Dean for the Blair School of Nashville,

THE SEARCH

Vanderbilt University invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the Blair School of Music (Blair). The university seeks a new leader with both artistic talent and academic distinction, proven administrative skills, and a strong record of community- and team-building who will capitalize on the School’s strengths and opportunities for growth, and will develop a collective vision for Blair’s future.

The Blair School of Music is one of the premier undergraduate schools of music in the country. Its students have access to both the highly-personalized training that is Blair’s hallmark and the world-class faculty, courses, and resources of one of the nation’s top research universities. The School’s 145 faculty work across 11 departments, providing the highest caliber training to 220 undergraduate majors and numerous non-majors from across the university who choose to take classes at Blair every year. In addition, 700 precollege and continuing education students attend Blair Academy, a preeminent music program for children, youth, and adults.

The Dean will join the Blair community at an exciting moment in the School’s history, and will work closely with faculty in articulating priorities, opportunities, and ambitions, including strengthening the School’s connections across the university and its reputation among its peer schools; fostering an inclusive, supportive community that is equitable and diverse; and streamlining internal systems and updating administrative processes. In addition, the Dean will be a senior leader at the university, and will join a collegial and collaborative group of decanal colleagues who oversee the nine other schools on campus. The successful candidate will have excellent academic and musical credentials, demonstrated success in managing complex organizations, a history of welcoming the people and music of diverse cultures, and a strong track record of fiscal prudence.

Vanderbilt has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in conducting this important search. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed to Isaacson, Miller as indicated at the end of this document and will be held in the strictest confidence.

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ABOUT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is a top-15 private research university offering a full-range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Created from an initial $1 million gift from Cornelius Vanderbilt, who envisioned a place that would “contribute to strengthening the ties that should exist between all sections of our common country,” Vanderbilt is situated on a 330-acre campus near the thriving city center, serving more than 12,000 students and employing almost 7,000 faculty and staff.

Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, music, and education and human development, as well as a full range of graduate and professional degrees. The combination of cutting-edge research, strength in the liberal arts, and nationally- recognized schools of education, medicine, law, business, engineering, nursing, and divinity, creates an invigorating atmosphere where students tailor their educational experiences to meet their goals and researchers collaborate to solve complex questions affecting health, culture, and society.

Vanderbilt provides a gateway to greatness, drawing the best and brightest students from all backgrounds across the nation and around the world. Vanderbilt alumni can be found in Congress, on the judicial bench, among the list of Nobel laureates, heading corporations, conducting innovative medical research, writing for and appearing on the stage and screen, and playing in the NFL and major league baseball.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are top priorities across the Vanderbilt campus. In 2019, Interim Chancellor Wente convened a university-wide Diversity Council charged with advocating for diversity and inclusion for all members of the Vanderbilt community. The Council is the latest example of the efforts by Vanderbilt’s senior leadership to support DEI work across campus.

The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelors, masters, education specialists and doctoral degrees. Vanderbilt is a member of the Association of American Universities.

UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

Susan Rae Wente has been Vanderbilt’s Interim Chancellor since August 2019. Her appointment follows many years of distinguished service to the university, where she started in 2002 as professor and chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Medicine. During her time at Vanderbilt, she has served in multiple key roles in research, administration, and leadership. Wente also maintains her position as the university’s Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, overseeing all academic programs and leading initiatives to advance the university’s mission.

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Drawing on her distinguished background in biomedical science, Wente combines her expertise in scholarship and research with an overarching vision that spotlights innovation, collaboration and discovery. As Vanderbilt’s first female provost and the first woman to lead the university, she is an advocate for women in science and the importance of equity and inclusion across all academic affairs.

THE BLAIR SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The Blair School of Music was established in 1964 through the Justin and Valere Potter Foundation as the precollege division of George . In 1981, the school merged with Vanderbilt University, making it Vanderbilt’s tenth school.

