ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search

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ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search Ithaca College seeks applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human

1 ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search Ithaca College seeks applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance (HSHP). This is a compelling opportunity for an experienced and innovative leader. Located in Ithaca, New York, Ithaca College is a private, comprehensive, residential college with an enrollment of 6,400 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, a faculty of 461 full-time and 241 part-time, and a staff of nearly 1,000. ithaca.edu

ITHACA COLLEGE VISION STATEMENT Ithaca College strives to become the standard of excellence for residential comprehensive colleges, fostering intellect, creativity, and character in an active,

2 ITHACA COLLEGE VISION STATEMENT Ithaca College strives to become the standard of excellence for residential comprehensive colleges, fostering intellect, creativity, and character in an active, student-centered learning community. ABOUT ITHACA COLLEGE Ithaca College has long provided liberal arts students with a practical understanding of life and careers, just as it has imbued students pursuing professional degrees with the core values and intellectual framework needed to pursue learning beyond the scope of their fields. A 12:1 student-faculty ratio allows for a substantial degree of individual attention, yet the College provides a diversity of educational opportunities generally found only at larger institutions. The five schools offer more than 100 degree programs ranging from biochemistry to business administration, journalism to jazz, and philosophy to psychology. Bachelor s and master s degrees are awarded, as well as a doctorate in physical therapy. An Ithaca education emphasizes active learning, collaborative student-faculty research, and development of the whole student. The College places great emphasis on experiential and hands-on learning, and in the process, offers Ithaca students the opportunity to learn in environments outside of the typical academic setting. These opportunities exist both in the Finger Lakes region and in Ithaca-affiliated sites in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Study abroad is available via the College s London Center and through programs in several dozen other countries. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search two

3 Each of Ithaca s schools is a center of excellence in its own right. The School of Health Sciences and Human Performance (enrollment of 1,321) includes distinctive programs in therapeutic recreation and sports media, as well as a doctoral program in physical therapy. The AACSB-accredited School of Business (enrollment of 718) offers an innovative curriculum taught within an inspiring and environmentally sustainable setting. The School of Humanities and Sciences (enrollment of 2,265) is a founding member of the Council on Undergraduate Research; its theatre arts program is ranked in the top ten nationwide. The School of Music (enrollment of 538) is one of the premier music education and performance programs in the country, laying claim to world-class performers, ensembles and guest artists. The Park School of Communications (enrollment of 1,433) is a leader in communications education, both in traditional and new media. Student and faculty research and media annually win the most competitive national awards in the field. Graduate enrollments account for about ten percent of total College enrollment with degrees offered in education, physical and occupational therapy, business, communications, and speech-language pathology, among others. Opportunities for new collaborations and programmatic expansion are open for exploration. Ithaca is an institution with a spirit of innovation. The College has championed experiential education for more than 100 years. In that vein, the IC 20/20 campus-wide vision was recently crafted. This vision identifies three overarching themes to drive Ithaca s transformational change as well as key initiatives designed to realize them. The goals include the creation of a truly integrative learning experience that effectively coordinates general education, major field and elective courses; the establishment of best practices in the areas of advising, mentorship, assessment, faculty development and evaluation, and learning technologies to support the integrated curriculum; and the expansion of the College s vision through enhanced national and global education. This dynamic IC 20/20 plan is on the cutting edge of interdisciplinary efforts being championed nationwide. Excellent stewardship of resources and solid enrollment management have ensured an exceptionally strong financial picture at Ithaca. The College completed its largest-ever comprehensive campaign, in 2008, raising $145 million toward key goals and visions for the future. Operating results are consistently healthy, with annual surpluses used for reinvestment in securing the future quality and prosperity of the College. Applications for admission and enrollments are at an all-time high, despite the recent travails of the global economy. These strengths, coupled with an endowment of $180M and a bond rating of A2, open up strategic options found in few other institutions today. The College is predominantly residential, with nearly 80 percent of students living on campus. Ithaca s students hail from 47 states, four U.S. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search three

