DEAN OF EDUCATION

## Description

**STARTING SALARY RANGE:** $91,121

**DEPARTMENT:** President Office

**REPORTS TO:** President

**BENEFITS:** 100% employer paid health, dental, and life insurance for employees (spouse/dependent coverage available), vision insurance, employer paid contributions to Maine Public Employees Retirement or TIAA-CREF (in lieu of social security), generous vacation/personal/sick time allowances, 13 paid holidays, professional development, and free tuition within the MCCS for employees, spouse and dependents. [SMCC summary of benefits 2025.pdf](https://mainecc-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/rlallpakash_mainecc_edu/EWr62QxnQBdBtNWgGzhzFtIBJDfdnMa6cNL4w_Jv7cRvuA?e=yu8XlY)

**DESCRIPTION:** The Dean of Education serves as the College’s Chief Academic Officer (CAO), providing visionary and strategic leadership for all credit and non-credit educational programs. Reporting directly to the President and serving as a key member of the College’s Executive Leadership Team, the Dean of Education is responsible for advancing academic excellence, fostering innovation, and ensuring the continuous enhancement of teaching and learning to meet the evolving needs of students, employers, and the communities served by Southern Maine Community College (SMCC).

The Dean of Education provides leadership in the development and implementation of educational policies, academic programs, and strategic initiatives that align with the College's mission and commitment to student success, equity, and Guided Pathways. Key areas of oversight include academic excellence and innovation, student learning and success, accreditation and institutional effectiveness, faculty and staff development, enrollment management and strategic growth, fiscal stewardship and resource allocation, and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders to strengthen workforce development and community partnerships.

As the College’s senior academic leader, the Dean of Education champions a data- informed, student-centered culture of continuous improvement and inclusive excellence, ensuring academic integrity and institutional effectiveness while supporting access, retention, completion, and workforce readiness. This position requires a forward-thinking, collaborative, and student-focused leader who is committed to fostering innovation and educational excellence while serving as a visible representative of the College and advancing the mission, values, and strategic priorities of SMCC.

This position

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| | **Academic Leadership & Innovation:** - Serve as the CAO for all credit programs, with oversight of non-credit educational offerings, ensuring rigor, quality, and continuous enhancement of teaching and learning. - Champion innovative and high-impact academic practices, including Guided Pathways, co-requisite instruction, interdisciplinary approaches, open educational resources (OER), and master course models, to enhance student learning and workforce readiness. | |

| | - Lead the development and implementation of strategic academic initiatives, ensuring alignment with institutional goals, NECHE accreditation standards, MCCS system-wide priorities, and regional community needs. | |

| | - Foster a collegial, collaborative academic environment that promotes scholarship, teaching excellence, and shared governance in partnership with Faculty Senate and other faculty leadership bodies. - Stay current with trends in higher education technology, including instructional technology, distance learning platforms, and learning management systems, encouraging adoption of tools that enhance student access and learning outcomes. - Serve as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributing to institution-wide strategic planning, fiscal management, policy development, and integrated planning processes. | |

| | **Program Development & Continuous Improvement:** - Lead the innovation and continuous enhancement of academic programs-including transfer pathways, workforce development programs, and emerging fields-through collaborative efforts with faculty, staff, and industry partners. - Provide guidance and oversight in curriculum development, program review, and assessment of student learning outcomes, ensuring evidence-based, data-driven decision-making for academic excellence. - Implement Guided Pathways framework fully across the institution, including meta-major development, program mapping, and structured academic planning to reduce loss points and improve degree completion. - Collaborate with advising and enrollment management to create integrated, seamless student experience from point of entry through credential attainment. - Evaluate and expand competency-based education (CBE) models and prior learning assessment (PLA) opportunities to accelerate credential attainment for working adult learners. - Oversee academic scheduling, catalog development, and academic calendar planning in coordination with department chairs, institutional research, and enrollment management leadership. - Promote and expand distance learning, hybrid instructional models, and technology-enhanced delivery to increase access and flexibility for diverse student populatins. **Student Success, Completion & Retention:** - Lead and coordinate college-wide completion and retention strategy, using disaggregated data identify equity gaps and implement targeted, evidence-based interventions for underserved student populations. - Collaborate with the VP and Dean of Enrollment & Student Success, Financial Aid, and Advising Leadership on early alert systems, advising models, and proactive student support initiatives. - Oversee the design and implementation of co-requisite and bridge programming to eliminate development education barriers and accelerate student progress toward credentials. - Champion equity-minded practices throughout academic programming, advising structures, and faculty professional development, ensuring that success strategies address the needs of all students, including first-generation, low-income, and historically underrepresented learners. - Monitor and report on key academic performance indicators – including retention, course completion, graduation, and transfer rates – presenting findings regularly to the Executive Leadership Team. - Support the integration of career planning, experiential learning, work-based learning into academic programs to strengthen student’s connection to educational purpose and long-term workforce goals. - Oversee learning commons and library services in support of student academic success and information literary. **Faculty & Professional Development:** - Lead and support faculty hiring, recruitment, and retention, ensuring a diverse, talented, and student-focused academic team that meets the evening needs of students and programs. - Develop and enhance professional development opportunities for full-time and adjunct faculty, promoting pedagogical innovation, instructional technology integration, and evidence-based best practices in teaching and learning. - Collaborate with Faculty Senate and other shared governance bodies to strengthen faculty-driven initiatives and ensure that faculty voices are central to academic planning and policy development. - Oversee faculty evaluation processes, including performance review and professional growth planning, in accordance with MCCS collective bargaining agreements and institutional policy. - Facilitate professional learning communities, peer observation programs, and discipline-specific development opportunities that build faculty capacity and foster a culture of continuous improvement. **Dual Enrollment & K-12 Partnerships:** - Provide strategic oversight and supervision of the Director of Early College, ensuring the department’s goals, operations, and partnerships align with the College’s academic mission and Guided Pathways framework. - In collaboration with the Director of Early College, set the strategic direction for dual enrollment and early college programming, including expansion priorities, partnership development, and program quality standards. - Hold the Director accountable for instructor qualification processes, course equivalency reviews, NECHE compliance, and the academic integrity of dual enrollment offerings. - Support |