Dean of Arts & Sciences

Job Summary

Columbus State Community College seeks a dynamic, student-first academic leader to serve as the next Dean of Arts & Sciences. This is a pivotal leadership opportunity for a visionary educator and strategist who is committed to access, academic excellence, and student success in an evolving higher education landscape.

As the academic leader of Columbus State’s largest division, the Dean of Arts & Sciences will play an integral role in advancing the College’s mission and shaping its academic future. Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and partnering closely with the President, President’s Cabinet, and leaders across the institution, the Dean will guide the strategic direction of more than half a dozen academic departments that serve thousands of students each term.

Strategic Leadership

• Leads the planning, development, and implementation of strategies and programs designed to optimize enrollments and achieve greater student success.
• Supervises assessment and curriculum initiatives in accordance with College Policy & Procedure and Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE).
• Develops goals and strategies for accomplishing assigned responsibilities; actively participates in college strategy and planning processes, as well as establishes personal professional development goals.
• Develops and implements a succession planning process for key positions throughout the Division.
• Operationalize College and Division initiatives and priorities with administrators, faculty, and staff.

K-12 Workforce & Community Partnerships

• In collaboration with the President, the Executive Vice President, and the college’s K12 Office and Office of Talent Strategy, the dean assesses community needs and develops partnerships and other collaborative relationships with business/industry, government agencies, councils, boards, and other entities to design and implement regionally- focused strategic CCP/Dual Enrollment and workforce initiatives.
• Develops partnerships and coordinates with external agencies to develop opportunities for students that expand the workforce; ensures positive relationships are forged and maintained.
• Communicates and networks with leaders in the private and public sectors to promote Columbus State Community College and to determine needs for academic programming and workforce development services, linking and aligning the division’s instructional programs with local and regional employers.
• Effectively markets the College and its educational services to the business and industry community.

Division Leadership

• Coordinates and maintains college transfer and articulation agreements with baccalaureate institutions.
• Establishes policy for compiling and maintaining course equivalency tables with baccalaureate institutions.
• The Dean serves as curriculum facilitator between academic departments and baccalaureate institutions’ corresponding departments.
• Participates in the academic program review process through the Dean’s review portion of that process.
• Maintains a broad and in-depth knowledge of best practices, trends, and challenges in student recruitment and retention.
• Builds and strengthens working partnerships on- and off-campus to assist with recruitment and retention.
• Employs data-informed decision-making and uses predictive analytics. Assesses the overall effectiveness in meeting student enrollment and retention goals and deploys new data-informed and results-oriented enrollment initiatives, and finds ways to improve results from current enrollment strategies.
• Hires Department Chairs and coordinators, appoints search committee members, assigns division faculty fellow responsibilities, and supports the hiring process for tenure-track faculty.
• Provides recommendations to the College Tenure and Promotion Committee on all faculty promotion and tenure applicants.
• Supervises mentoring programs for assigned departments. Encourages and promotes faculty and staff development.
• Support and help coordinate workshops for new and continuing faculty on tenure and promotion policies and procedures, and workshops for faculty on structure. Works with chairpersons to ensure faculty credentialing requirements are met, filed appropriately, and submitted to the Human Resources Department for HLC compliance and academic quality purposes.
• Delegates responsibilities to Department Chairpersons, provides direction in making decisions to ensure work complies with academic standards and policy. Approves faculty workload.
• Approves faculty and staff reassignment of duties.
• Maintains responsibility for managing the division’s human resources and makes personnel action decisions in consultation with the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Department of Human Resources.

Stewardship of Educational Standards

• Develops and administers academic policy and procedures.
• Ensures conformity with college policies pertaining to student conduct, academic, and the appeals processes.
• Listens and acts appropriately upon student complaints. Maintains files on students, making contact with or appealing to the Office of the Dean.
• Participates in accreditation processes to ensure support of Chairpersons and faculty in maintaining standards and compliance.
• Supports program-level accreditation efforts by assisting in the review of accreditation documents, attending site visits, and supporting faculty in advocating for resources to support accreditation.

Building Relationships & Fostering Collegiality

• Represents and participates in meetings and initiatives at the State level with organizations, such as the ODHE, Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC), and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), as well as involvement in ongoing accreditation efforts related to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
• Serves as Academic Affairs representative to internal and external ad hoc committees, councils, and task forces as directed by the President, Executive Vice President, or Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs.
• Develops and maintains partnerships with a broad array of internal and external college constituents, including students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• Works with the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and other cabinet members to develop local and community partnerships.
• Serve on community boards and community boards and committees as appropriate to the College’s values, mission, and vision.
• Supports a collaborative working environment between department chairs and the Offices of College Credit Plus (dual enrollment), Distance Education, Grants, Partnerships & Programs, and College Completion.

Financial & Fiscal Management

• Administers the department budget in collaboration with the Office of Academic Affairs budget office and the Budget and Financial Planning Office.
• Manages fiscal, operational, and human resources, including faculty and staff needs, salary recommendations, equipment and materials selection, facilities utilization, and operational expenses.
• Coordinates the assessment and analysis of budget needs of the division; proposes the annual budget; revises the budget, as necessary, and monitors expenditures within the division using all college platforms, including, but not limited to, Workday and Blackboard.
• Reviews and coordinates the use of instructional resources (faculty, staff, equipment, and space).
• Directs preparation and approves capital equipment requests.

Community Representation

• Develops and maintains strategic partnerships with all groups and communities.
• Partners strategically with Talent Acquisition to ensure the best and most current practices are utilized in hiring that results in the hiring and retention of exemplary faculty and staff.
• Helps to ensure the College meets its responsibilities in identifying problem areas and systemic concerns while reporting complaints.
• Takes responsibility for creating a welcoming, productive work and learning environment where employees and students feel valued and able to contribute to their full potential.
• Assists with conducting workforce analytics to identify potential inhibitors for creating a workplace environment that is welcoming, productive, and successful for students, faculty, and staff.
• Serves as a resource for faculty with respect to curriculum design and student support, specifically promotes, advises upon, and supports curriculum development aimed at fostering critical thinking and a positive learning environment.

Minimum Education and Experience required

• Master’s degree from an accredited institution and at least five (5) years of progressive leadership experience.

Preferred Qualification

• PhD and experience in higher education leadership.

• Public sector experience.

• A strong background in strategic leadership, planning, and plan execution with proven results.

• A strong work ethic, a great sense of humor, an appreciation for working with a team of committed professionals, and a commitment to Columbus State’s mission will help the selected candidate excel.

Compensation: competitive and commensurate with experience.

* If interested, please complete the application process and submit a letter of interest and resume/CV. For first consideration, please send your submission by 5:00 pm on Friday, September 5, 2025.

Questions may be directed to: csankary@cscc.edu

Full Time/Part Time:

Full time

Union (If Applicable):

Scheduled Hours:

40

Additional Information

In order to ensure your application is complete, you must complete the following:

• Please ensure you have all the necessary documents available when starting the application process. For all faculty positions (Instructor, Annually Contracted Faculty, and Adjunct), you will need to upload an unofficial copy of your transcript when completing your aplication.
• Prior to submitting your application, please review and update (if necessary) the information in your candidate profile as it will transfer to your application.

If you are a current employee of Columbus State Community College, please log in to Workday to use the internal application process.

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