Dean, School of Business and Leadership

Dominican University of California is an independent, coeducational institution located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, California. Dominican enjoys a century-long reputation for excellence in teaching, scholarship, research, and community outreach. The University offers more than 40 academic programs to 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students.

Dominican’s mission is to educate and prepare students to become ethical leaders and socially responsible global citizens. The University is committed to diversity, sustainability, and the integration of the liberal arts, the sciences, and professional programs.

Founded in 1890, Dominican University of California maintains a longstanding commitment to the values of study, reflection, community, and service. The past two decades have been a time of significant institutional growth and development. Dominican’s enrollment has more than tripled in the past 20 years. Forty-six percent of undergraduates are members of under-represented minority groups and twenty-five percent of undergraduates are among the first generation in their family to attend college. Eighty-six percent of undergraduates receive financial aid and 30 percent of undergraduates are Pell Grant recipients.

Dominican’s budget is approximately $56 million. Fundraising has expanded in recent years, supporting renovation of more than half the buildings on campus, including a new science center, a state-of-the art recreation center, apartment-style residence halls, and period restoration of a 120-year old mansion. The next phase of the University’s fiscal and programmatic development will focus on furthering Dominican’s academic distinction.

In 2011, Mary B. Marcy became the ninth President of Dominican University of California. During her first two years in office she has pursued a set of strategic initiatives that build upon the University’s history of service and active learning while more fully defining Dominican’s role in American higher education. In January 2013, Steven Weisler joined Dominican University as Provost, bringing with him a background in innovative approaches to higher education. Dominican’s leadership team is composed of nationally visible scholars and administrators, most of whom were hired in the last few years with a mandate to bring this excellent university to the next level of achievement. 

THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Dominican offers a high-touch educational environment, with a student/faculty ratio of 11:1 and an average class size of 16 students. The student population is approximately 70 percent undergraduate and 30 percent graduate or credential-seeking. The faculty is comprised of 370 members, of whom 100 are full time. Three-quarters of the full-time faculty members hold a terminal degree.

The University offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs through each of its four schools: the School of Business and Leadership; the School of Health and Natural Sciences; the School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; and the School of Education and Counseling Psychology. While each school offers its own curricular focus, the University as a whole maintains the atmosphere of a vibrant residential institution, with a common focus on Engaged Learning, a distinctive First Year Experience program and a shared commitment to student success, academic rigor, and the integration of liberal arts and professional curricula.

Majors offered at the undergraduate level lead to BA, BS, BFA, and BSN degrees. Graduate-level degree programs include MA, MS, MBA, MSED, MSN, and MSOT. The University also offers weekend and evening degree programs for working adults and a teaching certification program. Dominican holds a unique place as the only college or university in the U.S. to require Big History, the interdisciplinary study of a 14 billion-year epic narrative of cosmic and human development, as a common freshman curriculum.

Dominican’s definition of Engaged Learning incorporates five interrelated areas, each of which takes classroom learning out into the world: service learning; study abroad; faculty-mentored research; internships; and training in applied leadership or clinical and practical settings. Fully realizing Dominican’s distinctive model is a work in progress and a key project for the entire campus. Additional core priorities are internationalization, sustainability, and diversity. These three priorities are in differing stages of implementation, with diversity the most thoroughly established as part of the institutional culture.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP

The School of Business and Leadership (SBL) at Dominican University of California enhances the professional and personal development of students through highly personalized and engaged learning experiences.

The School offers innovative MBA programs in sustainable enterprise, global management, and strategic leadership and undergraduate concentrations in accounting, finance, international business, management, and marketing. The small class size, teaching and mentoring philosophy, and core values of study, reflection, community, and service create a distinctive learning environment for the students.

SBL students have opportunities to work with three centers of excellence:

• the Institute for Leadership Studies, which is known for its Leadership Lecture Series and student leadership development programs, including LeaderShape;
• the Venture Greenhouse, a business accelerator that helps early-stage socially and environmentally focused entrepreneurial ventures to achieve rapid growth and greater success in the marketplace; and
• the Environmental Finance Center West, a federally-supported center that helps create and build sustainable economies at the local, national, and international levels.

The outstanding SBL faculty consists of full and part-time professors and practitioners who have accumulated years of global experience and are based one of the most vibrant business centers in the world – the San Francisco Bay Area. The School’s location in beautiful San Rafael allows students easy access to pursue internships and other activities in San Francisco, Marin County, Silicon Valley, and the “wine country” counties of Sonoma and Napa.

