The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at the University of Minnesota is part of a premier land-grant research university committed to excellence and student success. The college spans the arts, humanities, and social sciences and prepares students to be independent and original thinkers, to be innovators in their chosen fields, to create meaning in their life’s work, and to become productive citizens and leaders in their communities and the world. CLA is the largest college in the University of Minnesota, with approximately 500 faculty, 800 staff positions, 13,000 undergraduate, and 1,600 graduate students across 31 academic units. 

Working in CLA

The college’s Office of Undergraduate Education (UGE) is committed to an exceptional, inclusive undergraduate experience and education. We provide resources, opportunities, and systems from recruitment through graduation that promote student success, career readiness, and personal well-being so students can leverage the advantages of their liberal arts education to the benefit of society. The unit includes academic advising, student support services, career services, curriculum management, diversity/equity/inclusion programs, student recruitment, and scholarships.

UGE seeks a Managing Director with a portfolio of unit-wide leadership responsibilities driven by key strategic objectives to meet the evolving needs of our students and 100+ UGE staff. 

The Managing Director reports to CLA’s Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and is a member of the Associate Dean’s Directors Group, which is comprised of the leaders of UGE’s departments. The Director works to integrate and fuse the staff and services into a cohesive administrative unit (i.e., UGE) by encouraging shared priorities, developing a common agenda, identifying desired results, and cultivating a culture of unit-level accountability. 

This position calls for a compassionate and confident leader with a positive attitude, exceptional work ethic, enthusiasm for the undergraduate experience, commitment to liberal arts education, strong collaborative abilities, and expertise in project management and administration.

The successful candidate should be able to: 

• Work cooperatively with administrators, faculty, and staff
• Connect a variety of types of data and information in planning and budget development
• Work independently with sound judgment, with discretion and confidentiality, and with a high level analytical skills.

Administrative Direction for the Associate Dean (20%)

• Serve as the primary administrator and advisor to the Associate Dean regarding high-level administrative leadership matters, to include:
  • Working with the Associate Dean on a wide range of confidential, complex, and sensitive executive and administrative duties required to direct the largest administrative unit of the college
  • Acting independently and making decisions on behalf of the Associate Dean as appropriate to establish administrative policies and practices
  • Providing facilitation, analysis, report preparation, and other high-level administrative coordination to college-wide workgroups chaired by the Associate Dean 
• Develop high-level analyses and reports to ensure the Associate Dean has the information necessary for effective decision-making and serve as a sounding board when a wide-ranging, frank and open point of view is needed
• Serve as the key liaison between the Associate Dean and collegiate departments, university partners, and outside stakeholders

Strategic Management (40%)

• Facilitate the development of unit-wide objectives and coordinate plans and policies to achieve these objectives by:
  • Identifying strategic opportunities and initiatives to build effective cross-functional teams, establish shared goals, and improve shared processes
  • Building capacity for unit success through human resource development, to include identifying and implementing strategies for performance management, employee coaching, mentoring, succession planning, and organizational development
  • Leading unit budget planning, to include developing annual budget requests (personnel costs, program support, general operations, instructional costs, event management), reallocating awarded resources, determining internal budgets for staff development, seeking sources for additional needs, and establishing principles for spending
• Drive the collective decision-making of the UGE Directors Group by:
  • Anticipating and identifying issues, researching possible solutions, and compiling and analyzing information and data that can inform decisions
  • Setting the agenda for meetings of the Directors Group and assigning any pre-meeting tasks
  • Determining what is actionable from discussions and assigning any follow-up tasks
  • Bringing timely closure to deliberations by establishing appropriate pathways for final decisions to be made
  • Facilitating the development of workflows to implement high-level decisions across the unit
• Support the work of UGE committees, to include:
  • Setting the agenda for and convening the biweekly UGE Operational Management Meeting of key supervisors 
  • Identifying resource and staffing considerations to advance selected recommendations of the CLA UGE Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Administrative Systems (25%)

• Develop, plan, and oversee the business operations (budget, human resources, space/facilities, technology) of UGE to ensure the success of the unit’s mission in alignment with our values and diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, to include:
  • Leading the 115 Johnston administrative services team in UGE Administration (directly supervising one civil service employee, who in turn supervises two civil service employees and one AFSCME employee)
  • Serving as the primary unit expert on University and college policies related to human resources and finance, coordinating solutions with appropriate stakeholders when issues arise
  • Managing the UGE Staff Development framework to assess needs, identify gaps and opportunities to fill, and help establish priorities in alignment with unit-wide goals
  • Guiding unit-wide orientation to UGE for new staff in alignment with the UGE mission, values, diversity goals, and career readiness initiative 
  • Overseeing the administrative functions of subunits to ensure the standardization, efficiency, and effectiveness of shared operational processes and procedures

Collegiate Service and Professional Development (15%) 

• Collaborate with operational leaders in all areas of CLA Administration and other collegiate partners to ensure alignment and cohesive administrative functions through college-wide meetings, projects, and communications, to include:
  • Partnering with and supporting the other CLA Associate Deans and their Assistant To’s in academic and faculty affairs; research and graduate programs; and diversity, equity, and inclusion 
  • Building collaborative relationships with the collegiate directors of advancement, human resources, fiscal administration, technology and innovation services to advance key college projects and initiatives in alignment with the strategic plan of the College of Liberal Arts (Dean’s Roadmap)
• Complete professional development, education, and training activities consistent with managing the responsibilities of the position, to include: 
  • Engaging in continued learning and development appropriate to work duties and for the pursuit of individual, unit, and institutional success
  • Participating in staff development based on individual need, such as ongoing skills training, DEI development, professional learning, service & scholarly activity, and engagement & well-being 

Expected starting salary range: $77,000-$90,000

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree and at least six years of progressively more responsible administrative work experience that includes supervisory, budget, or human resource management
• Prior oversight of a small department or cross disciplinary team
• Demonstrated ability to function effectively and collaboratively with multiple stakeholder groups within a large, dynamic organization 
• Exceptional problem solving skills (issue identification, problem structuring, analysis, development of actionable recommendations) as well as experience in leading implementation of recommendations
• Demonstrated effectiveness supporting principles of equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion, including experience supporting students and staff with varying identities and backgrounds

Preferred:

• Previous experience working with or in a human resources unit or functional area
• Master’s degree or additional education or training in higher education administration, public administration, organizational leadership, human resource development, or a closely related field
• Three or more years of successful leadership and full supervisory experience
• Relevant administrative experience in a higher education setting, balancing a large number of projects and related details
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting a diverse and respectful workplace that welcomes and respects a diverse constituency
• Demonstrated knowledge and ability to work effectively in a highly collegial setting, with proven skills in effective verbal and written communication, organizing self and others, and building strong working relationships
• Ability to interpret and communicate relevant data and information to support planning processes for a variety of audiences
• Prior experience with change management and organizational transformation