At the collegiate level, Blair’s focus on training and educating only undergraduate students is rare and distinguishes it from other US schools granting music degrees. Today, the School enrolls 207 undergraduates who benefit from rich instruction and close connections to the faculty with a 4:1 student-to-faculty ratio. The caliber and diversity of the Blair student body is also notable. In 2018, the School admitted just under 30% of its applicants, and 49% of this year’s incoming freshman identify as students of color.

The Blair School’s faculty consists of premier instructors and researchers who foster a deeply collaborative and collegial environment across all ranks of faculty. The cooperative faculty culture is a hallmark of the School and creates opportunities for partnership between departments. Blair is home to 145 instructors of all ranks, 73 of whom teach in both the precollege and undergraduate programs. Of these instructors, 61 are full-time members of the Blair faculty while the remaining 84 are adjunct or part-time. Nine members of the Blair faculty are members of the Nashville Symphony. Instructors and lecturers comprise over half of the Blair faculty. Departments include Brass & Percussion, , Composition & Theory, Folk, Jazz, Keyboard, Musicology & Ethnomusicology, Music Education, Strings & Harp, Voice, and Woodwinds.

Blair Academy, the School’s precollege and adult program, offers the highest caliber music education for children, youth, and adult learners from across Nashville and beyond. Indeed, expanding access to music education is a core priority for the precollege program, and scholarships are available to ensure that talented students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to pursue their musical passion.

The School’s facilities include three performance venues, hosting more than 300 performances annually. The Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall (Turner Hall) debuted as a 272-seat recital hall in 1980 and is part of the original construction of the School. Turner Hall is the principal performing space for Blair faculty and students. The Martha Ingram Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in 2001, is home to two performance spaces for the School: Ingram Hall and Choral Hall. Ingram Hall was completed in 2002 and is the largest of the three performance venues with 609 seats. Ingram Hall serves as a presenting venue for guest artists and Vanderbilt, Dean of the Blair School of Music pg. 4

community events, as well as for faculty and student performances. Choral Hall is an intimate, 80-seat venue that hosts recitals, master classes, rehearsals, workshops, and larger classes.

In 2019, the School’s annual budget is $10.5 million, and the market value of its endowment is currently $55.3 million, of which 37% is earmarked for scholarships and financial aid, 44% for departments and programs throughout the School, 17% for endowed chairs, and 2% for other uses.

THE ROLE OF THE DEAN: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Dean Mark Wait will step down at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year after 27 years in the role. His leadership of the School has been transformational. He has overseen growth and evolution along myriad dimensions, including the caliber and diversity of Blair’s students (undergraduate and precollege) and faculty, the breadth and quality of its programmatic offerings, and the early expansion of its facilities. The next Dean will have the opportunity – and imperative – to lead Blair into a new era, building on the School’s foundational strengths to pursue innovative pathways and ideas for the future.

Reporting to the Provost, the Dean is, in effect, the chief administrative, artistic, and academic officer for the School with responsibility for the budget, curriculum and academic programs, faculty, facilities, community relations, and development. The Dean is supported in all of this by a talented and devoted staff. The Dean’s senior staff includes a chief budget officer, two senior associate deans, an assistant dean, a director of technical operations and 11 department chairs.

The successful Dean will bring inspirational vision and a deep-rooted passion for music and music education to addressing the following opportunities and challenges:

Lead a comprehensive, inclusive strategic planning process, and – in collaboration with faculty, students, and staff – develop a clear and innovative vision for Blair’s future.

The Dean will join a close-knit, genuinely collaborative community of learners, performers, and educators, and will have the opportunity to work in partnership with these stakeholders to drive a strategic-planning and then implementation process across the School. In this planning for Blair’s future, the Dean should prize open, transparent communication; clear and streamlined processes for action; and creative, forward-thinking ideas. There is great appreciation among the Blair community for the richness and distinctiveness of its program, the top-flight caliber of its students, and the preeminence of its faculty. At the same time, there is an appetite across the community for clarity and boldness of vision, and the next Dean should embrace enthusiastically this push to explore and define what is possible.

