Boise State University

Dean of the College of Education

Academic Career & Executive Search is pleased to assist Boise State University in their search for Dean of the College of Education (COED).

For best consideration, please apply by February 22, 2022

This is a rare opportunity and exceptional time to join Boise State. Under a vibrant administration the University is enjoying strong and growing enrollment; geographic diversification of its freshman population in a well-resourced state environment.

Located in a bucolic setting of mountains and rivers, Boise State is a top 50 innovation metropolitan research university with an active, supportive community and robust economy.

Successful candidates will boast a record of scholarship and research, a keen understanding of P-12 /post-secondary education, and a successful entrepreneurial management style allied with a forward-thinking contemporary institution of higher education.

Reporting directly to the Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, the Dean serves as the chief academic and executive officer of the college, which serves approximately 660 undergraduate students, 640 graduate students, 55 full-time faculty and 5 academic departments. The departments include (a) Counselor Education (b) Curriculum, Instruction and Foundational Studies (c) Early and Special Education (d) Educational Technology, and (e) Literacy, Language, and Culture. Additionally, the college has approximately $11.5M in extramural expenditures a year that is in part generated through two centers (Center for Multicultural and Educational Opportunities and Center for School and Community Partnerships) and a shared institute with the College of Health Sciences (Institute for the Study on Addictions).

Challenges and Opportunities for the Dean of Education

Strategic Vision

Boise State’s new Blueprint for Success strategic plan provides the vision and goals for the university's next chapter. The COED is actively developing a college plan designed to advance both the college and the Blueprint for Success. The next Dean will play a pivotal role creatively executing the college plan for the advancement of the college. In particular, the Dean will be charged with navigating the college through the technological, demographic, and workforce changes that broadly face education so that the college remains vital and relevant in the future.

Financial Sustainability and Academic Innovation

Boise State operates on a Responsibility Center Management (RCM) budget model. The next Dean will need to have a growth mentality and be creative with the acquisition and allocation of resources to address strategic goals that position the college within specific niche areas for continued success.

Fundraising

Many opportunities exist to expand and deepen the fund-raising efforts within the COED. Working with University Advancement, the Dean will have the responsibility to generate resources that support students and advance the mission of the college.

Research and Graduate Growth

The university continues to increase its research expenditures, and the Dean will play a key role in providing the leadership and support to faculty with the aim of increasing the extramural funding within COED while continuing the robust growth within graduate education through multiple delivery platforms.

Culture of Inclusion

A part of the university’s Blueprint for Success is the fostering of a Thriving Community. It calls upon the campus to further environments dedicated to flourishing, sense of belonging, and freedom of expression. The Dean will lead faculty, staff, and students toward a thriving and varied community by supporting programming, hiring, and other structural changes attentive to the inclusion and success of all its people.

Required Qualifications

• Doctorate or terminal degree in one of the disciplines in the college or a closely-related field
• A distinguished record of achievement in the areas of research, teaching, and service with evidence of professional distinction that merits appointment at the rank of tenured, full professor within the College. 
• 3-5 years of administrative/leadership experience in higher education overseeing operations of sufficient complexity to prepare the candidate to be successful as Dean of the COED.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven ability to be collaborative and engaged in faculty governance, academic leadership, administrative leadership (e.g., conducting evaluations and supervising faculty and staff) and developing faculty/staff leadership.
• Experience in overseeing and managing large and complex budgets while navigating university fiscal structures and processes
• Proven ability to effectively make and execute decisions, lead strategic planning and implementation and to use data to evaluate strategic progress
• Strong listening skills, keen intellectual curiosity, bold vision for the future of the education, robust interpersonal skills, strong analytical abilities, and transparent communication
• Demonstrated effectiveness as an innovation leader
• Evidence of supporting and promoting the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for faculty, staff, and students
• Experience in effectively advocating for students, faculty, and staff 
• An ability for developing diverse community and professional partnerships
• A deep understanding and application of effective pedagogy, technology integration into the educational experience including online learning across a variety of educational landscapes.
• Experience executing and overseeing external teacher accreditation
• Demonstrated success in alumni relations, external fundraising, and philanthropy
• Proven ability of attracting, retaining, and developing talented and diverse faculty, staff, and students
• Deep understanding and ability to grow and support funded research within the college and university
• An ability to lead efforts in strategic enrollment management across diverse academic disciplines
• Commitment to serving a diverse population in the State of Idaho and closing equity gaps in educational attainment and student success.
• An ability to create collaborative relationships across diverse academic disciplines and among the Deans of the other academic colleges

About Boise State University - Facts and Figures

Boise State University is nationally recognized for its trailblazing innovation. Often described as “Blue Turf Thinking” after our iconic football field, this mindset shapes the scrappy, creative and boundary-breaking style of our academic enterprise. The university fosters a culture of innovation by inviting and rewarding the engagement of the whole community in our evolution and by building structures that incentivize creativity and bold new ideas.