4 territories, and 81 foreign countries. They are highly engaged, participating in campus media, over 30 musical ensembles, theater and dance groups, more than 150 student clubs and organizations, 26 NCAA Division III athletic teams, a broad offering of intramural and club sports, and numerous community service opportunities. This makes for a rich and integrated learning experience and an energetic environment. Ithaca s modern 650-acre campus is a focal point of a vibrant college town, which includes neighboring Cornell University. The artistic city of Ithaca is nestled in the heart of New York State s beautiful wine country, overlooking Cayuga Lake and within the famed Finger Lakes region. This thriving, culturally diverse city of 30,000 permanent residents and 26,000 college and university students combines small-town warmth and charm with sophistication. Often found among experts choices for best places to live, Ithaca offers significant social, cultural, and recreational amenities, including excellent theater, both on-campus and off, spectacular hiking trails through gorges, and boating access to Cayuga Lake. Recognized regionally and nationally for its significant commitments to environmental sustainability, the town boasts EcoVillage at Ithaca (EVI), a local sustainable-living community, and serves as host to the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival each year. These factors, combined with the deep sense of community that helps to define the College, yield an extraordinary quality of life. For more information about Ithaca College, please visit For more information about the area surrounding the College, please visit and ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE Mission HSHP is a community of learners who prepare health care, health, sport, and leisure professionals for lifelong practice and scholarship. As a community it values a strong faculty-student relationship, respect for various opinions, the free exchange of ideas, diversity, and a commitment to the expansion of knowledge through all forms of scholarly work. The HSHP Program HSHP currently enrolls over 1,300 full-time students in 18 undergraduate degree programs and nine graduate programs, including a clinical doctorate in physical therapy. In addition, students may choose from a variety of concentrations (e.g. nutrition) and emphases (e.g. medical sciences) within a selection of the undergraduate majors. This wide breadth of programs ensures that students may find a major in HSHP that will best meet their ultimate goals. Upon graduation, students interested in developing further depth in an area may advance to graduate studies in many departments. The HSHP Pre-professional Program is available for first-year students and sophomores who are undecided about a particular major but interested in related fields. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search four

5 Students receive intensive guidance and academic advisement concerning program choices before declaring a major. Graduate education thrives in the School, with HSHP offering the largest number of graduate programs of all of Ithaca s divisions. Of particular note, Ithaca s graduate program in physical therapy offers a dualcampus arrangement. Students spend one undergraduate summer and the entire final graduate year at the College s Rochester Campus benefiting from the seven full-time Ithaca faculty, fine facilities, and affiliations with the University of Rochester, Strong UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS (18) Athletic Training (B.S.) Clinical Exercise Science (B.S.) Clinical Health Studies/Physical Therapy (B.S./D.P.T.) Exercise Science (B.S.) Health Care Management (B.S.) Health Education (B.S.) Health Education and Physical Education (B.S.) Health Sciences (B.S.) Occupational Science/Occupational Therapy (B.S./M.S.) Outdoor Adventure Leadership (B.S.) Physical Education (B.S.) Public and Community Health (B.S.) Recreation Management (B.S.) Speech-Language Pathology (B.S.) Sport Management (B.S.) Sport Media (B.S.) Sport Studies (B.A.) Therapeutic Recreation (B.S.) GRADUATE PROGRAMS (9) Exercise and Sport Sciences (M.S.) Health Education (M.S.) Physical Education (M.S.) Occupational Science/Occupational Therapy (B.S./M.S.) Occupational Therapy, Graduate-Level Entry (M.S.) Clinical Health Studies/Physical Therapy (B.S./D.P.T.) Speech-Language Pathology (M.S.) Teaching Students with Speech and Language Disabilities (M.S.) Sport Management (M.S.) Memorial Hospital, and other institutions within the Rochester area health care community. The Ithaca campus houses clinics in athletic training, faculty/staff wellness, occupational and physical therapy, movement analysis, and speech and hearing as well as an augmentative and alternative communication lab. Students in HSHP have myriad opportunities to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed in the classroom. Each year more than 650 HSHP students complete field experiences as part of their academic program. The importance of experiential learning is demonstrated by HSHP s affiliations with approximately 2,000 sites and organizations, located throughout the United States and abroad, where students complete both fieldwork and internships. Annual faculty-led study abroad gives students additional opportunities for a global experience. Of special note are the College s and School s efforts to build relationships with several premier universities in China. As an outgrowth of these collaborations, several HSHP students and faculty served on the organizing committee for the recent Olympic Games in Beijing. A partnership highlight is the College s 40-year relationship with Longview, an Ithacare Community, which features intergenerational programming and the sharing of services. The Center for Life Skills, a center emphasizing the team approach to health care, is housed at Longview. This adult residential facility is located less than a mile from the College. In a typical semester, two dozen faculty, five to ten staff, and approximately 250 students from 20 majors interact with well over 100 residents in 40 different activities at Longview. And accordingly, Longview residents may be seen in classrooms across Ithaca s campus and are in attendance at many College performances and activities. Faculty, staff and students in HSHP support many community service activities as well and routinely volunteer at a host of organizations and facilities in the town of Ithaca and its surrounding areas. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search five

