[Hiring] Dean of Graduate Studies @The Art of Education

Role Description

As our Dean of Graduate Studies, you'll be the senior academic leader responsible for the vision, quality, and continued evolution of graduate teaching and learning at AOEU. You'll oversee the Curriculum, Instruction, and Academic Success teams; ensuring programs, offerings, and academic practices are aligned with our mission, strategic priorities, and accreditors' expectations. Reporting to the Chief Academic Officer, you'll set direction for the entire graduate academic experience. Every day will look a little different, but in general, you'll:

• Set Academic Strategy: Translate institutional priorities into a clear academic strategy, implementation plans, and measurable outcomes that ensure the Curriculum, Instruction, and Academic Support teams operate as one integrated system rather than disparate parts.
• Reimagine & Grow Graduate Programming: Scan the field, listen to students, and track shifts in art education and higher ed to spot emerging needs and proactively explore opportunities to grow, evolve, or reinvent programs.
• Own Curriculum Design & Innovation: Own the academic framework for how graduate curriculum gets designed, reviewed, and revised, and pilot and evaluate new learning models, course designs, and delivery formats that expand access and deepen the student experience.
• Uphold Quality & Drive Student Outcomes: Lead programmatic evaluation and continuous improvement as well as set the standards for academic policy, quality teaching, outcomes attainment, and satisfactory academic progress.
• Build a High-Performing Faculty: Lead faculty hiring, onboarding, development, evaluation, and retention, and foster a culture of instructional innovation by role modeling accountable leadership in areas of expectations, instructional quality, academic integrity, and accountability.
• Champion Student & Academic Success: Lead the strategy and continuous improvement of academic support services, use learning and success data to find and remove barriers, and keep feedback channels open to ensure the student voice genuinely shapes academic decisions.
• Oversee Budget & Resourcing: Own graduate academics, ensuring alignment of faculty, tools, and program investments with strategic priorities and the intended academic impact.
• Own Accreditation & Institutional Standing: Serve as the academic face of graduate studies with accreditors and external partners, keeping programs aligned to accreditor expectations, and partner across AOE(U) to ensure academic quality stays connected to the full student experience.

Qualifications

• At least 6 years of multi-disciplinary leadership within higher education.
• Hands-on experience in curriculum, instruction, and faculty development.
• Terminal degree in education or a closely related field.
• Experience with accreditation, assessment, and academic effectiveness.
• Ability to share academic structures built and decisions owned.
• Compelling and clear vision for graduate learning.

Requirements

• Strategic thinker who defaults to action.
• Strong communicator who builds trust across teams.
• Comfortable holding both the big picture and the academic details.
• Ability to lead with sound judgment and humility.
• Experience developing people in a remote environment.

Benefits

• Opportunity to lead and innovate in graduate education.
• Collaborative and supportive remote work environment.
• Engagement with a mission-driven organization.