Skip to main content

This job has expired

Dean of the Law School New England Law | Boston

Employer
New England Law | Boston
Location
Massachusetts, United States
Salary
Salary Commensurate with experience
Date posted
Oct 14, 2021

View more

Position Type
Administrative, Deans
Employment Level
Executive
Employment Type
Full Time

Organization: 

New England Law | Boston has been a dynamic educational mainstay within Boston for more than 100 years.  Since its founding in 1908 as the only law school exclusively for women, New England Law | Boston has led the way in making the legal community more inclusive. Today, you'll find a coeducational student body that is uniquely supportive, welcoming, and diverse. Located in the heart of historic downtown, New England Law | Boston offers the opportunity to become an integral part of a special community of students, scholars, and dedicated people from diverse backgrounds. Students at New England Law | Boston benefit from a powerful combination of rigorous academics, dynamic community, and early access to practical experience. This environment, located in the heart of Boston’s legal community, sharpens students’ legal skills and prepares them for a promising legal career. For more information visit https://www.nesl.edu.

Opportunity Proposition: 

The next Dean should be an innovative thinker and approachable leader who strongly embraces the opportunity to articulate a vision for the growth of the law school that builds on its long history of excellence.

Building off the success of this financially sound independent law school, as the leader of this unique institution, you will be called upon to lead, engage and energize a very talented team and student body in order to help move this institution to the next level.  Combining your inspired leadership, strategic skills, and business acumen with a healthy sense of scholarship, you will significantly impact the school’s short and long-term success and help to further distinguish New England Law | Boston in a very competitive environment.     

Role Overview and Key Responsibilities:

Working collaboratively at the direction of and in conjunction with the Board of Trustees and your leadership team, you will assist in defining the vision, strategic plan, and the future direction of the law school, bringing the plan to life through effective execution. You will be the principal face of the school’s brand with internal and external audiences including students, faculty, staff, alumni, the Board, the community, business and government leaders, the media, the ABA and the general public. You will lead with a focus on both the business and academic aspects of our independent law school to achieve long-term success. 

Strategic Leadership and Direction

  • Gain an appreciation of the history and culture of New England Law | Boston and an understanding of our current objectives from Board members, faculty, staff, and key members of the legal community. 
  • Thoroughly and expeditiously gain a comprehensive understanding of the marketplace and challenges in order to properly and effectively position New England Law | Boston in such a way as to capitalize on opportunities for advancement. 
  • In partnership with the Board and New England Law | Boston community, develop a comprehensive and proactive Strategic Plan that meets the challenges of a highly competitive market. Responsibilities include recommending to and gaining approval from the Board of Trustees for a blueprint and plan for achieving the law school’s short and long-term goals. The Strategic Plan will identify goals and strategies in place to advance the School’s aspirations of enhancing its reputation, stabilizing enrollment and other critical objectives such as bar passage rate. 
  • Inspire, motivate, lead and manage the Executive Team to ensure that short and long-term goals are achieved. 
  • Analyze and determine amongst the Board and Senior Leadership, fundraising and development’s role in garnering additional private and public resources that will enable New England Law | Boston to make continued advances in funding programs and facility needs. 
  • Create strategic partnerships with local, national and international businesses, government, judicial leadership and undergraduate schools that will prove mutually beneficial.

 Operations/Finance

  • Ensure economic clarity and accountability in the financial strategy and management of the law school. In collaboration with the CFO, prepare and manage annual budgets and produce accurate, timely and comprehensive financial reports for the Board. 
  • Oversee all New England Law | Boston’s operations, recommend new policies and controls as needed, and ensure that all law school roles, policies and procedures are followed. 
  • Direct, motivate and mentor administrative staff and faculty by highlighting best practices in accountability, priority setting, diversity and inclusiveness. Make certain that every employee is held accountable for the timely execution of their duties and inspire staff to maximize performance. 
  • Determine and recommend to the Board of Trustees the appropriate staffing and infrastructure to support current operations and future growth. Ensure and implement a formal review process for all staff and faculty. 
  • Create and actively promote a culture of continuous improvement, mutual respect, transparency and communication to realize goals and objectives; encourage innovation and new ideas. 
  • Strengthen internal communications across all departments; bridge gaps that exist to encourage inter-departmental learning and cooperation.

 Academic/Faculty

  • Strengthen academic programming and initiatives that prepare students at all levels for professional pathways and opportunities. 
  • Evaluate each and every member of the faculty’s strengths and weaknesses to ensure the best possible student experiences and academic excellence. 
  • Collaborate regularly with a proven team of administrators, faculty, and staff in improving every aspect of the school and its delivery of high quality academic programs. 
  • Interact extensively with engaged students who are appreciative of New England Law | Boston’s academic programs. 

Qualifications and Characteristics:

A complete application will include a letter of interest and a current CV. Please submit materials to deansearch@nesl.edu. Candidate materials will be reviewed on an ongoing basis up to the application deadline of November 5, 2021. The search committee understands that not every candidate will possess a high degree of experience and proficiency in all areas of qualification.  All correspondence will be held in strict confidence. The anticipated start date is to be determined.     

The successful candidate will demonstrate: 

  • Leadership skills, vision, and enthusiasm to build on the law school’s tradition of academic excellence.
  • Experience as a legal educator, jurist, or practitioner.  
  • The ability to successfully develop and execute well thought out strategies that should ensure strong operational, quality and financial performance. 
  • Decisive leadership with strong management skills exemplified by a record of thoughtfulness in making difficult decisions in an environment with competing demands. The ability to utilize a transparent, collaborative approach in decision-making that invites multiple perspectives.
  • Success in a dynamic, fluid environment having brought to bear an understanding of the challenges and opportunities of working through diverse complex issues.   
  • The ability to build relationships with a broad range of constituents.
  • Strong communication skills with the ability to settle conflict in a measured and reasonable manner.
  • The ability to collaborate with business management on investment decisions and fiscally responsible budgeting considering planned enrollment growth; make difficult financial and resource decisions while building consensus.
  • Ability to further raise the profile and enhance the reputation of the law school; promoting the law school to various constituencies, including within the legal education community, the legal community, and the local community.
  • Unquestionable integrity and ethical values.
  • A strong intellect combined with a practical, common sense understanding of how to achieve the law school’s goals.  Passionate, collaborative, strategic, and smart. Approach problem-solving with creative solutions. 
  • The ability to understand how to work with faculty, students, administrators and the community at large; strong belief in the mission and values of New England Law | Boston.
  • A clear vision for the future of legal education and the advancement of our law school.

The Search Committee expects that not all candidates will possess the full spectrum of skills, competencies and attributes set forth above, and commits to a fair and open-minded review of every applicant based on the experience and skills each would bring to the position and the law school.

New England Law | Boston does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, gender, national origin or ancestry, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or any non-job related physical or mental disability. We welcome candidates who will increase our diversity; we encourage candidates of color to apply.  

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert