UConn’s is the top ranked School of Pharmacy in New England and in the top 25% of schools of pharmacy across the US. It is located on the university’s main campus in Storrs, housed in the Pharmacy-Biology building, which was completed in 2005. Exceptional faculty, engaging academic exploration, groundbreaking research, and impactful community involvement are hallmarks of pharmacy education at UConn. The School was first established in 1925 and consists of two departments, Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Its professional program, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), leads to the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. The School also awards a B.S. in Pharmacy Studies, a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and several dual degrees (PharmD/MBA, PharmD/MPH, and a joint PharmD/PhD). It has an annual budget of approximately $12 million, 46 full-time faculty, and 16 full-time staff. Nearly 500 students are enrolled across all the School’s programs, coming from 29 countries across six continents. Supporting students throughout their studies at UConn, a newly launched early assurance program allows qualified freshman students who enter UConn pre-pharmacy to earn a place in the PharmD program without taking the PCAT.

Beyond the core curriculum, UConn offers specialized learning tracks to allow students to pursue their passions and maximize their course of study.

• LEADERS Track expands the breadth and depth of a student’s education and experiences with exposure to government, advocacy, and industry leadership roles.
• Urban Service Track is a unique collaboration between UConn’s Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Social Work, the Quinnipiac University’s Physician Assistant Program, and the community. Students learn to solve challenges of health care in urban areas as part of an interdisciplinary team.
• Pediatric Pharmacy Track provides students interested in pediatric clinical pharmacy to have a multitude of pediatric experiences throughout their time as a pharmacy student and graduate as a Pediatric Pharmacy Scholar.
• Pharmaceutical Sciences Track offers enhanced exposure and specialized access to the pharmaceutical sciences and related research.

Annual research expenditures for the School of Pharmacy are $7.5 million. The faculty includes dedicated pharmacy clinicians and internationally renowned, award-winning scholars in the fields of Clinical Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacology and Toxicology. Many hold patents and/or contracts with pharmaceutical companies, and UConn students are afforded many opportunities to contribute to faculty research initiatives. Increasingly, exciting new areas of research are emerging at the intersection of departments and other schools and colleges in the health sciences, as faculty pursue interdisciplinary work that brings together multiple methods of inquiry.

The University of Connecticut (UConn), one of the nation’s leading public research universities, seeks a visionary and dynamic leader to serve as the Dean of its School of Pharmacy. UConn seeks candidates who have a comprehensive resume of success in academic leadership roles and who can demonstrate exceptional skills and experience that will enable them to provide strong leadership to a research and educational enterprise. For the past decade, the University has been on a remarkable journey of expansion and growth as a public research university. By every measure, from student diversity to research grants, UConn has enhanced its standing. Today, UConn is a top university, ranked among the top 25 public research universities nationwide. As the chief executive officer for the School of Pharmacy, the Dean will set the standard of intellectual engagement and accomplishment for the School.

The Dean will provide strategic vision and operational leadership to all aspects of the academic and scholarly program, setting priorities for the School and guiding it toward strategic goals of enhancing scholarship, promoting research and outreach, and providing excellence in undergraduate, graduate, and professional education in an academic setting with a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff. In consultation with University officials, the Dean will appoint endowed faculty chairs and professorships and increase faculty awards and fellowships. The Dean is the School’s chief advocate, promoting its goals and achievements, leading its development and fund-raising activities, and speaking for its mission of excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service. The Dean will inspire pharmacy students and instill within the student body an ethos of professionalism and duty for caring. Supporting the University’s research mission, the Dean will advance the scholarly activities of the faculty, including interdisciplinary opportunities. The Dean will also be the School’s public voice, promoting initiatives within UConn, across the state and nation-wide, strengthening and expanding its role within professional associations, articulating the School’s contributions at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels. In pursuing these responsibilities, the Dean, who reports to the provost, will work collaboratively with the president and provost and with vice presidents, other deans, and department heads.

The successful candidate will be a strong, nationally recognized, self-assured, entrepreneurial leader prepared to infuse the School of Pharmacy with a sense of pride, of purpose, and of excellence. With experience in a research university, the ideal candidate will have demonstrated success as an educator, a researcher/scholar committed to the search for new knowledge, a sophisticated administrator, and a leader able to imagine new possibilities for the School.

Under the leadership of President Tom Katsouleas, who began his term in August 2019, UConn has entered a new and exciting phase in its history. President Katsouleas has challenged the University’s administration, faculty, and staff to undertake the ambitious goals of doubling research over the next 10 years, broadly expanding meaningful experiential learning, and remaining committed to preserving accessibility to residents of the state of Connecticut.

UConn will welcome a Dean who is fluent in the landscape of the profession of pharmacy, well-established as a researcher, and who thrives on innovation and the challenges and opportunities of developing, organizing, and managing new initiatives. The faculty at the UConn School of Pharmacy are deeply committed to research/scholarship and to fostering their students’ professional success. The Dean will articulate a vision for the School, defining its role in research/scholarship, practice, and teaching, leading to greater national and international recognition. From that vision, the Dean will shape the organization and, with the faculty, configure, create, and grow programs and attract a student body to realize their success.

The Dean will make critical contributions to the continued development of the School. This is an extraordinary opportunity for an individual with the drive, skill, and experience to bring creative leadership to the organization and to play a meaningful role in shaping its future. The new Dean will embrace these opportunities, helping to realize the potential of the UConn School of Pharmacy. The new Dean will build on a solid foundation to contribute to the School and its diverse constituents to address some key challenges and pursue important opportunities.

