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THE INSTITUTION

Randolph College had its beginnings in 1891 as Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, one of the nation’s leading institutions of higher learning for women.  In 1916, R-MWC became the first women’s college south of Washington, D.C. to be granted a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.  The College has a proud history of academic rigor and excellence in the liberal arts and in the rich diversity of its student population.  Notable alumna, novelist, and activist Pearl S. Buck, Class of 1914, was a winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature.  

On July 1, 2007, the College officially changed its name to Randolph College in conjunction with the historic decision to admit men for the first time.  Its first coeducational class will graduate in 2011.

In the fall of 2007, as the result of a national search, the College welcomed John E. Klein as its ninth president.  President Klein came from Washington University where he served as Executive Vice President for three years following a successful career as President and Chief Executive Officer of Bunge North America, Inc.  President Klein is a graduate of Princeton University and holds a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan School of Law.

The College’s student population of approximately 700 comes from over 40 states and 40 foreign countries and comprises 12% international students and 20% domestic students of color.  The College plans to increase its enrollment to approximately 1,000 in coming years.

Randolph’s first coeducational class produced these encouraging statistics:

• Of 178 first-year students, 60 are men (33%)
• 23% of first-years are students of color
• 14% of this first-year class are international students
• 86% of first years are from the top half of their graduating class

Randolph offers a rigorous liberal arts curriculum in small classes with professors who are fully engaged in the learning process.  Ninety-two percent of the full time faculty members hold terminal degrees.  The average class size is 12, with a student-faculty ratio of 8:1.  Randolph ranked 10 points higher than the national average for “student-faculty interaction” according to the National Survey of Student Engagementand consistently ranks among the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

The College currently has an endowment of $150 million with an annual budget of $27 million.  Randolph’s well-maintained campus is located on 100 acres in a beautiful residential neighborhood of Lynchburg in central Virginia.  The College also operates a 100-acre equestrian center about 12 minutes’ drive from campus. 

Randolph College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  The College’s accreditation was reaffirmed in 2000 for the baccalaureate level and approved for the master’s level in 2006.  The next full SACS reaccreditation review is scheduled for 2011.  The College also holds accreditations from the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, and from the American Chemical Society.

 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Randolph College is now seeking a new Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College.  This new leader will report directly to the President and will serve as the chief executive officer in his absence. 

As a key member of the President’s senior administrative staff, the Dean will serve as the College’s chief academic officer with responsibility for leading and inspiring an excellent academic program in the liberal arts with both vision and practical reality.  The College’s current academic programs consist of 27 majors, 30 minors, and a graduate program in education. The programs are led by approximately 70 full-time faculty members.  

The Dean is responsible for the recruitment and appointment of faculty members; conducts annual reviews of tenure track faculty; oversees faculty development; and makes recommendations regarding tenure, promotion, salary, naming of department chairs, and sabbaticals.  The Dean will lead efforts to clarify standards for faculty workload and performance, with decisions governed by best practices, financial affordability, and institutional priorities.

The Dean is responsible for the following individuals and academic support areas:

• Associate Dean of the College, who is responsible for academic resources, including advising, the Learning Resources Center, and the Ethyl Science and Mathematics Center
• Registrar
• Lipscomb Library
• Experiential Learning Center
• International Programs Office and the Randolph College Program at the University of Reading, England
• Maier Museum of American Art
• Writing Program
• Athletics Program, including the Equestrian Center
• Nursery School

THE CANDIDATE

A commitment to the recently-expanded mission of Randolph College as a coeducational institution is essential, recognizing that the basic mission remains the same:  to offer our students a world-class liberal arts education in a tight-knit, active, residential community.

As the College progresses through this transition, the new Dean must demonstrate exceptional interpersonal, administrative, and leadership skills.  Such skills will facilitate the integration of multiple, and sometimes competing, objectives in dealing with student, faculty, staff, alumnae, and other constituency issues, as well as institutional realities.  The new Dean should possess the ability to make thoughtful, resolute decisions that are in the best interest of the College as a whole.

The Dean must be a respected academic leader, with an earned doctorate, who values the liberal arts tradition and is entrepreneurial in finding ways to make it relevant to today’s student body.  Academic philosophy should include an unwavering commitment to teaching and student involvement, while maintaining appropriate scholarly expectations.  The dean should present a demonstrated record of supporting faculty development.

Candidates should have successful experience in planning, implementing, and monitoring budgets, as well as in allocating financial resources in harmony with other campus leaders.  A sincere commitment to collaboration is needed.

The ability to work with external constituencies is important.  This Dean should be capable and comfortable in speaking publically about the College, especially with respect to its academic programs and the development of resources for program support.

The Dean will understand the small liberal arts college environment and appreciate the value of community and the institutional culture. She or he will have had interdisciplinary experience and value the contributions of multiple departments to the synergy of the overall educational experience.

The College values highly the following attributes for the Dean:

• Integrity and fair mindedness
• Evidence of scholarship and professional achievement
• Substantial college classroom teaching experience
• Vision for curricular innovation and synergy
• Ability to assess program effectiveness
• Willingness to engage in open and candid communication among constituencies
• Ability to meld programmatic aspirations with financial realities
• Clear, thoughtful, and firm articulation of decisions
• Desire to engage in the life of the community
• Enthusiasm, hard work ethic, stamina, and a sense of humor
• Collaborative, constructive leadership that yields positive and practical decisions

Please direct inquiries, nominations and expressions of interest to jma@jonmcrae.com.