School Director – School of Arts, Media and Engineering

Job description:

The School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University seeks an innovative director to lead the school in its transformative mission to prepare students to be socially aware, critically thinking global citizens, who strive to bring about positive change in a society that is increasingly shaped by revolutions in new technologies.

The director of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering will report to the Dean of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. This is a full-time, fiscal year appointment, with a preferred start date of July 1, 2021. The appointment type and academic rank will be based on experience and qualifications.

The Opportunity

The School of Arts, Media and Engineering is unique in the world for its balanced expertise in engineering, media, art, and humanities. The School launched one of the first undergraduate digital culture degrees in the country, which now enrolls close to 400 students. The School has significant expertise in immersive media, mixed reality, machine learning, signal processing, worldbuilding, tangible media, acoustic ecology, haptics, gaming, computer music and sonic art, experiential media, philosophy of technology and more. Its research centers include: Synthesis Center; The Center for Philosophical Technologies; the Acoustic Ecology Lab; the Center for Science and the Imagination; the Social and Digital Systems Group; Practice and Research in Enactive Sonic Art; Meteor Studio; Imaging Lyceum; and the Geometric Media Lab. With the launch of a new 120K square foot emerging media facility in Mesa, AZ (7 miles from the Tempe Campus) along with access to a new ASU building in downtown Los Angeles, AME is well positioned for a new era of expansion and innovation in undergraduate and graduate education, new industry partnerships, and an exponential increase in research investment and support.

We seek a visionary director with a broad perspective and deep understanding of the value of the integration of the arts, engineering, humanities, and sciences, and who is committed to developing new models of education and inquiry. The director is expected to:

• Lead the school in pursuing its research, teaching and service missions
• Provide fiscal, administrative and personnel management
• Serve as the lead administrative officer of the school, providing administrative coherence, fiscal management and resource development.
• Foster integration of the arts and sciences through supporting excellence in undergraduate and graduate education.
• Amplify a culture of equity and inclusion that enriches the school, from syllabi and curriculum to hiring, recruitment, retention, access to resources, communications, meetings, and overall culture.
• Promote intellectual and cultural diversity in all facets of the school.
• Expand horizons for practice, advanced study and research at the intersection of arts, humanities, media, and engineering; and inspire collaboration and trans-disciplinary research and scholarship.
• Empower faculty and staff, and lead the strategic planning and development for the school.
• Be a visible spokesperson for the school in local, national and international communities.

About ASU:

Arizona State University is a new model for American higher education, an unprecedented combination of academic excellence, entrepreneurial energy and broad access. This New American University is a single, unified institution comprising four differentiated campuses positively impacting the economic, social, cultural and environmental health of the communities it serves. Its research is inspired by real world application blurring the boundaries that traditionally separate academic disciplines. ASU serves more than 80,000 students in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, the nation's fifth largest city. ASU champions intellectual and cultural diversity, and welcomes students from all fifty states and more than one hundred nations across the globe.

About the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts:

ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts is the largest comprehensive design and arts school in the country, built on a combination of disciplines unlike any other program nationally and located within a dynamic research university focused on transformative change. The Herberger Institute comprises the schools of Art; Arts, Media and Engineering; Music, Dance and Theatre; The Design School; The New American Film School, and the ASU Art Museum. The Herberger Institute is committed to redefining the 21st-century design and arts school through developing and scaling ideas to strengthen the role of designers and artists across all areas of society and culture and to increase the capacity of artists to make a difference in their communities. For more information on the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, visit herbergerinstitute.asu.edu.

About the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University is one of the largest and most comprehensive engineering programs in the United States. Our students represent 135 countries, all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We create engineers and inspire innovation. We are agile, dynamic and dedicated to continuous innovation, student success, faculty excellence, and cultivation of an environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. The vision for the Fulton Schools of Engineering is typified by the “Fulton Difference” that is encapsulated by these principles:

• We focus on student success in the classroom and beyond.
• We accelerate use-inspired research and entrepreneurial engagement.
• We attract faculty who are dedicated to transformational research and engineering education.
• We engage our stakeholders in industry and the community.
• We make global impacts.

The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University seek creative and entrepreneurial faculty having backgrounds and interests aligned with our research themes and who have passion for educating and mentoring the next generation of engineers and high-tech workforce.

About the School of Arts, Media and Engineering

The School of Arts, Media and Engineering (AME) is an innovative partnership between the Fulton Schools of Engineering and the Herberger Institute and offers a dynamic, cross-campus, student-customizable curriculum that prepares students with tangible skills in new media, AI, games, wearable technology and more. We believe the liberal arts degree for the 21st century should create citizens who are conversant with hard skills in emerging technology as well as with the soft skills that employers increasingly demand. We educate the next generation of learners and empower them with technofluency--its development, application, and implications. We prepare students to be socially aware, critically thinking global citizens who strive to bring about positive change in a society that will be increasingly shaped by revolutions in new technologies. For more information, visit artsmediaengineering.asu.edu.

ASU conducts pre-employment screening for all positions, which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses and certifications.

Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. See ASU's complete non-discrimination statement at https://asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html. See ASU’s Title IX policy at https://www.asu.edu/titleIX/.

In compliance with federal law, ASU prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and resources.  ASU’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://www.asu.edu/police/PDFs/ASU-Clery-Report.pdf  You may request a hard copy of the report by contacting the ASU Police Department at 480-965-3456.