Dean, Woods College of Advancing Studies

Dean, Woods College of Advancing Studies

• Boston College
• January 09, 2024
• Chestnut Hill, MA

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Boston College seeks an innovative, collaborative, and visionary leader to serve as its next Dean of the Woods College of Advancing Studies (WCAS).

Woods College has a long and compelling history of serving nontraditional students at Boston College, offering its first undergraduate classes in the late afternoon or evening in 1929. Today, it seeks to foster an educational experience that is flexible, useful, and innovative, and that enables nontraditional students to achieve their educational goals amidst many other demands.

Woods College offers eight undergraduate majors and seven graduate degree programs and certificate and non-degree programs across a variety of modalities such as in-person, hybrid, and fully online. With an average annual enrollment of 350 undergraduates (average age: 30) and 600 graduate students (average age: 30), WCAS is a diverse, adult, and global community of learners. Forty-four percent of the student body identifies as AHANA (individuals of African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent), and international students comprise 21 percent of those enrolled in master’s programs.

The new Dean will have the opportunity to expand the momentum at Woods and sharpen its strategic focus by capitalizing on current strengths and identifying new areas for growth and innovation. Both Woods and BC welcome a leader who forges new internal and external partnerships and new academic programs and means of delivery, while helping to attract a robust cohort of undergraduate and graduate students.

Reporting to the Provost and Dean of Faculties, the new Dean will join a high-quality academic unit that has long focused on meeting the educational needs of nontraditional students. The new Dean should possess the vision, energy, skills, and creativity to: develop a comprehensive, inspiring, and actionable strategic vision for the College; bring a broadly informed perspective to a systematic review of Woods College's current curricula, programs, and practices; spearhead creative enrollment management and marketing efforts; address online strategy and innovative delivery; and build new and deepen existing partnerships, both internally and externally, in order to expand opportunities for students and faculty and raise the College’s visibility.

The Dean of Woods College serves as the chief academic and administrative officer for the College and the individual oversees the College's faculty, which includes two full-time contract faculty, 121 adjunct instructors, as well as a dedicated staff of 29, and a $9 million annual operating budget. The Dean is responsible for promoting, directing and supporting the College’s academic and financial affairs, including effective management of Woods’ programs.

The Dean should have experience leading a dynamic, multi-faceted organization and be closely attuned to the fast-changing nature of higher education and online learning. They should bring an imaginative approach to the challenge of providing educational programs for nontraditional students and be unafraid to take well-considered risks and make difficult decisions. The Dean must be able to conceptualize bold ideas and bring them to fruition, all while listening to and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders along the way. The Dean will facilitate collaborative relationships within and beyond Woods College, champion an inclusive culture, and develop unique, distinctive, and innovative programming that is reasonably priced and of high impact. This individual will continue to foster a community that is diverse in all aspects, in concert with the Jesuit, Catholic educational and religious tradition.

WCAS operates with four Associate Deans: Academic Affairs and Advising; Strategy, Innovation, and Technology; Enrollment Management; and Administration and Finance, all of whom serve as the Dean’s top-level leadership team. Governance and administration are shared between the Woods College administrative group, and the central BC administration. The Dean serves with other deans on key committees and Councils with the Provost and the University President.

For best consideration, please send all nominations and applications, which should include a résumé/CV and letter of interest, electronically and in confidence, to:

Ruth Shoemaker Wood, Managing Director

Fiona Jaramillo, Senior Search Associate