DEAN of GRADUATE STUDIES MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE of ART and DESIGN Boston, MA Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Massart) Se

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DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN Boston, MA

Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) seeks an enterprising, creative, and collaborative higher education administrator for Dean of Graduate Studies. This is an exciting opportunity to continue the development of outstanding graduate programs for a highly respected, long-standing art and design school. MassArt has a 145-year legacy of leadership as the nation’s first and only free-standing public college of art and design, as well as the first art school in the United States to grant a degree. For over 40 years, the College has offered quality graduate programs at a small scale and is now seeking to expand and build the programs as integral to the next phase of MassArt’s development. The next Dean will have the opportunity to evolve and shape an important and integral area for the future of this institution, working closely with a committed faculty and administration. As a key member of the Provost’s team, the Dean of Graduate Studies will provide institution-wide leadership for all aspects of graduate studies and will advocate for all issues of graduate programming and planning.

Located in Boston’s district of arts and culture along Huntington, the Avenue of the Arts, MassArt enrolls nearly 2,000 students (approximately 1,800 undergraduates, 130 graduate students, and the remainder in certificate or continuing education programs) and offers a comprehensive range of degrees in 22 disciplines, as well as continuing education and youth programs. MassArt’s undergraduate enrollment has grown by 50 percent in the last decade. Students choose MassArt for its academic excellence, resources and facilities, dynamic urban campus, affordable tuition, and close connections with renowned faculty. The College excels in the education of professional artists, designers, and art educators and contributes to the cultural and intellectual life and creative economy of the Greater Boston region, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and beyond.

A search committee of MassArt administrators, faculty, and students has been formed to conduct the search and make recommendations to the Provost. All applications, inquiries, and nominations should be directed in confidence as indicated at the end of this document.

MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

MassArt is one of the nine state universities that comprise the Massachusetts public higher education system, which includes fifteen community colleges, nine state universities, and five campuses of the University of Massachusetts. The President of MassArt and the eleven-member Board of Trustees of the College work with and report to the twelve-member Board of Higher Education that oversees all colleges and universities in the state system.

MassArt has 15 academic departments. Three departments -- liberal arts, history of art, and studio foundation -- serve all students, and thirteen offer B.F.A. degrees: 2D (including painting and printmaking), 3D (including ceramics, fibers, glass, metals, and sculpture), animation, architectural design, art education, fashion design, film/video, graphic design, history of art, illustration, industrial design, photography, and studio for interrelated media.

At the graduate level, the College offers an MFA in four areas of concentration, a Master of Architecture, a Master of Arts in Teaching, a Master of Education, a Master of Design, and a low-residency MFA program with an interdisciplinary focus. Graduate programs also include post-baccalaureate programs in a variety of disciplines, as well as a post-baccalaureate teacher preparation program.

As a state university, about 70 percent of students come from Massachusetts, 27% from the broader US, and 3% international students. From its beginning, the College has recognized that excellence knows no class or racial distinctions and welcomes a diverse student body. Nineteen percent of the student body is U.S. students of color. The student-faculty ratio is10:1.

Students are supported by over 250 full- and part-time faculty members who are practicing artists, designers, scholars, and educators. The faculty is represented by a union (MSCA), and the staff is a mix of unionized (AFSCME and APA) and non-union professionals.

MassArt’s faculty, its extensive studios, the wealth of resources in its arts library, and the breadth of its curriculum are widely considered to be among the best in the nation. Sustaining high undergraduate graduation rates (mid to upper 60 percent), MassArt has been recognized by The Washington Post as a superior value nationwide among the top public colleges. MassArt’s curatorial programs have been honored by the International Association of Art Critics, and the Center for Art and Community Partnerships has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation and represented on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Notable alumni of the College include conceptual multimedia artist William Wegman, time-based artist Christian Marclay, Oscar-winning set designer Nancy Haigh, MIT Media Lab co-founder Muriel Cooper, painter Albert Munsell (the inventor of the Munsell Color System), interior designer Kelly Werstler, and designer Brian Collins.

Located in the Fenway Cultural District of Boston, MassArt is near some of the city’s most treasured cultural institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The city of Boston is home to some of the finest art museums in the country as well as dozens of independent galleries. Boston also boasts the second highest concentration of design employment in North America, providing MassArt

2 students with a wealth of experiential learning opportunities as well as access to employment upon graduation.

