Indiana University (IU) seeks an eminent and accomplished leader to serve as the next Dean of the IU School of Optometry (IUSO). IUSO is a national leader in optometric education, clinical training, and vision science research. The mission of IUSO is to protect, advance, and promote the vision, eye care, and health of people worldwide by preparing individuals for careers in optometry, the ophthalmic industry, and vision science, while advancing knowledge through teaching, research, and service.
Formed in the 1950’s, IUSO is currently home to 40 faculty, more than 80 staff, and 320 current students, along with an extensive adjunct faculty network within externships and residency programs. IUSO boasts more than 4,000 living alumni, including many prominent individuals in the profession.
The school operates the Atwater Eye Care Center in Bloomington and the Indianapolis Eye Care Center on IU’s Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus, both servicing their immediate areas and several outreach programs in southern Indiana and Indianapolis. The school’s strong professional, research, and graduate programs take advantage of the opportunities for interdisciplinary studies with other units in the University, including the Schools of Public Health, department of Ophthalmology, basic science departments, and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering’s intelligent systems engineering. IUSO offers the degrees of Doctor of Optometry, Bachelor of Science in Optometry, and master’s and PhD in Vision Science.
The next Dean will provide strategic leadership for the academic and administrative activities of IUSO, further its legacy of intellectual contributions and ongoing impact, and develop new streams of support for IUSO’s diversity of scholarship, depth of student excellence, and service to communities. The new dean will be a compelling public face of IUSO, have a sophisticated understanding of the scholarly enterprise, demonstrate a record of collaborative leadership, bring vigor and passion for the IUSO’s educational, research, and service mission, have significant depth of managerial experience, and be an effective fundraiser. The Dean will also serve on the Bloomington Provost’s leadership team and play an important role in shaping and executing on institutional priorities.
Detailed information on IUSO can be found at the IUSO website.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON
Founded in 1820, Indiana University Bloomington is the flagship residential, doctoral-extensive research campus of Indiana University (IU), with additional core components including its Indianapolis campus in the center of the capitol city, the highly ranked IU school of Medicine in Indianapolis, and several campuses and regional centers across the state. Indiana is committed to excellence; global engagement; inclusion and diversity; academic freedom; and meeting the changing educational and research needs of the state, the nation, and the world.
The Bloomington campus enrolls over 35,000 undergraduate and more than 11,000 graduate students who learn, explore, and grow in 22 thematic and academic living-learning centers, over 200 research centers and institutes, and more than 200 bachelor’s and graduate programs within its 17 schools and colleges.
Located just an hour south of the state capital in Indianapolis, IUB is widely considered to be one of the country’s most beautiful college campuses. Many of the campus’s original buildings were constructed from limestone quarried just a few miles away, and the recent building program on campus has remained true to that heritage. Bloomington, a city of almost 86,000, stands among the highest-ranked college towns for quality of life in the nation. More information on IU Bloomington is available on the IU website.
The Dean is the School of Optometry’s chief executive officer with core responsibilities including:
- Articulating to faculty, students, staff, and alumni the core values of the school: excellence, diversity, collegiality, integrity, and professionalism
- Generating a vision and strategic plan for moving the school forward, in conjunction with IUSO stakeholders and in alignment with IUB2030, which outlines the institutional goals for the next decade
- Assuring academic excellence in hiring, promotion, and tenure of faculty
- Assuring excellence in teaching programs
- Assuring excellence in research
- Assuring excellence in faculty governance through school and campus committees
- Meeting the standards of optometric education as proscribed by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education
- Financial stewardship of the school and its associated clinics
- Assembling a team of associate deans and professional staff that carry out the principles and policies of the school and university within academic affairs, fiscal affairs, student administration, clinics, graduate studies, and development
- Forging academic connections with other schools and departments within the university
- Serving as a part of the institutional leadership team, promoting the school and integrating campus and university resources to further support the mission of IUSO
- Maintaining productive relationships with alumni and the local, national and global communities of vision scholars, researchers, and practitioners
- Organizing fundraising efforts that support implementation of the strategic plan, in conjunction with the Indiana University Foundation, alumni, and the Dean’s Development Council
The Dean reports to the Provost and Executive Vice President of the Bloomington campus.