Specific challenges and opportunities include:

• Provide visionary and strategic leadership for the School of Pharmacy.
• Accelerate year-over-year improvement in national pharmacy school rankings.
• Lead pharmacy practice transformation efforts.
• Build effective coalitions of professional practice partners.
• Increase School’s visibility among key stakeholders in the region and nationally, as well as at professional conferences and annual meetings.
• Hire, guide, and support excellent faculty.
• Enthusiastically advance research and sponsored programs across the school.
• Oversee financial decisions and create clear and efficient processes, staffing, and structures.
• Develop strong relationships with students to support and promote a diverse and inclusive culture.
• Engage and support staff through mentorship, collaboration, and providing challenging assignments.
• Help to articulate the University-wide vision and to raise further resources.
• Cultivate opportunities for development and fund-raising.
• Pursue strategies to sustain and grow undergraduate and graduate enrollments.

Reporting to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs for all matters, the Dean is the chief administrative and academic officer of the School of Pharmacy. The current administrative structure for the School includes 2 associate deans, 2 assistant deans, and 2 department heads. The Dean must possess an intimate understanding of the current challenges in the field of pharmacy, as well as national and global healthcare, and be willing to work with state, regional, and national stakeholders, including professional practice and industry leaders, to address these challenges and advocate for the field of pharmacy.The ideal candidate will be an experienced, inclusive, and collaborative leader, institutionally ambitious and creative, and committed to guiding the School to the next level of excellence. The Dean will be expected to work effectively with faculty, students, staff, educators, pharmacy practice leaders, and industry representatives as partners to advance the University's research, teaching, and service missions. S/he will bring an understanding of, and a commitment to, increasing diversity at all levels of the School. The successful candidate will bring experience and/or the clear potential to represent the School articulately and compellingly to external constituencies, enhancing the visibility and impact of its work while increasing gifts, research funding, contracts, and other mission-aligned revenue.

UConn seeks a dynamic leader who must have at least the following minimum knowledge and skills:

• A Ph.D. in Pharmacy or other health care science or a PharmD.
• Credentials that merit appointment at the rank of full professor.
• A proven leader and talented administrator.
• A creative and strategic thinker who can take the School to the next level.

The successful candidate must have demonstrated the following traits:

• A profound sense of integrity and professionalism.
• A deep commitment to excellence.
• A clear ability to use good judgment and make sound decisions.
• A bold, energetic leadership style that invites collaboration, encourages teamwork, welcomes diverse perspectives, and values transparency.
• A distinctive ability in managing change, resolving conflict, and building consensus.
• Superior interpersonal and communication skills, including sensitivity, a high level of emotional intelligence and concern for others, and the ability to navigate complex situations and controversies gracefully and treat all people with civility and respect.
• The ability to sustain and enhance a vigorous research and educational enterprise.
• The skills to navigate the organizational, political, and fiscal realities unique to a major public research university.
• The experience necessary to transform current pharmacy practices through coalition building and effective use of advocacy to promote legislative agendas.
• The ability to work productively and cooperatively with faculty, students, staff, alumni, educators, and community leaders as partners to advance the School’s and University’s research, teaching, engagement, outreach, and service missions.
• A track record of administrative achievement that gives strong evidence of his or her capacity to manage a complex School, including its budget, workforce, and programs.
• The capacity to represent the School compellingly to external constituencies, enhancing the visibility and impact of its work.
• A strong commitment to promoting diversity, including assessing needs, developing initiatives and applying best practices.
• The ability to imagine and explore new possibilities for the School, develop and articulate a vision, and develop and implement effective strategic plans, including the ability to translate institutional strategy into operational goals and to specify and prioritize short and long range objectives.

The ideal candidate will also have the following preferred characteristics:

• Experience at a research university and success as a clinician and/or researcher committed to the search for new knowledge.
• Demonstrated capability to support research at the student and faculty levels, and to foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
• A robust understanding of the process required for gaining extramural research funding.
• Demonstrated success as an educator and ability to excite students about the profession of pharmacy.
• A genuine appreciation of, and good rapport with, students, School’s future alumni.
• Experience as an agent of innovation and change achieving excellence across a complex organization.
• Demonstrated capability to manage professional and support staff effectively, including hiring, motivating, training, developing, and evaluating the job performance of employees.
• The ability to recruit and retain highly desirable research and instructional faculty in a competitive environment.
• Significant experience with outreach and cross-organizational cooperation.
• The ability to inspire, cultivate, and leverage an active alumni network to amplify the School of Pharmacy’s success in positioning students in the workforce, transforming Connecticut’s Pharmacy Practice Act, and building endowment resources to support the school’s mission and vision.
• Strong written, oral, and interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate the School’s points of pride, needs, plans, and programs effectively.
• Experience working with collective bargaining units.
• Ability to develop and implement new marketing strategies for the School.

COMPENSATION
The University of Connecticut offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, commensurate with the successful candidate’s background and experience.

TO APPLY
The University of Connecticut is committed to building and supporting a multicultural and diverse community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. UConn’s faculty and staff are the critical link to fostering and expanding our vibrant, multicultural and diverse University community. As an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity employer, UConn encourages applications from women, veterans, people with disabilities and members of traditionally underrepresented populations. Employment of the successful candidate is contingent upon the successful completion of a pre- employment criminal background check. All employees are subject to adherence to the State Code of Ethics which may be found at http://www.ct.gov/ethics/site/default.asp.

UConn has retained the services of the executive search firm Korn Ferry, to conduct this important search. All inquiries, nominations/referrals, and applications (including curriculum vitae and letters of interest responding to the position challenges and objectives outlined above) will be held in the strictest confidence and should be submitted to Korn Ferry at the email address below. For priorty consideration, please submit application materials by October 24, 2019.

uconn-pharmdean@kornferry.com