Inaugural Dean College of Design, Media Arts

Kent State University (Kent State; https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).) seeks an inspiring, forward-thinking, and entrepreneurial academic leader to serve as the inaugural Dean of the College of Design, Media and the Arts. This is a rare opportunity to shape the identity and future of a newly created College that brings together exceptional programs across the arts, design, media, fashion, journalism and emerging technology. At a pivotal moment for Kent State and for higher education, the inaugural Dean will build on the strengths of accomplished programs and an engaged academic community, creating a bold, shared vision that expands opportunities for students and faculty and elevates the College's academic, creative, and public impact.

Effective fall 2027, the College will unite seven schools and the Kent State University Museum (https://), serving more than 3,000 undergraduate and approximately 250 graduate students. It will encompass the School of Art (https://), School of Fashion (https://), School of Music (https://), School of Theatre and Dance (https://), School of Emerging Media and Technology (https://), School of Media and Journalism (https://),

and School of Visual Communication Design (https://). Together, these programs represent a remarkable breadth of scholarship, creative practice, performance, design, storytelling, research, professional preparation, and cultural engagement. Located on Kent State's flagship campus in Kent, Ohio, the College will be positioned within Northeast Ohio, a region rich in cultural institutions, health care, industry, technology, and creative enterprise.

The College is emerging from Kent State's Transformation 2028 initiative (https://), through which the University has reimagined its academic structure to encourage greater collaboration, innovation, and long-term sustainability. Importantly, the inaugural Dean will not be asked to manage the operational mechanics of bringing the College together. Kent State is undertaking that work before the Dean arrives. The Dean's charge is to build: to define the College's identity, cultivate trust and shared purpose, strengthen the distinctive excellence of its disciplines and create new possibilities at their intersections.

The College will also operate within a shared academic hub with the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, where interdisciplinary programming, shared staffing, collaborative research and creative activity are already underway.

Reporting directly to the Executive Vice President and Provost, the Dean will serve as the College's Chief Academic and Administrative Officer and provide strategic leadership across its academic, creative, financial, organizational and external affairs. The Dean will champion faculty excellence, research, scholarship, and creative practice; strengthen enrollment and student success; foster curricular and experiential innovation; and support meaningful collaboration across disciplinary boundaries.

As one of Kent State's most outward-facing academic enterprises, the College offers significant opportunities to deepen engagement with alumni, donors, industry, cultural organizations and community partners. The Dean will serve as a compelling advocate for the College, expanding philanthropic support and external partnerships while articulating the value of design, media, the arts, scholarship, creative practice, and cultural production.

Kent State is one of Ohio's leading public universities and a Carnegie R1 research institution, serving more than 33,000 students across an eight-campus system and supported by a global alumni community of more than 280,000. The University combines a longstanding commitment to access and student opportunity with strength in research, discovery, and creative activity. Its flagship campus in Kent offers the energy of a vibrant college town with access to the cultural, civic, health care, and economic centers of Northeast Ohio and the broader region.

For the inaugural Dean, this environment creates an unusually rich leadership opportunity. The next leader will have the latitude to build a College rather than simply inherit one, while benefiting from distinguished programs, talented faculty and staff, and an institutional structure designed to encourage collaboration across…