Tenured Associate/Full Professor and Director, Department of Music

Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University–New Brunswick seeks a dynamic, collaborative, and visionary leader to serve as Director of the Department of Music. The Director oversees the academic and administrative functions of a comprehensive Department of Music, working collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, and school leadership to articulate a compelling, inclusive vision for the department’s future. The ideal candidate will be able to guide the department’s evolution through open and transparent leadership of strategic planning, forward-looking curricular development, inclusive and engaging public programming, innovative research and creative practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Reporting to the Dean of Mason Gross School of the Arts, the Director will work to foster a collegial and respectful departmental culture while raising the national and international visibility and profile of the department through a sustained commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to engagement with the broader New Brunswick community and the state of New Jersey.

The successful candidate will have relevant leadership experience as well as a demonstrated commitment to shared university governance and to working collaboratively with faculty and students in a university setting. Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate a successful record of supporting faculty and student development that has led to enhanced equity, diversity, inclusion, and access. Preference will also be given to candidates with experience managing the fiscal and administrative resources of a complex organization. Responsibilities include: planning and oversight of the department’s budget; supervising department personnel, including hiring of faculty and staff; implementing strategies to recruit and retain a diverse faculty, staff, and student body; working with the Dean and the school’s development office to fundraise and otherwise engage alumni and donors in support of the department; and engaging external audiences, organizations, and stakeholders toward realizing the department’s overall vision and mission, along with that of Mason Gross and the university as a whole. Mason Gross School of the Arts is deeply committed to the pursuit of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access and especially encourages applications from women, underrepresented minorities, and other individuals who belong to groups that have been historically underrepresented or marginalized within higher education and the arts.

Candidates must have leadership experience and a record of achievement in collegiate teaching as well as music scholarship and/or performance appropriate for appointment at the rank of tenured associate or full professor. Candidates must also have a relevant terminal degree (DMA, PhD) or equivalent professional experience. This position is a 12-month appointment at the rank of associate or full professor with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2023. For best consideration, apply by December 1, 2022. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. For a full position description and to apply, visit: https://jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/181901. For questions, email Alexis White at awhite@mgsa.rutgers.edu. Candidates should provide a cover letter, curriculum vitae, the names and contact information of four references (who will not be contacted unless candidates advance in the process), and a one- to two-page statement that speaks to the candidate’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to the potential to mentor and empower historically underrepresented or marginalized faculty, staff, and students.

Minimum Education and Experience: Previous leadership experience and a record of achievement in collegiate teaching as well as music practice and/or scholarship that qualifies the applicant for tenure at a minimum rank of associate professor. Relevant terminal degree or equivalent professional experience.

About the Department

Housed in one of the leading public research universities on the East Coast, The Department of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts includes approximately 450 students and 100 total faculty, offering bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees (DMA and PhD) as well as an artist diploma across a comprehensive range of areas in performance, composition, conducting, jazz studies, music education, music theory, and musicology. Students perform, teach, refine their skills, and forge new paths in the arts through their scholastic and creative endeavors, engaging with faculty who are among the world’s leaders in their respective fields, including several who are drawn from the nearby New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Students benefit from proximity to these two cultural hubs, with ensembles regularly performing in such venues as the Blue Note Jazz Club, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. 

About Mason Gross School of the Arts and Rutgers University

Mason Gross School of the Arts, a vibrant community of artists and scholars with academic programs in music, theater, dance, filmmaking, and art & design, is committed to pursuing excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. Its 1200 students reflect the diversity of New Jersey, the fourth most diverse state in the nation. In addition to its professional arts training programs, Mason Gross provides the larger community an opportunity to embrace the creative arts through its divisions of Rutgers Arts Online and Rutgers Community Arts. The school is housed within Rutgers–New Brunswick, a premier Big Ten research university that serves some 50,000 students and is the flagship campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The nation’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning, Rutgers is less than an hour by train or car to New York City and the beautiful beaches of the Jersey Shore and just over an hour to Philadelphia.

Additional information is available at the school website: https://www.masongross.rutgers.edu

Statement: Mason Gross School of the Arts is deeply committed to the pursuit of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access and especially encourages applications from women, underrepresented minorities, and other individuals who belong to groups that have been historically underrepresented or marginalized within higher education and the arts. Also see the Rutgers Non-Discrimination Statement at the following web address: http://uhr.rutgers.edu/non-discrimination-statement

Special Instructions to Applicants: Candidates should provide a cover letter, curriculum vitae, the names and contact information of four references (who will not be contacted unless candidates advance in the process), and a one- to two-page statement that speaks to the candidate’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to the potential to mentor and empower historically underrepresented or marginalized faculty, staff, and students. For best consideration, apply by December 1, 2022. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled.