Dean, School of Education and Human Sciences

University of Kansas•Lawrence, KS

49d

About The Position

The Dean serves as the Chief Academic and Administrative Officer of the School of Education and Human Sciences (SOEHS) and is responsible for providing forward-looking, collaborative, and consistent leadership to ensure the School's long-term success. The Dean of the School of Education and Human Sciences, along with the 11 other deans on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses, reports to the university's Chief Academic Officer/Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor of KU Lawrence and Edwards campuses. KU's dynamic team of academic deans and leaders embraces innovation and is charged with generating excellence and strong measures of performance. An organizational chart can be found here. This role requires a strategic thinker who can ensure the School's research enterprise, educational programs, and administrative services will engage and energize faculty, staff, current and future generations of students, donors, alumni, and community partners. The Dean will be expected to work in alignment with the Lawrence and Edwards campus strategic plan and support the School's strategic plan. A key priority will be securing partnerships and collaborations that advance the University and School's mission, increase its impact, and elevate its reputation. The Dean ensures that the School can attract, develop, retain, and promote talented academic and administrative staff in alignment with KU's goals, objectives, and mission as an R-1, AAU institution. Additionally, it is the Dean's responsibility to ensure that the School and its members comply with all relevant laws, regulations, policies, and accreditor standards. Working with campus leaders, the Dean is responsible for administering the School's annual budget, roughly $22 million and $77 million in research expenditures. To ensure that the School can provide top-notch research and academic programs, as well as support its faculty, staff, facilities, and operations, the Dean collaborates closely with KU Endowment and KU Alumni to secure gifts and other financial resources and to ensure the success of the university's comprehensive campaign. The Dean leads a team consisting of five academic area leaders (Curriculum & Teaching; Educational Leadership and Policy Studies; Educational Psychology; Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences; Special Education), Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, Associate Dean for Teacher Education & Undergraduate Programs, Assistant Dean for Impact and Belonging, Assistant Dean for Student Success, Business Director, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, and Executive Associate. The School consists of approximately 125 faculty and staff. The United Academics of the University of Kansas (UAKU) is the campus's faculty union representing professors, lecturers, curators, librarians, and research scientists. As a university leader, the Dean must work effectively with the union. The University of Kansas welcomes applications and nominations for an entrepreneurial, collaborative, and values-driven leader to serve as the next Dean of the School of Education and Human Sciences. Founded in 1865, the University of Kansas (KU) is the state's flagship public research institution and a proud member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). With five campuses across Kansas, including the main campus in Lawrence, KU serves more than 31,000 students and offers more than 400 degree and certificate programs. KU's mission is to educate leaders, build healthy communities, and make discoveries that change the world. Guided by its strategic plan and core values of Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship, and Excellence (IRISE), KU fosters a vibrant academic community committed to advancing knowledge, building vibrant communities, and serving the public good. The University of Kansas School of Education and Human Sciences (SOEHS) is a nationally ranked academic unit that educates future teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists, and health and sport professionals. The Dean will provide leadership to approximately 125 faculty and staff who support 2,200 full-time undergraduate and 900 full-time graduate students. The School is consistently recognized for its leadership in special education, curriculum and teaching, and human development. Guided by its 2024 strategic plan, SOEHS advances mission-based priorities in student success, research and discovery, and healthy, vibrant communities-aligning closely with the University's broader strategic vision. The School is consistently ranked among the top education programs in the country, earning the No. 8 spot among public universities and No. 15 overall in U.S. News & World Report's 2025-26 "Best Graduate Schools." Its graduate program in special education is ranked No. 1 among public universities and No. 2 overall, while the curriculum & instruction program ranks No. 18 among public institutions. SOEHS also offers top-tier online programs, including a No. 2 ranking for its online master's in special education and No. 10 for its online Ed.D. in educational administration. The next Dean of SOEHS will join a lively academic community deeply committed to academic excellence and student success. This is a pivotal moment for SOEHS, with opportunities to build on its nationally recognized programs and collaborative culture. The Dean will be expected to articulate an inclusive vision that honors the School's legacy while advancing innovation across teaching, research, and service. By fostering transparency, shared governance, and trust, the Dean will unite faculty, staff, and students around a shared mission of preparing ethical and thoughtful leaders in education and the human sciences and guiding the School into its next era of excellence. Candidates for the Dean position must possess a distinguished record of academic leadership and scholarship that qualifies them for appointment as a tenured full professor in one of the departments of SOEHS. They should demonstrate progressive leadership experience in higher education administration, including oversight of academic programs, faculty development, budgeting, and strategic planning. A robust research background, understanding of grant funding, and a track record of supporting research excellence and student success are essential. The ideal candidate will have a proven commitment to transparency, along with the ability to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across departments in the SOEHS and with external partners. Strong communication skills and fundraising experience are strongly preferred.

