Working/Functional Title
Ast/Asc Dean for Undergraduate STEM Education
Position Summary
The Assistant/Associate Dean for Undergraduate STEM Education will lead a network of instructors and Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) researchers who teach STEM courses and/or are involved in STEM educational research across MSU colleges. They will help create, nurture, and maintain a vibrant research community to advance teaching excellence and develop new, innovative, and effective college-level STEM education pedagogies. The Assistant/Associate Dean for Undergraduate STEM Education will lead curricular reform for undergraduate student success by optimizing pedagogical design to improve student learning outcomes, increase persistence and graduation rates, and close opportunity gaps.
The Assistant/Associate Dean for Undergraduate STEM Education reports to the Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies (APUE) and is a member of the APUE leadership team. Along with the APUE’s leadership team, this position will help lead MSU’s undergraduate student success initiatives by operationalizing MSU’s stated belief that every student it admits has the capacity to learn, thrive, and graduate. The position will also work closely with the assistant and associate deans in APUE who lead the strategic and curricular student success initiatives at MSU, with STEM college leaders who are responsible for STEM curriculum and instruction, and with colleagues in the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology. The Assistant/Associate Dean for Undergraduate STEM Education is an academic position that serves at the pleasure of the Dean and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, who is designated by the Board of Trustees as “…the principal academic officer of the University…”
The primary role of the Assistant/Associate Dean for Undergraduate STEM Education is to coordinate undergraduate STEM curriculum and planning to:
- Collaboratively guide the ongoing reforms and developments in MSU’s undergraduate STEM curriculum to meet student success goals and promote university priorities, including development of strategies to connect with the arts and humanities including the university arts strategy.
- Lead student-centered curricular reform efforts at MSU in tandem with national trends, university initiatives and in collaboration with deans, chairs, faculty, institutional research analysts and the colleges’ student success group.
- Be responsible for coordinating the implementation of funded intercollegiate research projects that employ ongoing STEM courses as research platforms. This includes optimizing the use of innovative classrooms and teaching facilities in the newly constructed STEM education building for DBER research
- Provide guidance on accreditation requirements across the various disciplines.
- Develop interdisciplinary interactions with the arts, letters, and social science community by exploring the intersections between STEM sciences with the communication, visual and the performing arts.
- Provide leadership and support for the development of joint and individual external grants to support discipline-based education research.
This position will also advise and assist the Office of Planning and Budgets, which is responsible for budget and planning, institutional research, and facilities planning and space management, to develop principles and strategies to align and maximize utilization of STEM teaching and learning resources with curricular reforms and student success initiatives.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Degree
Masters -STEM, Higher Education, or related field
Desired Degree
Doctorate -STEM, Higher Education, or related field
Minimum Requirements
- Demonstrated commitment to core institutional values, including undergraduate student success and strengthening a climate of respect, caring, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Experience at the college or university level in pedagogical instruction and/or classroom/lab design.
- Thorough understanding of academic structure and function.
- Demonstrated knowledge of current international, national, and statewide issues and trends related to higher education in general, and those in research intensive universities in particular.
- Effective skills at collaboration within and across units.
- Strong communications skills.
Desired Qualifications
- A demonstrated history of publications and research funding and national recognition in Discipline Based Education Research that includes national involvement with the STEM education planning and activities.
- Earned doctorate or equivalent relevant experience in undergraduate STEM education.
Required Application Materials
Application materials need to include:
- DEI statement
- C.V.
- Cover letter describing the candidate’s vision for undergraduate STEM education at MSU and how this position fits into the candidate’s professional trajectory.
Special Instructions
General questions can be addressed to Jeff Grabill at grabill@msu.edu.
Review of Applications Begins On
02/26/2021
Website
undergrad.msu.edu
Department Statement
The Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies cultivates a vibrant, multi-disciplinary community that is diverse along many dimensions, including race and ethnicity; gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression; ability status; and creed or ideology.
MSU Statement
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
