School Director & Associate/Full Professor

School of Theatre + Dance
Administrative Faculty Position Announcement
Tenured, 12 month, Full-time, Administrative Faculty Position
School Director and Associate/Full Professor
Date of Expected Hire: July 1, 2024

The School of Theatre + Dance seeks a dynamic director who will provide a combination of visionary and practical leadership for our diverse programs in dance, design and production, and theatre. Working with faculty, staff, and students, the next director will facilitate visionary, goals-oriented strategy in the cultivation of theatre and dance research, production, teaching, and learning, and help shape the future of the School as part of a preeminent, top-five, comprehensive, public, land-grant research university and College of the Arts.

We are looking for a leader who will be a champion of the arts in a comprehensive research context: one who will support and facilitate a culture of curiosity and experimentation and who considers the future of theatre and dance in the context of our transformative technological landscape, such as the UF Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative. We are looking for a leader who works with transparency, diplomacy, and inclusivity. We seek an effective manager, one with capacity to lead with efficient, effective, and thoughtful processes related to curriculum, fiscal management, and program growth in relation to the School’s mission and values. We seek a candidate who is highly communicative and who can be a connector of people and ideas to build collaborative potential in a top-five research institution and in our local, national, and international communities.

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. As artists and scholars, we embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our students and faculty to shape that experience fearlessly through critical study, creative practice, and provocation. We seek a colleague who identifies as a change-maker. We seek a colleague who will prepare students to access and unsettle centers of power in a radically changing world. We seek a colleague who will position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for equity on local and global levels.

The ideal candidate will have a record of success in the development and implementation of effective systems that foster an environment that advances pluralism, curiosity, open intellectual discourse, and the well-being of all in the context of cultural and ideological difference.  That person will likewise have a record of successful strategic planning, budget management, curriculum development, student and faculty recruitment, and guiding faculty through tenure and promotion processes, as well as a commitment to shared governance and the professional development of faculty and staff. Moreover, that person will possess the ability to represent and advocate effectively for the school locally, nationally, and internationally.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff community, seeking faculty of all races, ethnicities, genders, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. We are especially interested in candidates who can demonstrate their experience in the successful leadership of diverse student, faculty, and staff populations.

SCHOOL OF THEATRE + DANCE: The light-filled Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion is home to the School of Theatre + Dance (SoTD). The School’s international full-time faculty of 35 recognized artists and researchers, complemented by adjunct and guest faculty and staff, including full- and part-time professionals. The School offers MFA curricula in acting and in design, which includes scene design, lighting design, and costume design; BFA programs in acting, musical theatre, and theatrical production with concentrations in costume, digital media, lighting, scenic, and sound; and a BA with concentrations in general theatre, stage management, and theatre management. The School features two degree programs in dance designed to develop the individual voice of the dance artist, a BFA and a BA. Approximately 200 students major in the artistically diverse curricula of the School of Theatre + Dance. Through its production program, outreach and innovative programming, the School of Theatre + Dance provides multiple cultural opportunities annually to thousands of members of the University and the greater community. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/theatreanddance.  

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond.  We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation.  The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 130 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute, and the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami. 

The University of Florida: The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation, ranked one of the top five best public universities in the nation in U.S. News & World Report. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 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 Squitieri Studio Theatre, the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the community, the Hippodrome State Theatre and Dance Alive National Ballet.

$139,000 - $148,000 Commensurate with experience. Comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package eligible. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Applicants must hold a record of achievement in one or more of the following areas: dance, design and production, theatre, or a related field. They must also hold a terminal degree or professional equivalency that merits a tenured appointment at the rank of associate or full professor.
• Leadership or administrative experience at a higher education institution
• Evidence of success in promoting an environment that advances pluralism, curiosity, open intellectual discourse, and the well-being of all in the context of cultural and ideological difference.
• A history of effective support of students, faculty, staff, and administrators
• Evidence of successfully using shared governance in their administrative or leadership work

Preferred Qualifications: The successful candidate will bring to the position:

• Demonstrated success as a chair/director, assistant/associate director, or comparable experience as a theatre and/or dance administrator
• Proven skills in budget management
• A record of successful arts advocacy in the public or private sectors
• A record of securing external funding  
• Evidence of effective recruitment and retention of students and faculty
• Experience in leading strategic planning and accreditation processes
• Experience at a large public university
• Experience with innovative and cross-disciplinary programs
• Experience leading curricular change
• A vision for the future of Higher Education in the Arts and in Theatre and Dance, specifically with a capacity to engage with emerging technologies and their impacts on the fields

Application Deadline: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until an applicant pool is established. To ensure full consideration, all application documents must be submitted by November 12, 2023.  Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the committee and/or hiring authority. 

Application Instructions: Applications must be submitted via the University of Florida’s online application system.

Materials must include the following:

1. Ddetailed letter of application that explains how you match the particular qualifications of this position and how your work, perspective, and leadership style will contribute to and enhance our transformative community
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Up to three links* to work samples or evidence of professional success (i.e., artistic, leadership, advocacy, funding, well-being or change-maker initiatives)
4. Up to three links to evidence of accomplishments in the development and implementation of effective systems that foster pluralism, curiosity, open intellectual discourse, and the well-being of all in the context of cultural and ideological difference, as 
5. A list of three professional references. The search committee may request additional materials, including confidential letters of reference, later. 

*We ask for links because the UF application system only allows for one 5 MB maximum file size PDF document.

Nominations and inquiries may be directed to: Hilary Hilgers, Talent Consultant with UFHR Strategic Talent Group, by emailing stg@hr.ufl.edu.

The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The University is committed to non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations, genetic information and veteran status in all aspects of employment including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training.

Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law. The “government in the sunshine” laws of Florida require that all documents relating to the search process, including letters of application/nomination and reference, be available for public inspection upon request.