"Founding Dean for College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences"

Position Announcement

Utah Tech University seeks an experienced and visionary leader to serve as the founding dean for the College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences (CHASS). This new college, UT's second-largest college, will be created through the merger of the current College of Humanities & Social Sciences and the College of the Arts, with full unification occurring July 1, 2027.

This recruitment is intended to anticipate significant leadership transitions. The current dean of Humanities and Social Sciences will conclude service on June 30, 2026, and the existing dean position for the College of the Arts will merge into CHASS on July 1, 2027. The founding dean will assume leadership before the official merger, guiding the transition, providing stability, and helping finalize the new college's structure.

The dean serves as a key member of UT's academic leadership team and plays an essential role in advancing the humanities, arts, and social sciences within a polytechnic mission. This includes strategic planning, academic and personnel oversight, resource management, enrollment strategy, fundraising, and fostering innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. The dean will also steward the college's academic programs, cultural assets, creative and scholarly endeavors, and community engagement partnerships as the new college becomes fully operational.

Prior to the 2027 merger, the founding dean will oversee all academic units currently housed in the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, including six departments, multiple graduate programs, and the UT Digital Forensics Crime Lab. Following the merger on July 1, 2027, the college will expand to include all programs from the College of the Arts, bringing the unified college.

To learn more about the College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, please visit https://colleges.utahtech.edu/humanities/ and https://colleges.utahtech.edu/arts/.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and administrative oversight for all academic departments, programs, centers, and operations within the college.
• Support and create a college vision and implement a strategic planning process through a transparent decision-making culture.
• Recruit, supervise, mentor, and evaluate faculty and staff, including hiring, tenure and promotion, retention reviews, post-tenure reviews, and annual evaluations.
• Cultivate interdisciplinary collaborations and community partnerships that advance student learning and promote overall college growth and development.
• Develop and manage budgets and resources in alignment with institutional goals.
• Provide leadership in academic personnel matters, including a commitment to recruiting and successfully supporting all members of our faculty, staff, and student body.
• Develop new programs, support existing programs, and manage curriculum, including program assessment and program accreditation.
• Design and implement enrollment strategies that support sustainable growth across all college disciplines.
• Encourage and promote instructional and organizational innovation and foster a creative spirit within the college.
• Partner with UT Development staff to increase fundraising activity for the College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences.
• Lead the integration of humanities, arts, and social sciences units into a unified college structure during and after the merger.
• Manage change at the institutional level and in higher education more broadly with compassion, vision, and a commitment to UT's open, comprehensive, polytechnic mission.
• Engage effectively with leadership and advisory boards in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts.
• Support the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in other areas as needed.

Qualifications

Required:

• Earned a terminal degree in a discipline eligible for tenure within the college.
• Demonstrated record of excellence in teaching, scholarship/creative activity, and service that merits appointment at the rank of full professor with tenure.
• Significant academic administrative experience (e.g., dean, department chair, associate dean, program director, or similar leadership role).
• Demonstrated experience in budgeting, enrollment management, and academic personnel processes.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, donors, and community partners.
• Experience with curriculum oversight, program development, assessment, and accreditation. Strong communication, decision-making, and organizational leadership skills.

Preferred:

• Experience in developing an organizational vision in collaboration with a college's faculty and chairs, other university administrators, advisory boards, and external stakeholders.
• Ability to advocate effectively both inside and outside the university.
• A participative, collaborative leadership style and the ability to listen and communicate effectively to build consensus across a diverse range of constituencies.
• A commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and service.
• A record of developing and maintaining recruitment and retention initiatives for a strong and diverse faculty, staff, and student body.
• A record of leading academic units in strategic planning, budget management, program assessment, and program and institutional accreditation efforts.
• Experience in working, either independently or with Development staff, to successfully raise funds for academic units.
• Successful experience leading organizational change or managing academic reorganization.

Supplemental Information

POSITION DETAILS, COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: Full-time overtime-exempt staff position. Annual salary of $160,000+ depending on qualifications and experience. Desired start date of July 2026. Excellent and affordable benefits package included that begins on start date; includes medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, employee assistance and wellness programs, retirement plan contributions, and undergraduate tuition waivers for employees and eligible dependents, as well as paid holidays in addition to sick and vacation leave accruals. See https://humanresources.utahtech.edu/employee-benefits/ under "Benefits Summary" for more details.

ELECTRONIC APPLICATION PROCEDURES: Application review begins January 26, 2026; Position open until filled. Submit application materials (including resume contents and contact information for three professional references) and upload a cover letter electronically.

Benefits

Highlights from Utah Tech's benefits package include:

• 14.2% retirement contribution, paid 100% by the employer (no match required), vested on day 1 of full-time employment;
• Regular undergraduate tuition waiver (paid at 100%) for employee, spouse, and unmarried dependent children to take courses at Utah Tech;
• Full medical, dental, and vision plans, with low employee-paid premiums, that begins on day 1 of full-time employment;
• Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts available;
• Employer-paid basic life insurance & disability insurance coverage from day 1 of full-time employment;
• Generous staff leave accruals, plus 12 paid holidays per calendar year.