Director
School of Music
College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota invites applications and nominations for a dynamic and creative Director of the School of Music.

The School of Music serves more than 2,500 students per year, including 375 undergraduate majors and 225 graduate majors.  The School prepares students to be performers, composers, scholars and teachers.  Degrees are offered through the College of Liberal Arts and the Graduate School.

The School of Music is located in Ferguson Hall, a remarkable teaching and performance facility adjoining the 1,250-seat Ted Mann Concert Hall.  The School of Music, along with the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, the Department of Art, and their studios, theatres, and galleries, comprise the West Bank Arts Quarter—an area of the campus dedicated to teaching, creative expression, scholarship and performance.

The School of Music enjoys broad-based community support and strong collaborative partnerships with the Twin Cities’ rich music community, including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera, and the Schubert Club. 

Responsibilities of the Director

The Director, in collaboration with the faculty and the college, is expected to play an academic and creative leadership role in charting the future development of the school.  The Director is the chief administrative officer of the unit, representing the school to the college and larger community.

In addition to faculty responsibilities for research/creative activity, teaching, and service, the Director is expected to:

1. lead the school in its promotion and achievement of excellence in performance, composition, scholarship, and teaching;
2. facilitate the recruitment, development, and retention of outstanding faculty, students, and staff;
3. oversee school operations, including an annual budget of more than five million dollars;
4. oversee school personnel comprising approximately 100 full-time and part-time faculty and 30 full-time and part-time staff;
5. enhance outreach and collaboration with local, national, and international music communities;
6. work closely with faculty and programs across the College of Liberal Arts, as well as the broader University;
7. ensure effective undergraduate and graduate curricula that serve students from across the University of Minnesota;
8. advance successful fundraising and development initiatives;
9. promote a multi-cultural environment that nurtures and supports diversity.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated attainment of national or international recognition of professional achievement in performance, composition, or music scholarship, and teaching;
• Distinguished record of scholarship/creative activity and teaching that meets the qualifications for a tenured position at the rank of professor in the School of Music within the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota;
• Effective leadership experience in a large music organization, a department or school of music, a liberal arts college, or a research university demonstrated through five or more years of increasingly responsible administrative positions;
• Demonstrated success in creating collaborative relationships;
• Strong written and oral communication skills;
• Evidence of successful fund-raising and development;
• Commitment to creating and maintaining a strong, diverse community of faculty, students and staff.

Preferred Qualifications

• Terminal degree in music or a related field is strongly preferred.

Terms of Appointment

This is a 100%-time position holding both a faculty appointment and an administrative appointment.  The faculty appointment is a 9-month academic year appointment at the rank of professor with tenure, consistent with existing collegiate and University policy.  The administrative appointment is a 12-month appointment at the rank of director (with faculty rank).  The initial term of the administrative appointment is for three years, with the possibility of renewal for an additional three-year term or terms.  The position will begin as early as July 1, 2008, but no later than August 1, 2008. 

Salary

The salary for the position of School of Music Director is competitive.  A 9-month base salary is attached to the faculty appointment; a 12-month administrative augmentation is attached to the administrative appointment.

Applications and Nominations

Send applications and nominations to:

Chair, Search Committee, School of Music
Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research
College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota
212 Johnston Hall
101 Pleasant Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Applications must include a letter of application, curriculum vitae, one sample of published scholarship or recorded example of creative work, and the names and addresses of three to five references who may be contacted by the search committee.  Additional materials may be requested at a later date. 

The position remains open until filled.  The search committee will begin reviewing applications on December 3, 2007.  For additional information or questions about the application process, please contact John Blair, Assistant to the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, at +612-624-2594 or j-blai@umn.edu.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and educator.

Last updated 18 October 2007