Requirements

Academic accomplishment: Record of scholarly achievement with a robust research background that merits appointment as a tenured full professor in the School of Education and Human Sciences is required; deep understanding of, interest in, and respect for the academic enterprise and those whose work fuels that enterprise; ability to judge academic quality across all of the School's endeavors.
Strategic vision: Ability to articulate a compelling and innovative strategic direction and to galvanize a community around it; the highest aspirations and ambitions for the quality, reputation, and impact of the School; capacity for building consensus, commitment, and accountability around implementing and operationalizing strategic plans and initiatives.
Authentic investment and interest in students: Commitment to understanding evolving student needs and concerns and to providing students with the meaningful experiences that lead to their academic and professional success; decision-making that facilitates engaging and innovative teaching.
Research and community impact: Demonstrated support for research, scholarly and creative work, leadership, and service; a commitment to socially impactful research; understanding of grant funding and recognition of the importance and impact of running large-scale grants.
Support faculty and staff: Ability to recruit, develop, and retain excellent faculty at all levels and to facilitate their professional success; commitment to recognizing and valuing the contributions of staff and empowering them to contribute to the School's advancement; experience working on a unionized campus is preferred.
Operational and financial acumen: Successful experience in leading and managing an organization, including the ability to shape and implement a plan, lead large and cross-disciplinary projects, manage financial resources, collaborate effectively with others; ability to be a systems thinker and creative problem-solver who can establish infrastructure; in-depth experience with budgets, financial planning, and strategic resource allocation.
Fundraising and external relations: Successful experience or strong potential for success in fundraising; desire to think creatively about diversifying funding streams; eagerness to build relationships with donors and to engage with the School's alumni; ability to identify, build, and steward community relationships and partnerships.
Knowledge of the education landscape: Awareness of the challenges facing PK-12 and higher education; understanding of the complexities that go into hiring, developing, and retaining qualified teachers in each department; understanding of how national, global, social, and technological changes impact learning; knowledge about the complexities facing education, particularly for marginalized students and those with disabilities; capacity to serve as a respected thought leader within the regional education community and beyond.
Collaboration: Relationship-based leadership style with a firm belief in shared governance and a high level of collegiality and respect in working with the union, faculty, staff, and students; experience bringing people together to solve challenges and implement initiatives and plans; innovatively thinks about how to build collaborative partnerships across the School and with other academic units.
Communication: Ability to connect with audiences large and small and to communicate with transparency, clarity, and effectiveness; exceptional capacity to promote the School's interests, priorities, and impact across and beyond KU; openness to listening and to integrating the input of others; skill at facilitating complex and nuanced conversations.
Candidates for the Dean position must possess a distinguished record of academic leadership and scholarship that qualifies them for appointment as a tenured full professor in one of the departments of SOEHS.
They should demonstrate progressive leadership experience in higher education administration, including oversight of academic programs, faculty development, budgeting, and strategic planning.
A robust research background, understanding of grant funding, and a track record of supporting research excellence and student success are essential.
The ideal candidate will have a proven commitment to transparency, along with the ability to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across departments in the SOEHS and with external partners.
Strong communication skills and fundraising experience are strongly preferred.