6 HSHP is committed to increasing diversity among faculty, staff, and students. There is an ongoing effort to increase the learning community s cultural competency and awareness of cultural differences, especially as they relate to caregiving. HSHP students garner exceptionally high scores as first-time test takers on national licensure and certification exams, and most HSHP programs reflect passage rates in the high 90th percentile. In addition, over 90 percent of HSHP graduates find employment in their field or a related field or are accepted into graduate schools of their choice within one year of graduation. In the past two years the rate was over 95 percent. In March 2009, the College applied for and received a charter for a chapter of the Alpha Eta Society (AES). Founded in 1975, this national scholastic honor society for the allied health professions promotes and recognizes significant scholarship, leadership, and contributions to the field. The HSHP Faculty and Staff The strength of an HSHP degree emerges from dedicated faculty members who believe in and practice their areas of expertise and engage in scholarship and research with their students while fully supporting the integration of the liberal arts and sciences into their professional programs through the HSHP general education program. HSHP students are taught and mentored by 84 talented full-time faculty members, 99 percent of whom hold the doctorate or terminal degree in their field. Sixty percent of full-time faculty are female, and 40 percent are male. Forty-seven percent of the full-time faculty are tenured with 19 percent on the tenure track. Twenty-three faculty members are on continuing non-tenure clinical appointments, and nine of them have been promoted to the associate professor rank which underscores their accomplishments and commitment to the School. Each semester approximately 50 lecturers, instructors and visiting professionals, many of whom maintain full-time practices in the Ithaca and Rochester communities, also contribute unique expertise to HSHP classes, labs and research projects. HSHP faculty members are actively engaged in scholarship and research activity as well as the supervision of undergraduate and graduate research. At the same time, a sustained commitment to personalized teaching and learning infuses campus culture. The typical teaching load is 21 credits. In addition, most faculty members oversee internships and clinical work. Most also serve as academic advisors, and advisees may be those concentrating in a field offered through the School, or may be first-year students or others who are still undecided about a major field. HSHP s average undergraduate class size is 21. Lively and frequent interaction between students and faculty is a hallmark of the HSHP experience. Eighteen full-time staff and four part-time staff on both the Ithaca and Rochester campuses support the School s array of programs. Staff members are perceived as full partners in the academic enterprise. A number of HSHP graduates have returned to their alma mater to help build the program, and that sense of institutional history is deeply appreciated. HSHP s new Dean will encounter a stimulating intellectual environment in which to exercise academic leadership. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search six

LEADERSHIP AGENDA FOR THE DEAN The new Dean will partner with a visionary President, dynamic new Provost, and seasoned and thoughtful members of the Dean s Council, all of whom are committed to

7 LEADERSHIP AGENDA FOR THE DEAN The new Dean will partner with a visionary President, dynamic new Provost, and seasoned and thoughtful members of the Dean s Council, all of whom are committed to charting and executing an exciting institutional future. The Dean of HSHP oversees a complex portfolio of responsibilities. The agenda items offered below concern matters of particular significance to the institution at this point in its evolution. Reinforce HSHP s Sense of Community The new Dean will seek to enhance the sense of community within the School by consistently engaging the HSHP community in authentic dialogue, in multiple venues. S/he will celebrate successes large and small while also delivering challenging news and viewpoints with clarity and care. S/he will strive to ask thoughtful questions, listen intently, shape civil discourse, lead the community through points of conflict, and enhance collegiality. The next Dean will hold a deep appreciation for the life of the academic as well as the life of the practitioner and maintain a genuine interest in the interplay between students, faculty, and staff. Modeling and supporting transparent decision-making will also promote trust and nurture the spirit of mutual respect that will be intrinsic to the School s long-term vitality. Optimize the HSHP Curriculum The creation of IC 20/20, and the resources that will be directed to it, offers the new Dean an extraordinary opportunity for curricular enhancement and expansion. With an eye toward interdisciplinarity and globalization, the next Dean of HSHP will give careful and creative thought to how best to marry IC 20/20 s curricular foci with the School s existing curricula. Also requiring leadership from the Dean will be the further enhancement of graduate education within HSHP and at Ithaca. The next Dean will support and strengthen existing programs and be challenged to consider areas for growth for the College. Represent HSHP in a Compelling Manner HSHP is deserving of wider recognition, and the next Dean will develop a comprehensive and integrated plan for her or his internal and external roles. The Dean will be an effective champion for the School, helping to craft a compelling narrative for its community s mission and vision. While extolling the virtues of HSHP, the Dean will also effectively advocate for its evolving needs in a variety of settings. These efforts will lay a foundation for the work to follow when the College launches its next comprehensive fundraising campaign, in which the Dean will play an appropriate and meaningful role. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search seven

Foster Synergies The opportunities to build on strong intra- and inter-school synergies on Ithaca s campus abound, especially given the energy and direction behind the IC 20/20 initiative.

