Division Director 

Description

Simmons School of Library and Information Science Division Director 

The Director of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) reports to the Dean of the College and is the academic leader of the School.  The Director has responsibility for planning, including financial and enrollment management, curriculum development and revision, accreditation, and staffing.  In fulfilling these duties, the Director builds excellence by recruiting, evaluating, inspiring, developing and supporting faculty; attracting and retaining students; facilitating research opportunities; supervising faculty program leaders; hiring and evaluating non-faculty staff; and augmenting the resources of the School.  The Director serves as an advisor to the Dean on all academic matters, advocates for resources, and collaborates with faculty Directors within the College and across Simmons to promote a rich intellectual environment for the College. The Director will work with internal and external constituencies to assure the high visibility of their programs on campus, in the community, and in the profession.

The School of Library and Information Science 

SLIS is a division of a newly formed College, with the two other divisions/departments offering programs in business, and mathematics, statistics, and computer science.  This College includes more than 50 full-time faculty; grants approximately 400 Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees annually; and accounts for more than 15% of the total credits earned each year at Simmons.  It is the first new College to launch as part of Simmons College’s academic transformation.

The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) opened with the College founding in 1899. Today, the MS (LIS) has approximately 700 students on two campuses and online, and an additional 50 students in the Ph.D. program. The MS degree program is a top ranked program in U.S. News & World Reports.  The program has highly ranked areas of specialization, including a Concentration in Archives Management, a concentration in School Library Media, and specializations in children and youth services and digital librarianship.  SLIS attracts students from all over the United States and the world. Graduates of our program hail from every state in the United States and over 80 countries. SLIS offers a dynamic environment for research and learning.  Faculty receive grants from a diverse array of federal agencies and private foundations. Please visit us at http://www.simmons.edu/academics/schools/school-of-library-and-information-science

Simmons at a Glance

Located in Boston's historic Fenway neighborhood along the Emerald Necklace (designed by Frederick Law Olmsted,) Simmons College is a small, private university, which has educated students for enriching careers and useful, independent lives since 1899. Decades before women in America gained the right to vote, Boston businessman John Simmons had a revolutionary idea—that women should be able to earn independent livelihoods—and Simmons College was the result. Simmons continues to educate its students for successful careers and meaningful lives through its women’s undergraduate programs and coeducational masters and doctoral programs.

Simmons offers a pioneering liberal arts education for undergraduate women integrated with professional work experience, interdisciplinary study, and a global perspective. Students receive a broad-based, liberal arts education strengthened by direct experience in their area of concentration through internships or independent studies, research, fieldwork, or theses. Simmons offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and programs, with minors in all departments. 

Simmons’s renowned graduate programs educate men and women in the health sciences, nursing, education, liberal arts, communications management, social work, and library and information science along with the first MBA designed specifically for women.  Since 2013, Simmons’s nursing, social work, business, and library science masters programs have been offered online to students across the United States. 

In fall 2016, Simmons enrolled more than 1,700 undergraduate women and more than 5000 graduate students (1600 full-time and 3600 part-time; more than 1700 enrolled in online programs.) 

Simmons has 219 full-time faculty members of whom 43% are tenured. In addition, more than 600 part-time faculty – many of whom are clinical faculty working in schools, archives, libraries, hospitals, businesses, government, and a variety of non-profit organizations – instruct in face-to-face and online programs.

Simmons is a member of the Colleges of the Fenway, a voluntary collaboration among six colleges within a five-minute walk from Simmons's campus. This partnership allows cross-registration, social events for students, and faculty collaboration, as well as coordination on back-end technology and administrative functions. The College's other neighbors include renowned museums and cultural institutions (such as Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), major libraries (such as the Massachusetts Historical Society and The Boston Public Library), other large university campuses (such as Northeastern University and Boston University), and a number of hospitals and medical research facilities (such as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital), clustered around the nearby Harvard Medical School.

Position Requirements

Applicants must have a doctoral degree in library and information science, information studies, or an appropriate related field, and have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service at the national level, consistent with the rank of full professor.

Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications.

How to Apply

Please visit the full description to apply for this position. Consideration of applications will begin October 1, 2017 and will continue until the position is filled.

Candidates should be prepared to upload the following required documents: cover letter, C.V.; statement of teaching philosophy; statement outlining research interests and experience; statement regarding leadership philosophy; and names and contact information for three references.  Please include a statement of any sponsorship requirements.

Simmons College participates in TIAA/CREF and offers excellent benefits packages, including tuition reimbursement for dependents at Simmons and other institutions.

Simmons College is strongly committed to diversity and values candidates who bring a variety of backgrounds and experiences to our community.

For further information, please contact Faculty Search Committee Chair, Dr. Michele Cloonan, Chair at michele.cloonan@simmons.edu.

As a College committed to diversity, Simmons encourages applications broadly.  Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body and curriculum.