The College recently completed a major physical transformation of its campus made possible by a $140 million comprehensive campaign and the opening of the new front door to MassArt, the Design + Media Center (DMC) (2015). The DMC offers exciting new possibilities for collaboration across disciplines and for new programmatic and curricular innovations. In addition to raising the endowment and elevating scholarship awards, the campaign has highlighted MassArt as a presence along Huntington Avenue and strengthened the campus community. A striking new 21-story residence tower opened in 2012, guaranteeing housing on campus to all freshmen and sophomores, and a renovated campus center and dining commons opened in 2010. These facilities are shared with university partners. Presently, MassArt is renovating the Bakalar & Paine Galleries, two esteemed professional galleries focused on exhibition and education in contemporary art, which are free and open to the public. The successful, all-private fundraising of $12M made this possible. Once completed (summer 2019), the galleries will become the Bakalar & Paine Museum, which will also open onto Huntington Avenue.

MassArt is one of the few institutions in higher education operating a public-private partnership. In fiscal year 2004, the College implemented a transformational funding model with the Massachusetts legislature that has been recognized as a national model for funding public higher education. The new plan, with greater operating flexibility—an annual state appropriation, tuition retention, and the authority to establish enrollment targets and tuition rates for in-state and non-resident students—convinced the legislature and the Board of Higher Education that MassArt could achieve its vision and steer a course for its financial, academic, and administrative future. Renewed for another five years in December of 2015, this partnership provides the College with a firm foundation from which to continue to move the institution forward. Other benefits of the partnership include programmatic enhancements, increased fundraising effectiveness, improved facilities, and cost savings from new and broader collaborations with other institutions.

MassArt has an operating budget exceeding $70 million, including a state appropriation of $17 million. The College has an endowment of $18 million and raises individual, institutional, and government support averaging $2 million annually through the Foundation. Graduate and professional/continuing education programs are sources of additional net revenue for the College.

MassArt is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), Inc. through its Commission of Institutions of Higher Education (now NECHE), and also by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). The most recent dual-accreditation visit took place in spring 2017.

Locally, two partnerships, Colleges of the Fenway (COF) and Pro Arts, provide cross-registration opportunities and jointly sponsored student activities, expanding the boundaries of the MassArt college community and curriculum beyond what MassArt could offer

3 on its own. The College also has cross-registration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

COF is a collaborative effort of five neighboring colleges in Boston’s Fenway area including MassArt, Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons University, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. COF was created to add value to students’ academic and social life while seeking innovative methods of investing in new services and containing the costs of higher education for the six member institutions.

ProArts is a group of six Boston colleges of visual and performing arts whose members include MassArt, Berklee College of Music, Boston Architectural College, the New England Conservatory, Emerson College, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Leadership

Dr. David P. Nelson is the 12th president of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and brings more than 15 years of experience in higher education in administrative and academic roles. Prior to his arrival at MassArt, President Nelson served as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), the country’s first state-supported performing arts school, from 2010-2016. As a first-generation college graduate, Nelson knows the power of education to change lives. He studied music from an early age, and with the encouragement of a high school band director, he attended college on an arts scholarship. After completing graduate training as a conductor, he later returned to graduate school to study theology, which led him to teaching and writing in religious studies before he began work as an administrator.

Dr. Kymberly N. Pinder will serve as the college’s new provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, effective January 2019. Kymberly Pinder’s career in higher education spans more than 25 years, in administrative and faculty roles with the University of New Mexico, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Middlebury College, among other institutions. Dr. Pinder has served as the dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico (UNM) since 2012, overseeing the state’s largest fine arts program, which offers more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degrees in the disciplines of art, music, theater & dance, and cinematic arts. She also served as Interim Director and Curator of the UNM Art Museum from 2014 to 2016.

GRADUATE PROGRAMS AT MASSART

The Graduate Program is well positioned to develop in new ways for three, main reasons.

First, a college-wide strategic plan that is being finalized acknowledges the important role graduate students play on our campus. The plan also provides guidance for increasing opportunities in areas of research, curriculum development, and visibility.