8 Foster Synergies The opportunities to build on strong intra- and inter-school synergies on Ithaca s campus abound, especially given the energy and direction behind the IC 20/20 initiative. Also critical for this new Dean will be enhancing outreach within the greater Ithaca community and beyond. Though the School boasts an impressive array of partnerships that enable student internships and faculty research, there is always room for further development of existing arrangements as well as the creation of new relationships. And Ithaca s fine regional reputation coupled with the outstanding track records its students have established in their off-campus engagements pave the way for fruitful conversation. In addition, the Dean will be a thought leader regarding issues related to the programs housed within HSHP and able to identify ways to involve the School in those dialogues in a manner that will strengthen its reputation and its opportunities to impact positively the community. Develop and Support the Faculty HSHP faculty members are highly committed to their school and students. Teaching excellence is at the core of their activities, and significant time and energy are invested in mentoring students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. HSHP faculty seek in their next Dean an advocate for academic excellence and a leader willing to evaluate current teaching loads, requirements for promotion and tenure, and support for faculty development, research and scholarship. Ongoing conversation will need to be facilitated about additional efforts to make the HSHP faculty experience a positive one in an environment of competing institutional priorities. Balance and equity in the Dean s decision-making will be key. Manage Human Resources with Care and Diplomacy The next Dean will be asked to apply strong management skills in the work of the School. With a transition in leadership comes a special opportunity to model the behavior desired in intra- and inter-school interactions. By displaying genuine interest in and support of the work of others, empowering through sound delegation, engaging in meaningful dialogue, stressing accountability, demonstrating fairness, and consistently evaluating progress, the new Dean will enable a sound and unified team approach to serving the needs of the School and College. ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search eight

9 DESIRED ATTRIBUTES FOR THE NEXT DEAN The next Dean will bring to the role a record of administrative, clinical and scholarly achievement reflective of Ithaca s own standards of excellence coupled with personal integrity of the highest order. Given the opportunity to lead in the creation of a truly innovative educational experience, at an institution that has a deep appreciation for its mission and a strong sense of purpose, the successful Dean will be: n A person of proven leadership who inspires trust and instills confidence; n A broad thinker who understands and embraces the complexity and emerging opportunities present in a comprehensive college environment with strong and developing graduate programs; n A senior academic with a doctorate or terminal degree (preferred) in a field represented in the School; n A champion of the blend of academic and clinical expertise necessary to administer successfully the programs of HSHP; n A visionary and progressive leader, motivated to and able to follow through on tasks of execution and implementation; n A person of global perspective, committed to diversity in its many forms, and comfortable celebrating and promoting it in ways consistent with the College s legacy; n A data-driven thinker with experience in assessment and outcomes measurements as well as with accreditation efforts; n A fiscally astute leader who effectively matches aspirations with finite resources, guided by a spirit of fairness and with an eye toward institutional optimization; n A transparent decision-maker who reflects an analytical approach coupled with fortitude to make difficult choices when necessary; n A strong manager who promotes collaboration and maximizes the effectiveness of evolving leadership teams; n A faculty leader with a deep understanding of and respect for Ithaca College s commitment to shared governance; n A willing and able fund-raiser with knowledge, experience and personal commitment to shape the School s culture of philanthropy and increase private support for its programs; n A student of higher education, knowledgeable about key issues affecting private colleges nationally, including faculty hiring, tenure and promotion; intercultural competence, enrollment management, and technology; and n A superb communicator, at ease in a multitude of settings with multiple constituencies. NOMINATION AND APPLICATION PROCESS Applications will be received until the position is filled, but in order to assure full consideration by the HSHP Dean Search Committee, applicants must have all required materials on file by November 21, Required application materials include a substantive letter of interest that addresses the agenda for leadership outlined in this prospectus, curriculum vitae, and the names, telephone numbers and addresses of at least five professional references. All nominations, inquiries, and applications will be confidential until a limited number of finalists are identified for campus interviews, at which point the names and résumés of finalists only may become public. References will not be called until after the first screening of applications and then only after the applicant has given explicit permission. All application materials must be submitted electronically in MS Word or PDF format to ICDean@agbsearch.com. ASSISTING ITHACA COLLEGE IN THIS SEARCH: Ms. Julie E. Tea AGB Search th Street, N.W., Suite 300 Washington, D.C jet@agbsearch.com Office: (804) ITHACA COLLEGE Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance Search nine

SEARCH PROSPECTUS: Dean of the College of Law

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