Director, Western Program

Job Title: Director, Western Program

Department: Deans Office College of Arts and Science

Worker Type: Regular

Pay Type: Salary

Salary will be commensurate with the level of the position, education, and experience.

Benefit Eligible: Yes

Screening Date: 2024-10-07

Job Description Summary

The Director of the Western Program will be the academic and administrative leader of the interdisciplinary Western Individualized Studies degree programs and the Western Center for Social Impact and Innovation, providing leadership that grows the Individualized Studies academic programs and expands partnerships throughout the university and community. They will manage program faculty and staff, oversee curriculum development and scheduling, and budgets; enhance and extend alumni/ae relations and fundraise to help support the program. The Director will teach courses in the program, recruit, advise and mentor students.

Job Description

The director will be the academic and administrative leader of the interdisciplinary Western Individualized Studies degree programs and the Western Center for Social Impact and Innovation. Individualized Studies majors develop their own plan of study under the guidance of core program faculty/staff, take a set of required courses, and complete their degree with a year-long senior capstone project entirely of their own creation.  The Western Center is the co-curricular arm of the academic program, creating social impact and justice-focused programming that is diverse in topic and format for the campus and community.

Responsibilities include providing leadership that enhances and grows the Individualized Studies academic programs and Western Center programming and expanding partnerships throughout the university and community; managing program faculty and staff, overseeing curriculum development and scheduling, and budgets; enhancing and extending alumni/ae relations and fundraising to help support the program. The Director will teach courses in the program, recruit, advise and mentor students.

Minimum Qualifications:

Required: Ph.D.; as well as accomplishments in interdisciplinary scholarship/creative activity and teaching that would warrant a tenured appointment as an associate or full professor and excellent organizational and interpersonal skills and administrative experience suggesting an ability to lead a growing interdisciplinary academic program.

Consideration will be given to applicants with evidence of interdisciplinary scholarship/creative activity and/or teaching; as well as individuals that have experience developing/running an individualized studies program and effectively facilitating discussion and decision-making among people with diverse disciplinary backgrounds. 

Additional Position Information (if applicable)

Required Application Documents

Applicants should submit a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, a statement of research plans and teaching interests, and a statement of administrative philosophy and vision for the future of the Western Program.

Special Instructions (if applicable)

Please address all inquiries to Dr. Chris Makaroff, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, chair of the search committee (makaroca@miamioh.edu; 529-2914). Review of applications will begin October 7, 2025. Preferred start date is August 18, 2025.

Additional Information

A criminal background check is required. All campuses are smoke- and tobacco-free campuses.

This organization participates in E-Verify.

Remote Work
For positions that are approved for remote work: Remote work is not a rig