Strengthen and bring clarity to administrative systems and processes across the School.

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Upon arrival, the next Dean will be expected to assess existing protocols, policies, and administrative systems with an eye toward increasing operational efficiencies, better utilizing technology, and improving consistency. The Dean may also choose to review the School’s organizational structure and will want to establish best practices for regularly sharing key School-wide data and updates with the Blair leadership team and, as appropriate, the entire Blair community. There are particular complexities involved in the day to day management of a diverse school of music – constraints of space, of students’ time, of faculty and staff capacity; the Dean should understand these challenges and bring the necessary experience and energy to address them.

Create a long-range plan to refresh the School’s facilities and expand the role and uses of technology on Blair’s campus.

In the coming years, it is likely that Blair’s facilities will require a refresh if not, at some point, an expansion of the existing footprint. Working in partnership with the university’s central administration, the Dean should begin the work of assessing the School’s physical plant and determining its needs and aspirations going forward. More immediately, there may be opportunities to improve or update the School’s technology and digital infrastructure, both to support the pedagogical goals of the faculty and the operational goals of the staff.

In addition to strengthening the technology associated with running the School’s physical plant, the Dean should also capitalize on the power of digital tools and communication platforms to reach prospective students, (re-)engage with alumni, and cultivate friends of the School.

Enhance Blair’s reputation across the Vanderbilt campus, within the greater Nashville community, and among its peer institutions across the country.

The incoming Dean should continue to promote and champion Blair and the performing arts across the Vanderbilt campus, the Nashville community, and on the national stage. Working collaboratively with the other Deans at the university, the School’s next leader will identify new opportunities for cross-disciplinary, inter-school partnerships and initiatives, and should develop creative strategies for better integrating Blair’s students and faculty within the greater Vanderbilt community.

The Dean will also have the exciting privilege of leading a school of music in “Music City, USA,” and should capitalize on Blair’s strengths and its hometown’s cultural richness to expand and deepen Blair’s connections with partners and donors in the Nashville area. Similarly, it will be important for the Dean to prioritize elevating Blair’s reputation among its peer schools, enthusiastically broadcasting Blair’s artistic and academic rigor and spotlighting the skill and accomplishments of its faculty and students.

Celebrate the diversity of Blair’s community, and foster a culture of equity, inclusion, and belonging across the School. Vanderbilt, Dean of the Blair School of Music pg. 6

The Blair School of Music is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and welcoming community, and the School has made great strides in recent years to grow the diversity of its student body at both the undergraduate and precollege levels. In the 2018-2019 academic year, 41% of the incoming freshmen were from underrepresented minority backgrounds, and 49% of the total Blair undergraduate student body identify as women. In addition, through Opportunity Vanderbilt, admissions across Vanderbilt has been need-blind since 2008, which enables Blair to recruit and enroll the most talented students and performers regardless of their family’s socioeconomic status. Blair Academy, the School’s precollege program, also enrolls a diverse cross-section of students from across the region. In 2018, Blair’s precollege and adult students hailed from 59 cities and nine states, and 30 percent of them received some amount of merit or need-based aid. The School remains committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and staff ranks and will look to the new Dean to continue championing this effort in the coming years.

In addition, and in collaboration with the School’s faculty and staff, the Dean should ensure that the School’s curricula – though rooted in Western classical training – reflects the true breadth and diversity of the present-day global musical landscape.

Expand Blair’s fundraising base and increase annual contributions to support the work of the School.