Second, the Graduate Program has maintained financial stability, which enabled the program to

4 save just over one million dollars in its fund balance while keeping tuition and fees level for the past five years. Our financial scholarship program is small, but we are able to provide stipends for graduate students in their final semester to offset costs related to thesis work.

Third, our engagement beyond campus is quickly expanding and the department is providing opportunities for our students and alums, which in turn, has raised our visibility in the arts community. In recent years we have developed an artist-in-residence program for recent alums that take place in Bangalore, India; Beijing, China; and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition, we have partnered with Mass MoCA and will have our first MFA thesis exhibition off campus at Mass MoCA in early 2019.

The Strategic Plan, financial stewardship, and global engagement give the graduate program a solid foundation on which to build. These initiatives are able to succeed because MassArt is a community of talented faculty and students and our administration works collaboratively toward shared goals.

At present, master’s level programs at MassArt include the following:

BFA/MAT: Master of Arts in Teaching The BFA MAT qualifies MassArt BFA students who are not Art Education majors to apply for the Massachusetts initial teaching license. After three years of teaching on the initial teaching license, graduates may apply for a Massachusetts professional teaching license without further coursework.

Master of Architecture (M. Arch) The Master of Architecture Program combines professional requirements with hands-on design and build experience focused on community-based teaching and working spaces. The program educates socially aware artisan-architects who, as future leaders in the field, are versatile problem-solvers and skilled collaborators, dedicated to sustainable improvement of the built environment. Students develop a personal language of form and a responsible design ethic from the study of current, visionary, historic, and vernacular architectures and experimentation with the intrinsic properties and geometries of materials and building systems. The M.Arch curriculum includes a community project that promotes interaction between community members, architects, builders, and engineers. The program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

Master of Arts in Teaching/Art Education (MAT/AE) MassArt is home to the first-in-the-nation department dedicated to the teaching of art, and so the MAT/AE is a natural extension of a long commitment by this institution to the preparation of outstanding art educators. The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)/Art Education (AE) is a 36-credit program leading to the Initial Teacher License in Massachusetts while also providing the coursework requirements for Professional Teacher Licensure. The innovative courses are based in contemporary studio practice and cutting edge pedagogical theory, addressing issues of communication design, curriculum, social justice, research strategies, equity, and access.

Master of Design: Design Innovation (MDes) Emphasizing four key skill areas (empathy, analysis, contextual understanding, and communication), the curriculum is designed to teach students how to effectively define and solve a problem, and to impart critical leadership skills for mobilizing and motivating teams toward successful outcomes. Graduates of the MDes program will be poised to lead in organizational and social transformation, as service designers, experience designers, design strategists and innovation leaders in corporations, nonprofits, educational institutions, or entrepreneurial ventures.

Master of Education (MEd) The Master of Education is a 30-credit, low-residency program* that qualifies students who already hold an initial teaching license to apply for a Massachusetts professional teaching license. This program is designed for working teachers who wish to develop deeper understanding of the contemporary fields of art and teaching, reinvigorate their studio practice, and/or learn to interpret and conduct research in art education. It is a good preparation for students who plan to seek a doctoral degree in art education in the future; applicants with such goals who are not licensed or seeking licensure are welcome to apply.

MFA: 2D Fine Arts The 2D program supports a plurality of styles and a range of practices including painting, printmaking, mixed-media, conceptually-based and installation projects.

MFA: 3D (General, Fibers, or Metals) There is no single philosophy or style put forward by the faculty of the 3D/MFA program. Students work with traditional materials and processes including glass, ceramics, wood, metal, and fibers; others create technology-driven objects using kinetic, interactive, video or electronic elements.

MFA: Design The Dynamic Media Institute (DMI) explores the role and possibilities of dynamic media in communications design. DMI students are fine artists, designers, architects, engineers, programmers, and educators, among others, who pursue a unique thesis vision through a rigorous practice or research, prototyping, and writing.

MFA: Fine Arts (Low-Residency) The Summer MFA in Fine Arts allows artists and educators to complete a 60-credit MFA over three consecutive summers. The program is ideal for artists who work across disciplines in that it allows self-directed students to develop a course of study that might involve a combination of media, technologies and techniques.

