Search for Associate Dean launched
The Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago has announced a search for an Associate Dean. In the newly configured position, the Associate Dean will collaborate with and assist the Dean to further the educational work of the Disciples Divinity House (DDH) and to interpret it to key constituencies. This involves fostering educational opportunities, vocational development, and transformative conversation among current students, alumni/ae, and friends as well as in wider venues, especially the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and also in relation to the University of Chicago Divinity School. An initial focus will be thinking, collaborating, and communicating with current students, relatively recent alumni/ae, and other constituents in order to devise programs that both support career development and connect them to the Disciples Divinity House in ways that will support its mission over the long term. Review of applications will begin July 26 and continue until the position is filled.
The position was reenvisioned over several months of study and conversation led by Dean Kris Culp and the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and with the assistance of Jim Powell, former President of Church Extension (now with the Columbia Partnership). Dean Culp announced the search in her remarks to alumni/ae and friends at DDH's luncheon during the General Assembly. She sketched how the institution has been recovering from the economic downturn and how it is preparing for the future. This includes welcoming an increased number of Disciples House Scholars, rebuilding the endowment (now slightly above its previous high), resuming a full complement of capital repairs and improvements to the building, and, with the announcement of the Associate Dean search, staffing for the future. She commented, "The Board of Trustees and I are grateful for your support through this time of challenge and for your partnership as new possibilities emerge."