Expressive Therapies Department Chair at Lesley University – Cambridge, Massachusetts

Reporting to an Associate Provost, the Department Chair is a member of the university’s academic administrative team and is responsible for providing leadership for academic department curricula and shepherding the academic vision in alignment with university goals and objectives. In this capacity, the Department Chair plays a key role in ensuring effective curriculum implementation by mentoring faculty in successful pedagogical strategies and by planning, organizing, and managing the department curriculum and providing guidance to department faculty in working as a cohesive unit to promote and implement the university’s strategic framework and policies at the department level. The Department Chair is an integral part of the academic leadership team, charged with ensuring academic departments are compelling in the marketplace and meet defined academic quality.

Foundational Leadership Essentials:

• Advise leadership on issues that may develop in the department in a timely manner and include recommended action as needed.

• Any other duties as needed to help drive the university’s vision, mission, and abide by the university’s values.

• Consistently model leadership behavior that promotes inclusion, belonging and respect for all.

• Contextualize actions, behaviors, and work in consideration of the overall university goals and mission.

Position Specific Essentials:

• Responsible for the planning, implementation, and coordination of department curriculum.

• Responsible for ensuring programs are coherent and consistently delivered, including content, timing, modality, and quality.

• Guide and mentor faculty in effective pedagogical implementation of the curriculum, including designated modality.

• Implement and lead department meetings, maintaining a climate that promotes professionalism, responsibility, creativity and innovation toward academic department goals and student outcomes.

• Participate as needed in faculty recruitment activities.

• Partner with marketing to ensure smooth implementation of targeted marketing strategies and participate in outreach initiatives as needed to promote the academic department to prospective students.

• Lead and oversee the departmental plan for continuous assessment of program outcomes including those related to accreditation.

• Coordinate with Advising to ensure consistent and accurate department information is conveyed with advisees and provide guidance on course registration matters. Field questions regarding substitutions and waivers as needed.

• Coordinate with the Associate Provost on matters related to course scheduling and rotations, faculty assignments, student issues and concerns, and institutional initiatives.

• Advise the Associate Provost on evaluation of faculty within the departments.

A successful candidate will have:

• Earned degree in area of specialty required. Master’s degree required; PhD or terminal degree preferred.

• Comprehension of pertinent state and national professional licensure and certification requirements and processes.

• Demonstrated expertise and experience in assessing pedagogical quality of academic programs and academic planning, curriculum review, evaluation and development and professional accreditation or certification, as applicable.

• Ability to diplomatically tackle difficult topics and conventional thinking in a respectful and productive manner.

• Excellent analytical, communication, problem solving and organizational skills.

• Demonstrated commitment to promote a culture of continuous improvement, experimentation, measurement, and learning.

• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work with diverse community.

Located in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lesley University is highly regarded for its graduate and undergraduate programs in the human arts of education, the arts, and applied social sciences. Lesley fosters a highly creative environment in which innovative ideas thrive, theory is integrated with practice and its 6,400 students and 90,000 alumni are empowered to improve and enrich communities.

We offer a competitive benefits package that includes health, dental, life, and long-term disability insurance. In addition, we offer significant paid time off, a generous retirement plan, and tuition programs that enable employees and their dependents to expand their knowledge and skills.

Lesley is committed to the ongoing pursuit of strategic diversity initiatives that help to position diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental to institutional and academic excellence at Lesley. In doing so, Lesley strives for a campus culture and community that fosters a true sense of belonging for all, provides opportunity for everyone to participate equally and fully in the Lesley experience, and helps to develop each individual's capacity to confidently and competently engage within and across difference. Given an evolving national context and the rapid change in the demographic profile of our country, the University has made a significant commitment to addressing and enhancing its campus climate and diversity capabilities as an institution.

A letter of interest, CV/resume, and a statement addressing past and/or potential contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion through teaching, professional activity, and/or service must be included for full consideration.

At Lesley University we strive for a supportive and equitable environment where people -- regardless of race, ethnicity, color, sex, physical ability, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, veteran or military status, membership in uniformed services, and all other categories protected by applicable state and federal laws -- can participate equally and fully as their true selves in all aspects of university life. Accordingly, the University prohibits discrimination based on these protected categories in any education program or activity that it operates, including in admission and in employment. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the fabric of our institution. Individuals may submit concerns or questions related to discrimination to the University's Director of Equal Opportunity. Please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity's webpage for the University's entire notice of nondiscrimination and for additional information.

Lesley University Core Faculty positions are governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). To view our compensation targets for this position, please visit this link.