"Dean - College of Engineering & Sciences"

Job Description

Hiring Department

The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) seeks applications and nominations for a visionary and strategic leader as Dean of the College of Engineering and Sciences with a proven commitment to academic excellence and shared decision-making. The Dean fosters excellence in teaching, research, and service. Expected start will be Spring or Summer 2025.

Salary Range

Salary and compensation package is highly competitive based on candidate qualifications.

Position

Reporting to the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs (Provost) and serving as the College's Chief Academic Officer, the Dean will play a central role in enhancing academic excellence and aligning priorities with the strategic plans for Academic Affairs and the University. The Dean serves as a member of the Provost's senior leadership team and will work directly with the Provost, other University leaders, faculty, and staff in formulating the College's academic goals and policies. The Dean is a role model of integrity and professionalism for the College's faculty and is accessible to undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, the Dean is responsible for the articulation of the College's vision in alignment with the University mission on academic distinction; the development and administration of academic programs; scholarship, research, and service initiatives among faculty; college policies relating to instruction, curriculum, student success, research and other high impact practices; and faculty and academic staff appointments and performance assessments.

The Dean supervises activities within the College's program areas, including Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Chemistry, Geoscience, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics, including four master's programs, as well as several research centers and other units that support the academic mission of the College.

Working collaboratively with all stakeholders, the Dean supports excellence in teaching, research, creativity, and service while fostering activities that improve student retention, achievement, and timely graduation. Additionally, the Dean works with external sponsors, funding agencies, industry, and community leaders to develop research and educational partnerships that contribute to the region's economic vitality.

The Permian Basin and West Texas - an Unprecedented Opportunity

The Permian Basin is one of the country's fastest-growing, culturally vibrant, economically invigorated regions-full of industry, culture, and wide-open spaces. Spanning an area of 75,000 square miles, the low-lying geological formation of the Permian Basin is a stunning stretch of land with unique beauty that's home to the big, beautiful Texas skies. It's also home to the world's largest petroleum 'eld.

Accounting for more than 30% of the domestic oil production and recently named the largest oil reserve on the planet, the Permian Basin region of West Texas is poised to boost local and global economies for decades. As the U.S. is set to surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer, much of the growth in domestic oil production will come straight from the Permian Basin. The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to grow until around 2040, which experts predict will support the creation of approximately 45,000 jobs across the Permian Basin through 2030.

However, it's not only oil fueling the region's substantial energy boom; wind and solar developments are diversifying the Permian Basin, putting it on the map as a critical energy provider for the future. West Texas is seeing an explosion in economic activity as other industries such as 'nance, construction, healthcare, digital technology, transportation, real estate, and public sector jobs grow alongside it. As the only major university in the Permian Basin, UTPB is positioned as its academic center, providing leadership and skilled professionals across the region's prominent and growing industries.

One example led by the College of Engineering and Sciences is a new and innovative Sustainable Energy strategic growth initiative. In support of this initiative, the Dean will lead efforts to hire nationally recognized faculty, combined with existing faculty, and will promote UTPB as a national leader in energy-related areas. Under the leadership of the Dean, the college will lead additional faculty searches over the next few years. The result will be a robust group that will provide broad capacity for developing innovative academic programs and conducting much-needed research in the area of sustainable energy sources, such as renewable energy and chemical production; electrochemical systems for energy storage and energy conversion; solar thermal systems; environmental sciences, geosciences, catalytic processes and materials for sustainable applications; and data analytics and computer simulations to discover methods that lead to progress in these and other areas of sustainable energy.

The engineering building is located on UTPB's Midland campus, where an exciting expansion of the University will take place in partnership with the Permian Strategic Partnership (https://permianpartnership.org/), the city of Midland, and healthcare professionals in the region. This new development will include hike and bike trails, green spaces, housing, mixed-use development, a new outdoor amphitheater, and future academic expansion for engineering, health sciences, and business development.

The College

The College of Engineering was formed six years ago from a department within the College of Business and Engineering. It has long-established accredited degree programs in Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering and has initiated three new degree programs in recent years: B.S. in Electrical Engineering, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Civil Engineering is the latest program, which will begin in Fall 2025. Notably, the College is also home to the Texas Water and Energy Institute and a new Advanced Manufacturing Center established fall 2023. The College is housed in a building that opened in 2019, with excellent facilities for instructional and curricular activities and research and development. A second adjacent building received a complete renovation in 2023 and houses a state-of-the-art Innovation and Commercialization Center, Advanced Manufacturing Center, and additional support services.