MFA: Film/Video The Film/Video program redefines what it means to be an artist working with the moving image. Students develop an informed perspective on film/video that is individual, political, conceptual, abstract, visceral, and visionary, combined with the advanced skills in video and film production practices to make the vision real. The Photography program explores the medium as a mean of

6 self-expression. The emphasis is on personal vision, experimentation, an understanding of the history of photography and the body of contemporary criticism.

MFA: Photography The photography program guides students through extensive study of the history and current practice of photography, critical theory, and the contemporary multi-disciplinary environment. Visiting artists are an integral part of both programs. In addition to Major Studio, visits from prominent photographers, critics and curators provide an opportunity for feedback on student work, and the department has an outstanding lecture series. Extensive facilities include private darkrooms for MFA students, a non-silver darkroom, individual studio spaces, a large graduate digital studio equipped with large format printers, Flextight scanners, and Mac towers with the latest Adobe software. MFA candidates make use of the many student gallery spaces at MassArt and thesis exhibitions are held in the College's Paine and Bakalar Galleries.

ROLE OF THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES

The Dean of Graduate Studies at MassArt will have an opportunity to shape the next, critical phase of the graduate programs at MassArt. Graduate and professional education programs represent untapped potential for the College, given the strength of the institution’s human, curricular, and physical resources and the success of current programs. The Dean will be expected to grow enrollment in graduate programs, assuring that new programs are pedagogically and artistically strong, grounded in clear plans for fiscal and infrastructure support, and sustained by strategic, long-term plans for enrollment. The Dean will be part of the Academic Affairs team, which is a highly qualified group of deans and directors led by the provost.

The Dean directs the operations of the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS), overseeing a budget of $2.5M, a registrar and a business manager who share appointments with Continuing Education, and a full-time administrative assistant. OGS is responsible for the oversight of graduate education, graduate student scholarship, the academic quality of graduate programs, faculty recruitment, and graduate student recruitment including: admission, retention, financial aid, and academic achievement. The office monitors student progress toward degree, and maintains and archives all student records related to degree completion.

Working with the Provost, the Dean develops the OGS budget request and works with other college units on all issues related to graduate student services. The OGS coordinates with deans, institutional research, and academic affairs on matters of graduate student education, curriculum, support, and research. The Dean may be involved in seeking external funding or partnerships for specific projects, working closely with the vice president for institutional advancement and department leaders.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE GRADUATE DEAN

Specific opportunities and challenges for the Dean include the following:

● Lead the development and implementation of new graduate program offerings, building on the new strategic plan to realize our mission and values.

● Grow enrollment in graduate programs in concert with the Office of Admissions and the Strategic Enrollment Management Group. Ensure that the graduate student body is diverse and highly qualified.

● Review and assess the effectiveness and academic integrity of current graduate programs and make recommendations for their evolution.

● Lead the program review process to maintain the highest standards of excellence.

● Work with faculty to develop, implement, and enforce academic policies governing graduate studies by serving as chair of the Graduate Education Council.

● Promote graduate-specific efforts for enhancing diversity in graduate programs through the people and content, and ensure that affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity are integrally tied to all actions and decisions.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Dean of Graduate Studies must be an ambitious and enterprising program builder who can do so through collaboration and development of a shared vision. This person must bring the business acumen to strategically assess the market for new programs and assertively build enrollments. At the same time, the dean must be skilled at program design and evaluation and bring respect for the finest emerging scholarship and creative work in a wide range of fields.

The ideal candidate would bring all or most of the following professional experiences and personal qualities:

● A terminal degree. ● Professional accomplishment in a design or arts discipline. ● Administrative leadership experience of multiple disciplines in higher education including financial and budget management. ● Evidence of commitments to community engagement, diversity, sustainability, collaboration, and global competence. ● Understanding and appreciation of excellence in the disciplines represented in the graduate programs at MassArt. ● Experience with assessment practices. ● Experience in the development of new degree programs. ● Teaching experience at the graduate level. ● Experience with program evaluation. ● Understanding of traditional and emerging technologies and understanding of creative practice and visual learning.

● Excellent communication skills. ● Demonstrable ingenuity, creativity, flexibility, integrity, optimism, and good judgment. ● Open communication style, ability to listen well, and learn from others. ● Fundraising experience.