibilities include helping to develop a cross-disciplinary research vision for the campus, deploying this vision, and collaborating with the colleges to hire and retain world-class faculty and staff. Initially, this role will oversee a director of business-to-business programming and staff members involved in academic shared services.

The dean will be in a 12-month, 100% administrative role. It is expected that this person will be a tenured full professor in an academic unit and will move into a regular 9-month faculty position at the end of their service as dean.


OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

This role is not for someone looking for traditional measures of success or change that comes in small increments. To that end, the dean of Northeastern's Oakland campus will address the following opportunities and challenges:

Develop and foster a high-impact, entrepreneurial, cross-disciplinary research program

Oakland is a unique experiment in higher education. No other university has attempted to replicate an R1 campus globally. The goal is to develop a research program that establishes Northeastern leadership in areas of societal impact. Evidence of a successful research program will include attracting significant external funding, achieving a global profile by producing highly visible research outputs, the creation of new spin-off companies and ventures, and the delivery of new technologies and techniques that help industry in the Bay Area and beyond. Deep engagement with existing and new partner organizations is also critical to inform the research agenda and drive its ultimate impact and success.

The campus dean will be expected not only to develop Oakland's strategic research vision and focus but also to build the requisite supporting infrastructure. They will work in close collaboration with Northeastern's central research development team, external partners, and Oakland-based entrepreneurship initiatives to support both sponsored and fee-for-service research activities.

Build out educational program offerings, both by implementing existing Northeastern academic programs and developing new programs in Oakland

In partnership with the college deans, the Oakland dean will oversee the establishment of a cross-college academic program in Oakland at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. The dean will be accountable for engaging with accreditation activities on behalf of the campus, as well as ensuring that programs are well aligned with partner and regional needs.

They will engage Northeastern's central Educational Innovation team and the academic colleges to deploy new curricular approaches, both near- and long-term. This includes articulating a vision for the portfolio of courses that should be offered over time. The Dean will oversee and coordinate an academic shared services infrastructure in Oakland involving advising, academic operations, co-op programming, experiential learning, and career advising. They will be responsible for creating a cohesive experience for students, families, and faculty.

Recruit, retain, and develop high-quality faculty and staff

There are currently 120 (60 full-time) Mills College at Northeastern faculty members who are being integrated into the wider university via affiliate appointments with Northeastern academic units. As the ambitions of the Oakland campus grow, so will the need for world-class faculty. Tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track teaching and research faculty, and part-time faculty, as well as locally based industry partners, are present at all Northeastern locations, and the dean will serve as the standard-bearer for quality, engagement, and retention. Working in close partnership with the college deans, the Oakland dean will coordinate the recruitment of both teaching and research faculty to Oakland. The dean will devise and deploy policies at the Oakland campus that are consistent with the Northeastern Faculty Handbook and college-level policies with respect to faculty governance, merit, promotion, tenure, and appointment. Opportunities also exist to create programs to support faculty in engaging with and moving throughout Northeastern's full network of campuses.

Work closely with peers across the Northeastern network to leverage impact

Northeastern has developed one of the most vibrant educational ecosystems in the world, with Oakland as one of its most recent additions. The dean will aggressively pursue creative partnerships with college deans, institute leaders, and outside stakeholders to create interdisciplinary programs and research endeavors. They will collaborate with leaders across Northeastern to learn about and share best practices for campus and academic operations. The dean will also serve as the face of the Oakland campus, both internally across Northeastern and externally in the Bay Area community.

Ensure an inclusive campus environment

The dean will support a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community on the Oakland campus and among the highly diverse, interdisciplinary clusters of faculty, students, and partners throughout the university. While part of the Northeastern network, the dean will also recognize the unique culture and ethos of the Oakland campus and its surrounding community, allowing a sense of identity to emerge for those that work and study there.

QUALIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

Northeastern has a bold vision and an aggressive plan for the institution's future. The senior officers of the university embody and cultivate an institutional culture of rigorous engagement focused on strategic and operational excellence. Successful leaders at Northeastern demonstrate confidence and flexibility, enjoy creative and collaborative planning and problem-solving, and combine outstanding capability in their own domains with an appetite and enthusiasm for discussing programs, initiatives, and challenges that span the university. Innovation is a cornerstone of the Northeastern culture.

Northeastern seeks a dean for the Oakland campus with exemplary strategic leadership ability and an entrepreneurial spirit. The successful candidate will bring many of the following personal and professional qualities and characteristics:

A deep appreciation for Northeastern's mission and for a curriculum that includes core technological, data, and human literacies. A proven record of strategic and effective leadership and project management in a complex, decentralized environment, preferably at a major research institution.

A demonstrated ability to execute ambitious, fiscally responsible, entrepreneurial initiatives.

Clear capacity for strategic vision and a track record of innovation, imaginative problem-solving, and impeccable judgment.

A commitment to global education and cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the ability to lead a campus with a racially, culturally, and economically diverse student body and support a diverse faculty and staff.

The ability to drive conversations that lead to strategies for campus research and learning and demonstrated experience engaging with external partners, funding agencies, and other entities to deliver on objectives.

An effective change agent, with the ability to think strategically and translate ideas into action.

A calculated risk-taker comfortable working with ambiguity.

A self-assured problem solver who can anticipate challenges and obstacles and has the intelligence, creativity, and tenacity to provide and execute strategic solutions.

An ability to operate across a complex organization, applying superb interpersonal skills for developing close relationships with external partners and key influencers around campus and the broader university.

An orientation toward external partnerships in research, learning, and entrepreneurship to support the growth of the campus and university partner network.

An earned terminal degree and a record of scholarly and research achievement-including a successful track record of securing external research funding-appropriate to support appointment as a tenured full professor, or commensurate leadership and business experience and acumen.

TO APPLY

Northeastern has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist with this search. Review of applications, nominations, and expressions of interest will begin immediately and continue on a confidential basis until an appointment is made. Applicants should send a cover letter and resume or curriculum vitae. Nominations, applications, and inquiries should be sent electronically in confidence to:

Andy Lee, Managing Partner
Elizabeth Dorr Weithman, Managing Associate
Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/northeastern-university/dean-oakland-campus

Northeastern is an EEO/AA Educational Institution and Employer, Title IX University. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Northeastern is an E-Verify Employer.

Position Type

Academic Administration

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University's commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.


To apply, visit https://northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/careers/job/Oakland-CA/Dean---Oakland-Campus_R112328







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About Northeastern University

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in worldwide experiential learning, urban engagement, and interdisciplinary research that meets global and societal needs. Our broad mix of experience-based education programs?our signature cooperative education program, as well as student research, service learning, and global learning?build the connections that enable students to transform their lives. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools.

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