Description
The
University of Florida’s College of the Arts invites nominations and
applications for the position of Director of the Digital Worlds Institute.
The
Digital Worlds Institute nurtures leading edge research and education between
the arts, communications, engineering and the sciences, focusing on advanced
media systems and digital culture. The Institute was founded in 2001 as a
partnership between the College of Fine Arts and the College of Engineering,
and has grown its initiatives across half a dozen additional Colleges at UF. By
bringing together the diverse talents of UF faculty, students, and staff in a
multifaceted collaborative environment, the Institute serves as a platform for
interdisciplinary research and teaching that would not have occurred within the
confines of any one traditional college or department. Through the use of
interactive tools and technologies, the Institute promotes transdisciplinary
creativity across classrooms, continents and cultures.
The new Digital
Worlds Director will be an experienced and successful leader who brings vision,
an understanding of the convergent disciplines that fuel the digital arts and
sciences, and an entrepreneurial mindset to the Institute. The Director will
build upon Digital Worlds’ current programs, assets and partnerships while
providing support and direction to the faculty to achieve the strategic objectives
of the Institute, College and University.
Responsibilities: The Director oversees the Institute’s
administrative operations and provides leadership in its academic, research and
service activities. The Director articulates the Institute’s vision, goals and
accomplishments to its interdisciplinary constituencies. The Director also is
expected to promote diversity and excellence in a growing program within a
major American research university, and to take a leading role in fund-raising,
strategic planning, recruitment and professional development of faculty and staff
while promoting the Institute’s local, national and international visibility.
Minimum
Qualifications: Applicants must hold a distinguished record
of achievement in areas related to and/or encompassing interactive digital
media, performing and visual arts technologies, interaction design and strategic
communications. Applicants are also
expected to hold terminal degree or professional equivalency that could warrant
a tenured appointment at the rank of full professor.
Preferred Qualifications: The successful candidate will
also bring to the position:
•
Demonstrated success as a chair/director, associate director, or comparable experience
as an administrator
• Commitment
to innovative and inter-disciplinary programs
•
Strong organizational, management and communication skills
•
Proven skills in budget management
• A history
of effective support of faculty, staff, students, administrators and shared
governance
•
Evidence of success in promoting an environment that advances diversity and
tolerance
• Effectiveness
in recruitment/retention of faculty and students, strategic planning and
accreditation
•
Experience securing external funding
•
Evidence of success in teaching
Digital
Worlds Institute: Organized
within the College of the Arts, the Institute plays an important role in the
academic life of the university and in the community. The Institute has six
full-time faculty, affiliated faculty from Colleges and programs across the
University, and numerous collaborative research and production partnerships. Digital
Worlds administers two degree programs: the Master of Arts in Digital Arts and
Sciences (DAS) with an average of 15 graduate students per year and a new
undergraduate BA in DAS that is offered both on-line and on-campus in the
Institute’s new On-Line On-Campus Research Classroom. Digital Worlds primary
facilities include The Research,
Education and Visualization Environment (REVE), an 8,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose
space that includes the Polymodal Immersive Classroom Theatre, the Virtual
Production Studio/Soundstage, a Research and Development Area, four Digital
Media Production Suites and open collaboration space for artists, scientists,
designers and engineers, as well as the Serious and Applied Gaming Environments
(SAGE) classroom/media development area in the Computer Science Building.
The Digital
Worlds Institute homepage may be found at www.digitalworlds.ufl.edu
College of the Arts: The College of the Arts fosters
creative activity, scholarly and artistic excellence and innovation across
disciplines. We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals
and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their critical
thinking and inspiring a culture of curiosity and imagination. The College
offers baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,100
students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts
under the direction of 100 faculty members in its three accredited schools — the
School of Art + Art History, School of Music, School of Theatre + Dance. In
addition to its schools, the college comprises the Center for Arts and Public
Policy, Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for World Arts, Digital Worlds
Institute, University Galleries and the college program of the New World School
of the Arts in Miami.
University
of Florida: The University of Florida is a comprehensive,
graduate research institution with 50,000 students and membership in the
prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as
one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of
Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together
the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural
center of North Central Florida, with outstanding resources such as the
University of Florida Performing Arts (Phillips Center for the Performing Arts,
the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the
Florida Museum of Natural History, and the Hippodrome State Theatre.
Nominations
and inquiries of interest may be sent in confidence to the University’s executive recruitment consultant:
Martin M. Baker, Senior Vice
President
Baker and Associates LLC
4799 Olde Towne Parkway - Suite
202
Marietta, GA 30068