Boise State provides an innovative, transformative, and equitable educational environment that prepares students for success and advances Idaho and the world.

The university has experienced sustained growth for decades and has a keen focus on student success. A top choice for students from Idaho and across the West, Boise State has more than doubled its graduate programming in the past 15 years and has set records for the number of graduates for 10 straight years.

Nationally recognized in the Top 50 for innovation by U.S. News & World Report and described by the Chronicle of Higher Education as a university that is “demonstrably on the move,” Boise State was also one of five universities in the nation recognized in 2017 by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities for innovative approaches to improving retention and graduation rates.

Boise State makes a huge positive impact on our state. Home to Idaho’s largest graduate school, we also enroll more than one-third of all students in Idaho’s public higher education system, and confer nearly half of all bachelor’s degrees awarded by the state’s public universities.

Boise State has risen on a stunning trajectory from a community college to a doctoral research university. It now embodies the best of both of these worlds—a strong focus on students and their wellbeing, alongside the transformative potential of research and its impacts on both student outcomes and on the world around us through discovery. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church as Boise Junior College, it transitioned to an independent junior college in 1934. Later, it evolved to Boise College, then, Boise State College and, since 1974, as Boise State University. It began awarding baccalaureate degrees in 1965 and master’s degrees in 1972. Doctoral degrees have been awarded by the university since 1997. Only seven presidents have led Boise State University during its 88-year history; Dr. Marlene Tromp is the current president.

Boise State has earned a Carnegie Classification of a High Research Activity Doctoral Universities with over 58% growth in research awards over the last five years and many of Boise State’s academic programs have achieved accreditation or approval by specialized professional organizations and agencies.

Boise State’s Mission

Boise State provides an innovative, transformative, and equitable educational environment that prepares students for success and advances Idaho and the world.

Boise State’s Vision

To be a premier student-success driven research university innovating for statewide and global impact. The trailblazing, innovative character that has always defined Boise State will help us foster student success, advance Idaho and Idahoans, and strengthen our culture of innovation and impact.

About the College of Education

The College of Education consists of five academic departments, three centers, and six research initiatives. Its exceptional faculty specialize in research across the field of education, and offers a variety of academic programs from undergraduate to doctoral. Boise State College of Education is committed to excellence in teacher education, graduate programs, doctoral study, research and external funding, and community and partnership relationships. They embrace and engage in their vision for excellence in teacher education, graduate programs, doctoral study, research and external funding, and are founded on community and partnership relations.

Living in the Area

Year after year, the city of Boise earns accolades from across the country as a wonderful place to work, play, raise a family, grow a business, and enjoy life. With a population of more than 225,000 within a surrounding metropolitan area of nearly 750,000, the capital city and its high-tech economy are driving the development of the fastest-growing state in the nation.

Boise is one of the most geographically isolated cities in the nation and prides itself on its homegrown culture, businesses, education and outdoor amenities. The entrepreneurial spirit that has launched and housed companies like Albertsons, the J.R. Simplot Co., Morrison-Knudsen and Micron Technology pervades today among the next generation of business pioneers.

The Boise Greenbelt runs more than 25 miles along the Boise River past downtown and the Boise State campus. From Bogus Basin Mountain Resort to a brand-new Whitewater Park, the city’s network of parks, trails and open space help ensure access to Idaho’s great outdoors will remain a key element of the Boise lifestyle.

The city is home to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the Treefort Music Fest, the Boise Philharmonic, the Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, and much more. It is one of the few cities in the nation to have a full municipal department dedicated to arts and history.

Boise State has been recognized as one of the top three universities in the country for Outdoor Adventure and fly fishing – you can hook a trout in the shadow of Bronco Stadium. A walk or ride down the Greenbelt takes you across the city and through a variety of beautiful terrains.

Boise hosts two farmers’ markets downtown, and a fabulous menu of local and national restaurant options from food trucks and steak houses to unique international cuisine. We’re supportive of local business and commerce while growing a healthy mix of economic development and industry.

Families enjoy Boise’s excellent public schools – and many find comfortable homes among our diverse religious communities. Our many cultures love to share with each other: from the Jewish Deli Days to the Greek and Russian food festivals to the huge gathering of Basques from around the world every five years in Boise, the city loves to come together for special events.

To Apply

For best consideration, please apply by February 22, 2022.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and should include a cover letter and curriculum vita.

Please do not email applications. 

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at the time of employment.

Inquiries, referrals, and nominations are treated confidentially.

Inquiries and questions: Please send to boisestatedeaneducation@acesrch.com

Nominations and referrals: Please send to nominations@acesrch.com

Equal Employment Opportunity

Boise State University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Boise State University is building a culturally diverse faculty and staff and strongly encourages applications from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and covered veterans. As a federal contractor, the University will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. View Boise State's Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harrassment Policy 1060. If you require an accommodation to complete this application, please contact Human Resources at 208-426-1616.