Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School

Overview

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), a doctoral/professional university, is seeking a dynamic leader and creative problem-solver who can work collaboratively and communicate clearly with diverse stakeholders while advancing the University’s strategic goals. As the Associate Provost for Research (APR) and Dean of the Graduate School, the successful candidate will be critical to SIUE’s mission to facilitate excellence in research and creative activities and support high-quality graduate education. In collaboration with the Provost, the successful candidate will serve on the Provost’s senior staff and Deans’ council. SIUE’s graduate and professional enrollment has grown 25% over the last 5 years, and the University continues to pursue new opportunities for excellence and growth in relevant graduate education Broadly, the APR and Dean is tasked with supporting and improving graduate education as well as research and creative activities across the University, through bold leadership, innovative programming, and strategic fundraising.

The APR serves as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Office of Research and Projects, the Authorized Organizational Representative for all grants and contracts, the Research Integrity Officer, the supervisor of University-wide research centers which includes the Center for Crime Science and Violence Prevention; National Corn to Ethanol Research Center; the Center for Predictive Analytics; the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Center; and the GeoMARC Center, and a member of the System Research Administrators Committee that encourages and facilitates SIU System-wide collaborations and advises the System Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations. The APR oversees and fosters participation in externally funded grants and awards including supervision of Pre-Award and Post-Award management while also supporting internal grant programs to encourage faculty excellence in their scholarship. Additionally, the APR is responsible for developing policies and procedures for conducting research and creative activities, ensuring ethical research compliance, and disseminating scholarly results. The APR is responsible for ensuring compliance with university, state, federal, and sponsor requirements and mitigate the University’s risk in these areas. The successful candidate will balance benefits and costs to diverse institutional stakeholders during decision making while advancing the University’s profile for graduate education and excellence in research and creative activities.

The Graduate Dean will oversee the Graduate School, which requires collaboration with the other deans, partners across the institution and SIU System, and external stakeholders. The Graduate Dean will collaborate with the Office of the Provost to oversee all elements of graduate education. This includes, but is not limited to, a role in ensuring mechanisms are in place for preserving and enhancing the integrity and quality of programs through curricular development, change processes, and policy development. The Graduate Dean will directly oversee graduate faculty status, support for graduate assistants, thesis/doctoral projects, graduate student retention, and graduate degree completion.

The Dean is an active contributor to SIUE’s commitment to shared governance by serving as an ex officio member of the Graduate Council. The mission of the Graduate Council is to support and improve graduate education as well as research and creative activities across the University. Effective deans exhibit strong verbal and interpersonal skills in committee meetings, while working with staff and faculty, and at events while supporting the advancement of the University’s mission.

This position requires the use of initiative and follow-through to foster collaborations across SIUE, among SIU campuses, and with Illinois and St. Louis-based universities, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations at the local, national, and international level. The successful candidate will use their ability to develop systems, support a learning organization, commit to continuous improvement, and maximize the usefulness of and ensure consistency across our main platforms. The Dean and APR will foster an environment that is welcoming and aligned with the university’s commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

We expect the successful candidate to be a tenured faculty member at the rank of associate or full professor with a doctoral or other terminal degree in an area that is tenurable at SIUE. We expect the successful candidate to have experience in the administration of graduate and/or professional programs - modeling professional excellence, collaboration with students, strong leadership skills, budget acumen; writing proposals for external funding; and administering externally funded projects. Strong candidates will have an established record of leadership and modeling professional excellence through collaboration with academic colleagues, senior administration, graduate and/or professional students, and personnel from external funding agencies.