Many SBL graduates have launched their own successful companies, while many others can be found working in some of the best companies in California, the U.S., and globally, including the Big 4 accounting firms, regional and national financial institutions, and global management, and marketing and advertising firms.

History

The business programs at Dominican University of California began in 1975 as an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Politics and International Studies Department and other academic departments. In 1983, the Buck Fund provided support for research, giving rise to the Pacific Basin Studies (PBS) Program. In 1986, the PBS Program initiated the MA in International Economics and Political Risk Assessment, which became the forerunner of Dominican’s MBA programs.

Over the subsequent 20 years, Dominican’s business programs underwent a period of growth, consolidation, and repositioning. In the spring of 2006, the Dominican Board of Trustees approved the creation of a new School of Business and Leadership, effective at the start of the 2006/07 academic year.

Mission

The mission of the School of Business and Leadership is to graduate students with a global orientation, an entrepreneurial attitude, a commitment to environmental stewardship, and a strong sense of ethics and social responsibility essential for responsible business leadership in a sustainable global community. The School of Business and leadership fulfills its mission by:

• Offering a high-quality curriculum that is grounded in a strong liberal arts education, the body of knowledge that is required for success in business and other leadership positions, and the Dominican ideals of study, reflection, community, and service;
• Providing opportunities for active and collaborative learning, enriching educational experiences, a vibrant and diverse community of learners, and other forms of student engagement;
• Encouraging faculty intellectual contributions that emphasize applied scholarship, while encouraging instructional development and basic scholarship; and
• Serving as a business and leadership resource center for the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond through the Institute of Leadership Studies, other outreach centers, and strategic partnerships.

THE DEAN’S ROLE

The Dean of the School of Business and Leadership reports to the Provost and serves as the chief academic and administrative officer of the School. The new Dean will have the opportunity to shape the vision for the School at a moment of innovation across the University and to strengthen and develop the existing undergraduate and graduate Business and Leadership programs.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The next Dean has an unusual opportunity to build upon a strong foundation to take the School to the next level. The top priorities for the next Dean are the following:

• Lead the School toward initial AACSB accreditation;
• Devise a compelling master plan for the School;
• Strengthen the academic reputation and curriculum, building on existing strengths and identifying new areas of opportunity and interdisciplinary collaboration;
• Improve the quantitative focus of the School;
• Identify and secure appropriate space for a leading School of Business and Leadership;
• Enhance enrollment planning for the school, including recruitment of first-year, transfer, graduate and international students;
• Promote academic excellence and provide leadership and mentoring for teaching, research, and service;
• Hire, evaluate, and develop top-quality full and part-time faculty members;
• Strengthen, establish, and maintain effective partnerships with the business communities, industry, and government in Marin and Sonoma counties, San Francisco, nationally and internationally; and
• Work with the advancement team to identify and obtain sources of revenue to support existing programs and services and the creation of new ones.

QUALIFICATIONS

As leader of the School of Business and Leadership, the Dean will be expected to hold a doctoral degree in business or related field. Strong candidates will also be expected to demonstrate the following professional qualifications and personal attributes.

Professional experience

• A track record of visionary leadership in a dynamic environment;
• Experience in helping a business school either maintain or work toward initial AACSB accreditation;
• Experience in curriculum development, including both assessment and the development of innovative programs;
• Demonstrated ability to manage a complex organization and work effectively with colleagues in the School, University, and community;
• Strong commitment to high quality education and engaged learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels;
• Demonstrated commitment to global and international education and relationships;
• Demonstrated ability to encourage and foster quality teaching and scholarship activities among faculty;
• Demonstrated interest and success in external fundraising and developing alliances with the business community;
• Substantial budget management experience; and
• Demonstrated track record of fostering racial, cultural, and gender diversity.

Personal Attributes

• Highest standard of personal ethics and integrity;
• Ability to articulate a clear vision and act strategically to fulfill that vision;
• Excellent communication skills and the vitality to promote and advance the School;
• Ability to serve as an effective change agent and energize and inspire the Dominican community;
• Managerial style that weighs the importance of consultative processes with the imperative for action;
• Ability to engage people in dialogue, foster connections and communication, and build mutual support among SBL colleagues;
• Ability to inspire trust and build relationships across the full range of constituents;
• Commitment to the values embodied in the mission statement of Dominican University of California;
• Preference for leadership team relationships that are collegial and collaborative, rather than individualistic and competitive; and
• High energy level and a sense of humor.

CONTACT

Nominations, inquiries, and expressions of interest should be forwarded in confidence to: dominicandob@storbeckpimentel.com.

Dominican University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employercommitted to excellence through diversity, and takes pride in its multicultural environment.