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The Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation at the University System of Maryland is searching for a new associate director. See the position description here—and note the July 31 deadline for best consideration of applications.
Nancy O’Neill, the center’s executive director, answered my questions about the opportunity.
If you want to have a position that you are search for at the intersection of learning, technology and institutional (or system) change, please get in touch.
Q: What is the mandate behind this role? How does it help align with and advance the system’s strategic priorities?
A: I think it’s more of an inflection point rather than a mandate. The Kirwan Center just celebrated its 10-year anniversary in academic year 2023–24. It’s natural to want to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’d like to go, and the associate director will play a critical role in helping to set direction for the Kirwan Center for the next decade. The center has achieved a level of maturity in the system now, and so we can work a bit differently, ask different questions about impact and find new and exciting ways to tell our story.
Of course, I do want the Kirwan Center to support the broad goals of the current USM strategic plan, Vision 2030. This past spring, I worked with a consultant to cross-walk our current initiatives with Vision 2030, and found there to be a high level of congruence, particularly in relation to four key priorities (paraphrased here):
- Amplify our influence and impact as a system … through deeper cross-functional collaboration between USM institutions, academically and administratively,
- Develop exceptional faculty and staff and nurture a dynamic environment in which they thrive,
- Develop innovative education programs resulting in new credentials, and
- Leverage digital technologies to increase program flexibility and enhance learner personalization.
Vision 2030 applies to the USM institutions as well as to the whole of the system office, and so my interest is always in how the Kirwan Center can support the plan’s priorities specifically through our work in leading cross-institutional academic change projects.
Q: Where does the role sit in the system structure? How will the person in this role engage with other units and leaders in the system office and across USM institutions?
A: The Kirwan Center sits within the Office of Academic and Student Affairs within the system office. There will certainly be opportunities for the associate director to connect with colleagues engaging in student success efforts elsewhere in the system office. At the same time, Kirwan Center staff focus quite a bit on working with campus leaders, including teaching and learning center colleagues, OER champions, and the like, on projects and initiatives.
For the Kirwan Center to lead something, there needs to be a value-added reason for us to take it on—a benefit in developing a shared framework to guide action, for example, or the wider reach or cross-institutional sharing of lessons learned. That’s in addition to our projects needing to have promise in the areas of teaching and learning, equity, and student success.
Q: What would success look like in one year? Three years? Beyond?
A: Success in year one will revolve around forming connections, especially with key constituents across the institutions, contributing fresh thinking to Kirwan Center’s future directions and assuming leadership of new and existing projects we have under our different initiative areas.
Success in three years will look like being able to gauge impact qualitatively and quantitatively, in both process improvements as well as project outcomes. It will also look like a sense of accomplishment on the part of the person in this role, as our work can make a real difference in how well the system serves and engages students.
Within and beyond three years, I’d like to see the Kirwan Center’s story be about how we’ve broken new ground in advancing equity, inclusion and belonging; fostered engaged learning and high-impact practices at an ambitious scale; and created the conditions, through support of the scholarship of teaching and learning, for more USM faculty to systematically investigate important questions about student success. Strategic partnerships and emerging and existing technologies will play a role in this work, in the service of these goals and our overall mission.
Q: What kinds of future roles would someone who took this position be prepared for?
A: I could see someone in this role moving into a more senior role in a system office or into a national higher education association or foundation where a bigger picture view of higher education is helpful.
I think the role would also provide transferable skills for someone to move into member-based organizations outside of higher education, particularly where mission elements align. And I could see someone in this role leading a center or serving in academic affairs at a college or university as well.
