Position Summary

Michigan State University invites applications for the position of Chair of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design (AAHD). The Chair of AAHD will provide innovative and inspiring leadership, working with faculty to advance its long-term vision for the future of the department. Candidates with a compelling record of creative activity/scholarship and teaching in or related to one or more of the fields within our department, as well as relevant administrative experience are invited to apply. 

The ideal candidate will be a visionary leader and educator with the capacity to cultivate a dynamic program, in collaboration and consultation with faculty, especially in the following areas:

• collaborative engagement and a commitment to excellence in disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies management
• active support for an environment that integrates diversity, inclusivity, collegiality, empathy, and transparency as part of its core identity
• interpersonal and communication skills required to administer the department’s diverse programs
• effective advocacy for students, faculty, and staff across all fields
• oversight of all curricular, budgetary, programming, and personnel matters
• enhancement of the department’s reputation and visibility in the state and nation through advocacy, fundraising, recruitment, outreach and public relations. 

Department of Art, Art History, and Design

AAHD (http://art.msu.edu) is home to more than fifty faculty and staff members in tenure-system, fixed-term, academic specialist, and technologist positions. Many faculty participate in interdisciplinary initiatives in and beyond the College of Arts and Letters, such as the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities, Experience Architecture, Digital Humanities, Arts and Cultural Management, Museum Studies, Film Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, as well as Asian, African, African and African American, and Global Studies. Additional opportunities for programming and partnerships include the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the MSU Museum, MATRIX, the Abrams Planetarium, the MSU Main Library, the MSU Archives, and several departments and colleges across this extensive Research 1 university. 

Serving over 500 majors, AAHD offers a wide range of degree programs, including BA or BFA in Apparel & Textile Design, Art Education, Art History & Visual Culture, Graphic Design, and Studio Art; concentrated study in Ceramics, Electronic Art & Intermedia, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, and Sculpture; Minor in Art History & Visual Culture, Comic Art & Graphic Novels, Graphic Design, and Photography; and an innovatively re-envisioned MFA in Studio Art. Programs linked to AAHD include Arts & Cultural Management, Museum Studies, and Experience Architecture. An active visiting artist and scholar lecture series brings a group of internationally renowned artists, designers, critics, and scholars to campus each year, accompanied by the Bridge program (http://bridge.art.msu.edu) and the Critical Race Studies Artist/Designer in Residence.

MSU leads the nation in study abroad and study away participation among public universities. AAHD faculty direct programs in Austria, China, France, Greece, Italy, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, as well as in New York and Chicago. 

Michigan State University

The nation’s pioneer land-grant university, and a member of the Association of American Universities, MSU is a research-intensive institution with seventeen degree granting colleges. MSU is currently embarking on a coordinated Arts Strategy initiative, which will position the arts at the center of the University’s mission. Hosting a student population of more than 50,000, including nearly 11,300 graduate and professional students from all 50 states and from more than 130 countries, the MSU community is multicultural and multinational. The campus is located in East Lansing, a cosmopolitan university town adjacent to Lansing (the state capital), and is 80 miles from Detroit and 210 miles from Chicago. 

This is a 12-month position with an initial 5-year appointment commencing July 15, 2021. Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. Candidates must have credentials appropriate for a tenured appointment at the rank of full professor. Candidates must also have a terminal degree in an appropriate field of art, art history, or design, and significant administrative experience—preferably, as Associate Chairperson, Chairperson, Director, Associate Dean, Dean, or equivalent. The Chair of AAHD reports to the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Degree

Other -Art, Art History, or Design

Minimum Requirements

Candidates must have credentials appropriate for a tenured appointment at the rank of full professor. Candidates must also have a terminal degree in an appropriate field of art, art history, or design, and significant administrative experience - preferably, as Associate Chairperson, Chairperson, Director, Associate Dean, Dean, or equivalent. The Chair of AAHD reports to the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters.

Required Application Materials

Qualified applicants should submit:

• Letter expressing interest in the position and describing qualifications and experience; 
• Current curriculum vitae;
• Evidence of creative and/or scholarly work;
• A document summarizing experience with diversity in the classroom and/or past research and administrative endeavors, any experience mentoring diverse students or community outreach initiatives, and an explanation of how you will advance our goals of inclusive excellence (http://inclusion.msu.edu);
• Email addresses of four potential referees who can comment on administrative ability and quality of creative activity/scholarship/teaching. Referees must be of equal or higher rank.

Special Instructions

Application Procedures

Review of applications will begin November 2, 2020 and continue until the position fills. All applications for this position must be submitted electronically at the Michigan State University Human Resources website: http://careers.msu.edu (posting #674810).

For more information, contact the Chair of the Search Committee, Prof. Kelly Salchow MacArthur, at salchow@msu.edu. 

Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation.

Review of Applications Begins On

11/2/2020

Website

http://art.msu.edu

Department Statement

MSU is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. MSU is committed to achieving excellence through cultural diversity. The university actively encourages applications and/or nominations of women, persons of color, members of the LGBTQ community, veterans and persons with disabilities.

The College of Arts & Letters promotes an academic and organizational culture which actively seeks out and strengthens diverse voices and perspectives among its members in order to achieve true excellence. The College of Arts & Letters is interested in candidates of all backgrounds who are committed to the principle that intellectual leadership is achieved through open access and pro-active inclusion.

The Department has a strong institutional commitment to diversity in all areas and encourages candidates from underrepresented groups. We favor candidates who can contribute to the College of Arts & Letters’ distinctive educational objectives, which promote disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, intercultural understanding, and values diversity and inclusion as essential to achieving excellence.

MSU Statement

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.