Blair maintains strong connections to its alumni, and the outgoing Dean has also cultivated close ties with a generous and loyal group of donors. Looking to the future, the next Dean will need to expand on this solid foundation, building new bridges to alumni and families of alumni for the precollege, collegiate, and adult learning programs as well as to arts patrons and leaders in the rapidly-growing greater Nashville area. Raising the School’s philanthropic aspirations and annual draw should be a key goal for the next Dean in order to, among other priorities, support the School’s generous need- and merit-based financial aid for collegiate and precollege students.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Dean of the Blair School of Music must have academic and artistic qualifications that earn the respect and inspire the trust of the faculty, the leadership at Vanderbilt University, and the professional staff of the School. Effective and demonstrated administrative expertise, artistic gravitas, and the capacity for fundraising are required. The successful candidate will also possess outstanding skills of leadership, community building, and interpersonal relations, excelling at communicating with diverse audiences and fostering an inclusive and open culture of intellectual inquiry across the range of music disciplines.

The Dean of the Blair School of Music will be a leader of unquestionable integrity and will also possess many of the following professional qualities: Vanderbilt, Dean of the Blair School of Music pg. 7

• Intellectual commitment to the mission of Vanderbilt University and to the importance of music in learning, teaching, and research; • Exceptional artistic skill and a meaningful connection to music, music education, and/or the performing arts; • Demonstrated talent in balancing competing interests, negotiating priorities, and aligning resources to adequately carry out the priorities of the School; • A proven record of leading diverse teams and communities; demonstrated respect for and competence in U.S. minority cultures; and the ability to have hard conversations, to unpack complicated issues, and to cultivate a strong sense of belonging across diverse groups; • Leadership of and respect for an intellectually engaged, artistic, and active faculty; • Commitment to working across academic units and disciplines as a team member within the School, across the university, nationally, and internationally; • Aptitude and enthusiasm for fundraising.

NASHVILLE AND THE COMMUNITY

Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the best places in America to live and work. It is the largest city in Tennessee, and a recognized center for music, healthcare, publishing, banking, and technology services. The climate is moderate, with four distinct seasons, none of which are extreme. There is no personal income tax on earnings in Tennessee, saving the average relocating family between 3% and 10% of income.

The 10-county Nashville region is home to more than 1.8 million people and 40,000 businesses, with the city attracting more diverse new business from across the country than any city its size over the past 20 years.

The region is adding about 10,000 – 20,000 new jobs every year, in all sectors. Recently, Forbes ranked Nashville as the third best positioned city “to grow and prosper in the coming decade.” Nashville has over 12,000 acres of beautiful parks and a thriving, walkable downtown with a free bus and a bike-sharing system providing access to over 200 downtown restaurants and 124 performance venues for live music and the performing and visual arts.

The “arts participation” rate is nearly five times the national average. And, with 111,379 students in 18 colleges and universities, Nashville is the third largest college town in America.

Community highlights in and around the metropolitan area include: • Vanderbilt, named #85 on “America’s Best Large Employers,” is the top employer in Tennessee and the Nashville metropolitan area for the second year in a row in 2019 (Forbes) and was one of “America’s Best Employers for Women” in 2018 (Forbes) • Ranked #4 “Brain Magnet” for gains in people with college educations • Ranked #7 as “Best City for Finding Employment Right Now” (Forbes) Vanderbilt, Dean of the Blair School of Music pg. 8

• Ranked #17 as “Best Place for Business and Careers” (Forbes) • The Gulch, an urban mixed-use neighborhood in downtown Nashville, is the first “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED) certified platinum neighborhood in America • Nashville is home to two of the top 100 K-12 public schools in America. (U.S. News & World Report) • Nashville’s world-class symphony has received 13 GRAMMY® nominations and six wins • Ranked #1 “live music scene in America” (Rolling Stone)

TO APPLY

Vanderbilt University has engaged Isaacson, Miller to assist the search committee for the Blair School of Music with identifying and reviewing candidates for this position. Inquiries, applications, and nominations may be sent in confidence to the following:

Ben Tobin, Partner Katie Rockman, Partner Joanna Cook, Senior Associate Bryce Gilfillian, Associate http://www.imsearch.com/7144