Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence

The Virginia Tech College of Engineering seeks a strategic, collaborative, and entrepreneurial leader to serve as its Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence.

The Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence will serve as the College of Engineering’s chief diversity, equity, inclusion, and access officer leading the development of a college culture that emphasizes a shared understanding of inclusion and building awareness of access issues. The Associate Dean is responsible for implementing programs to increase the recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff within the College of Engineering (COE) with a particular emphasis on underserved and underrepresented populations. These populations include historically marginalized groups in engineering including African Americans, Hispanic/Latinxs, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, women of all ethnicities, persons with different abilities, veterans, first generation college students, economically disadvantaged individuals, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. This role includes oversight and management of personnel, fiscal matters, outreach programs, educational opportunities, and recruiting initiatives, ensuring that recruitment and retention align with the college’s goals as articulated in the COE Strategic Plan (https://eng.vt.edu/about/strategic-plan.html ).

The Associate Dean will also serve as the Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED) and will play a leadership role in the NSF-funded Center for Equity in Engineering called PROTEGE (Partnerships and Research on the Equity of Graduate Education in Engineering). The Associate Dean will work collaboratively with the COE Advancement team to connect with corporations, foundations, individuals, and alumni as appropriate, as well as developing and leading externally funded research to advance national broadening participation goals.

The Associate Dean will assist in the development of the college’s strategic plan, supporting its success by ensuring that inclusion and access permeate throughout all strategic goals and initiatives in a meaningful and appropriate manner. Serving as Chair of the college diversity committee, the Associate Dean will act as a liaison to departmental inclusion and diversity committees and work to align departmental and college-level activity.

Virginia Tech’s main campus is in Blacksburg, Virginia, which is consistently ranked among the country’s best places to live. In addition, Virginia Tech’s facilities in the Washington, D.C. metro area offer unique proximity to government and industry partners and are expanding rapidly, with the new Innovation Campus in Alexandria, Virginia slated to open in 2024. As the Commonwealth of Virginia’s most comprehensive university and a leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers about 280 undergraduate, graduate, and first professional degree programs to more than 38,000 students and manages a research portfolio of close to $600 million. The university fulfills its role as a land-grant institution by fostering a collaborative environment that integrates technology into all disciplines, so that the Virginia Tech community can serve as a force for positive change around the Commonwealth, the country, and the world. Through experiential learning, future-focused research, and an inclusive, spirited culture, Virginia Tech strives to accomplish the charge of its motto Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).

Nominations and inquiries can be directed to: Dr. Holly Matusovich, Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies and Search Chair at [email protected].