In addition, the University recently completed an academic program reorganization process. We will add several science programs to the College over the next academic year, including Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Geosciences, and Physics.

Engineering and Sciences Facilities

The primary Engineering Building officially opened its doors in the fall of 2019. The $55 million state-of-the-art three-story building covers 105,801 square feet. The facility hosts 13 labs to support research initiatives in water and energy, artificial intelligence, and CO2 enhanced oil recovery. Each floor of the Engineering building includes Student Success Centers, private study rooms, conference rooms, faculty offices, and collaboration spaces. The first floor is home to the beautiful Henry Auditorium, a 100-seat lecture hall.

The other science departments are located on our main campus among two different buildings, the Science and Technology Building and the Founders Building. A 70,000 square-foot Science and Technology Building houses Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Math, and Computer Science departments. In addition to faculty offices and lecture halls, the building contains teaching laboratories, research laboratories, and several computer labs. 2,876 sq. feet of space is dedicated to research laboratories, and 3,364 sq. feet is dedicated to teaching laboratories with 24 fume hoods. The University also has other program-specific teaching and research facilities.

[Details of various labs omitted for brevity in this extraction.]

Essential Functions

The Dean strategically leads and manages all aspects of the College of Engineering and Sciences, providing collaborative leadership in developing high-quality engineering, science, and related STEM academic programs and research. The Dean will work with faculty and University leadership to develop strategic directions for the College, including a phenomenal opportunity to implement the academic reorganization by forming the College of Engineering and Sciences. In addition to strong administrative experiences, the selected candidate will have proven success in leading faculty in developing strong teaching, research, accreditation, and community/industry outreach efforts.

Collaborate with faculty and University leadership in the following areas:

• Creating/designing engineering/science curricula for next-generation engineering and science with relevance to regional and state needs
• Developing and executing strategies for strong student recruitment, retention, and graduation rates
• Promoting innovative and effective teaching in the College and providing appropriate supervision to the program coordinators, chairs and other faculty colleagues.
• Promoting faculty and student scholarly activities to enhance research productivity and extramural funding in the College
• Providing regular mentorship for our faculty or direct reports to meet their professional goals while achieving UTPB expectations
• Managing processes required for successful ABET accreditation and initial accreditation of Chemical and Electrical Engineering for Fall 2024 (work is already ongoing)
• Providing effective management of fiscal policies and procedures
• Making decisions in a clear, timely, and collegial manner in accordance with the principles of shared governance
• Facilitating faculty professional development
• Planning and coordinating program reviews to acquire and maintain ABET and other programmatic accreditation.
• Collaborating regularly with the active 50-member Engineering Advisory Board external advisory board to nurture research and education partnerships, expand the impact of the College's work, and secure significant contributions of time, talent, and treasure
• Creating a collaborative/collegial environment in the College and all other campus stakeholders
• Working closely with the faculty to promote and develop interdisciplinary research and academic programs while managing advantageous disciplinary mergers across colleges
• Providing oversight and insights for academic and extracurricular programs in STEM fields
• Making recommendations on programs and services to promote STEM fields, especially engineering and sciences, to area schools and colleges
• Creating and maintaining community, industry, and government partnerships that support College research and education programs
• Fostering a climate focused on student success by providing a comprehensive array of student professional, career, and leadership development programs and support services
• Other duties as assigned by the Provost

Required Qualifications

Terminal Degree in Engineering/Sciences, a related applied science, or equivalent field from a regionally accredited institution. Five (5) years of administrative experience overseeing complex operations, documented industry experience and/or leadership roles, skill set in business development, and experience working with industry/government partners. Progressive academic and administrative or professional experience with significant accomplishments, including credentials that qualify for a faculty position at the rank of Professor or equivalent executive-level experience served in professional institutions. Success in attracting, recruiting, retaining, and evaluating faculty consistent with the highest standards of scholarship. Success in leading programs to ABET accreditation or others. Success building and executing a strategic and fiscally sound unit budget.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in building successful, productive administration-faculty relationships and shared decision-making. Demonstrated success in developing productive partnerships with community/industry. Experience in developing/restructuring interdisciplinary research and academic programs. Solid track record in meeting the Institution's mission concerning enrollment, graduation, research, and others.