Dean of Business Search

Dean of Business

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Charge Letter

March 4, 2022

  • Cinnamon Hillyard, Associate Vice Chancellor, Search Committee Chair
  • Andrea Anthony, Assistant Teaching Professor
  • Megan Eaton, Student
  • Alejandro Francetich, Associate Professor [spring term]
  • Sophie Leroy, Associate Professor
  • Jerry Vasquez, Academic Advisor
  • Sean Marsh, Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement
  • Ceri Nishihara, Assistant Teaching Professor
  • Surya Pathak, Professor and FY2022 Faculty Council Chair
  • Kavitha Ram, Student
  • Lisa Sharples, Advisory Council
  • Xiahua Wei, Associate Professor [beginning fall term]
  • Kara Wells, Assistant Professor
  • Rob Wright, Part-time Lecturer
  • Kathryn Rich, Search Committee Logistical Support

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for agreeing to serve on the search committee to identify the next Dean of the School of Business (BUS). As outlined in Executive Order 20, “the duty of the appointment committee is to search for suitable candidates, to study and determine their qualifications, and to obtain and evaluate all data.” This is a very important leadership position for UW Bothell as the campus strives to provide a transformational learning community. The Dean is responsible for leading the School and its faculty, staff and students, sustainably managing resources, serving on the Council of Academic Deans and the Chancellor’s Cabinet, collaborating with campus partners, actively developing external partnerships, and providing support for our campus commitments to community engagement, cross-disciplinarity, and connected learning.

You will be supported by Courtney Wilk-Mandel, a partner with the external search firm Isaacson, Miller. The committee is chaired by Dr. Hillyard who will strive for optimal communications across the committee, search firm, the VCAA’s office, and the School including its elected faculty council. While Ms. Rich will not have a formal role in the search deliberations, she will support the committee chair with logistics and will attend most meetings.

Before the search process starts, Dr. Allen will provide implicit bias training for the committee on March 28, 2:00-3:30 pm. Dr. Titan will provide additional workshops for the committee regarding inclusive practices prior to key deliberation points e.g., creating an evaluation rubric, proposing a short list for interviews. The expectation is that all committee members will participate in these sessions. At each key deliberation point, I will review the candidate pool for diversity broadly defined before confirming with the committee chair that the next step in the process may proceed.
I ask that you approach this process in a broadly inclusive manner that engages the campus community and seeks a pool of candidates that reflects UWB’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. I ask as well that you apply the following considerations during the search:

  • What are the future needs of the region?
  • What are the key opportunities for the School over the next five years?
  • What are the main challenges facing the School over the next five years?

I expect that we will have a very strong pool of candidates interested in this opportunity. Courtney Wilk-Mandel will solicit input/feedback from stakeholder groups during spring quarter 2022 that will inform a leadership profile. The committee will use the profile to develop an evaluation rubric during spring quarter 2022 that will apply throughout the search process. The search firm will also use the profile to recruit a robust candidate pool during the summer. We expect the committee to reconvene in autumn quarter 2022 to begin deliberations. I ask that you advise me regarding a short list of candidates for the first round of Zoom interviews in autumn quarter 2022 and up to three candidates to bring to campus for extended finalist hybrid visits with the broader community during early winter quarter 2023. Ms. Rich will also reach out to you for feedback about the logistics for the finalist hybrid visits to ensure that we are providing key constituencies with engagement and feedback opportunities. You should also expect that each of you will host listening sessions with various constituencies to gather verbal feedback in addition to anonymous survey opportunities.

At the relevant milestones, I look forward to a written summary (without ranking) of the strengths and weaknesses of the short-list candidates and eventually the finalists that represents the breadth of feedback and information gathered throughout the entirety of the search process. I also plan to meet with the search committee to receive that information verbally. At the end of the search process, I plan to gather reflections that will inform future leadership searches.

Thank you,

Sharon A. Jones
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Washington Bothell

Cc:
Beth Beam
Sandeep Krishnamurthy
Courtney Wilk-Mandel
Chad Allen
Caroline Titan