Dean

New Mexico State University (NMSU), a Minority-Serving, Hispanic-Serving, land grant, and space grant institution, seeks an experienced, creative, and strategic leader to serve as the Dean of the College of Health, Education, and Social Transformation (HEST). The Dean will join NMSU and HEST at a pivotal moment, as the college—formed in 2021 by uniting nine academic departments—seeks a new leader to guide it into its next chapter. The Dean will be joining NMSU at a pivotal time. In 2025, NMSU will have a new President, Valerio Ferme, and become a Carnegie-designated R1 university, which will position the university for new levels of impact. New Mexico is also highly committed to providing for the educational and health needs of the state, recently contributing additional funds to HEST to ensure the pipeline of professionals needed to help solve these challenges. It is a vital time to respond to the health and educational needs of New Mexico, and the Dean will be at the forefront in helping to find socially transformative solutions through close collaboration with the HEST and NMSU communities and by building and sustaining partnerships in the Las Cruces community, New Mexico, the Borderlands region, and beyond.

NMSU is one of the most diverse land-grant universities in the nation, situated near the Mexican border on the Central and Latin American corridor. Rooted in its dedication to mobility, justice, and transformation, the university embodies this commitment in its geographical context. Twenty-three tribes have ancestral homeland ties to New Mexico, including 19 Pueblos, the Navajo Nation and the Jicarilla Apache Nation, Mescalero Apache Tribe, Piro/Manso/Tiwa tribe, and the Fort Sill Apache Tribe. In addition to its main campus in Las Cruces, the institution includes community colleges across the state, cooperative extension offices in New Mexico’s 33 counties, 12 agriculture research and science centers, and an expanding distance education program through NMSU Global. NMSU is the institution of choice for more than 21,000 students from 49 states and 89 foreign countries, with approximately 14,800 students enrolled at the Las Cruces campus, with New Mexico residents comprising approximately 70% of the population. The institution’s diverse student population includes many first-generation, Pell-grant eligible, part-time, and working adult students.

HEST currently serves over 2,700 undergraduate students, over 1,200 graduate students, and houses 186 faculty members. It is home to six academic departments and three schools: Borderlands and Ethnic Studies, Counseling & Educational Psychology, Communication Disorders, Kinesiology, Public Health Sciences, School of Nursing, School of Social Work, School of Teacher Preparation, Administration, and Leadership, and Sociology. HEST faculty and staff take pride in NMSU’s Community Engagement Classification and in its multiple nationally accredited programs. The college was established to enhance collaborations and to improve individual, societal, and policy outcomes by addressing systemic issues of access, quality, and equity within health, education, and society and to achieve a more financially sustainable future.

By joining this highly interdisciplinary college, the Dean has the opportunity to make a significant impact on the Borderlands region and its education, health, and socioeconomic outcomes while also contributing significantly to the teaching, service, and research efforts of the institution through thoughtful and strategic leadership and relationship building. The Dean will work closely with highly diverse communities within HEST, NMSU, and externally to catalyze a strategy and vision for the future that recognizes individual departments’ strengths and histories, allows all voices to be heard, unifies across disciplines, encourages innovative thinking and community building, and builds on HEST’s social justice mission. To achieve success, the Dean will need to be an experienced builder who can implement a robust and supportive infrastructure and inspire the HEST community for the future while ensuring the resources necessary to help fulfill the needs of their students and the workforce of New Mexico. The Dean will be expected to address a set of key opportunities and challenges:

• Unify the HEST community around a cohesive vision and identity that bridges disciplines, honors the diversity of HEST, and promotes social transformation
• Build the appropriate infrastructure to achieve a well-integrated and supported HEST community in support of HEST’s goals and objectives
• Create and grow opportunities for transdisciplinary and community-engaged research, teaching, and scholarship within HEST and beyond
• Address health, education, and socio-economic outcomes through student recruitment, retention, and new programming in close partnership with external communities
• Champion, advocate for, and advance the aspirations of HEST in the community, including educational and health professional settings, for new resources and a greater impact

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters should be sent via the Isaacson, Miller website for the search: https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/new-mexico-state-university-college-health-education-and-social-transformation/dean. Electronic submission of materials is strongly encouraged.

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