Department/Organization
219101 - University Libraries
Rank
Associate/Full Professor
Position Summary
The University of Alabama seeks an experienced strategic thinker to join the University Libraries administrative team. The candidate will report to the Dean of University Libraries and will be a critical member of the University Libraries Executive Committee. The ideal candidate will be an innovative leader with a sense of evolving trends in research libraries, particularly in instruction, library liaison programs, access services, media production, outreach efforts, and user services in general. Developing opportunities to create and promote student success and support faculty teaching and research are vital components of this position’s leadership portfolio. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will work closely with librarians to facilitate a shared vision and commitment to the strategic plan for the University Libraries and The University of Alabama. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will lead and coordinate programmatic services for undergraduate and graduate education, instruction, and research support. This position will work collaboratively with librarians and stakeholders across the institution to address and support scholarship, research, and teaching needs while advancing the University Libraries Strategic Plan.
Detailed Position Information
The University of Alabama seeks an experienced strategic thinker to join the University Libraries administrative team. The candidate will report to the Dean of University Libraries and will be a critical member of the University Libraries Executive Committee. The ideal candidate will be an innovative leader with a sense of evolving trends in research libraries, particularly in instruction, library liaison programs, access services, media production, outreach efforts, and user services in general. Developing opportunities to create and promote student success and support faculty teaching and research are vital components of this position’s leadership portfolio. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will work closely with librarians to facilitate a shared vision and commitment to the strategic plan for the University Libraries and The University of Alabama. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will lead and coordinate programmatic services for undergraduate and graduate education, instruction, and research support. This position will work collaboratively with librarians and stakeholders across the institution to address and support scholarship, research, and teaching needs while advancing the University Libraries Strategic Plan.
The Associate Dean for Research and User Services has programmatic, strategic, budgetary, managerial, and operational responsibilities for Information Services, the Sanford Media Center, and Access Services. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will lead and oversee the University Libraries Liaison Program and will ensure continuity of customer service, collaborating with staff who support all service points. The candidate will lead a group of dedicated faculty and staff who provide excellent services and learning experiences, provide access to comprehensive scholarly information resources that support curricula and the research lifecycle, and provide training and technology to support innovation and entrepreneurial endeavors. The chosen candidate will collaborate with other areas of the University Libraries, including Research Data Services and Research Computing, to design and integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) across all aspects of the Library Instruction Program. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will enable a culture of assessment, continuous improvement, and accountability and will also mentor tenured, tenure-track, and clinical faculty on scholarly research output and on preparing grant applications.
The University Libraries are a beta development partner with EBSCO for the FOLIO Library Services Platform. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services will lead public services in the migration to FOLIO, evaluate and hire faculty and staff in their assigned areas, and must have the ability to foster collaboration and inspire innovation among librarians and staff. This candidate may assume additional and changing leadership portfolio responsibilities as the research library environment continues to evolve. The Associate Dean for Research and User Services represents the University Libraries on university, regional, and national level committees as assigned by the Dean of University Libraries and regularly contributes to the profession through active participation, national presentations, and other scholarly activities, while maintaining an active and robust portfolio of published peer-reviewed research.
The chosen candidate will have experience hiring, training, and working with colleagues in a research library setting, effectively implementing workflows and procedures that positively impact progress toward completion of organizational goals based on continuous improvement. The University of Alabama Libraries is committed to data-driven decision-making, and this position is responsible for acquiring, analyzing, and reporting statistical information on key performance indicators on a regular basis.
The Associate Dean for Research and User Services collaborates with a broad range of stakeholders internally and externally. The candidate must have the ability to cooperate effectively with faculty, staff, students, and administrators and is expected to maintain and build relationships in the University Libraries and with colleges and universities in the region, state, and nationally. The candidate must have the ability to foster collaboration and to mentor librarians and staff. The successful candidate must possess the ability to approach change, ambiguity, and complex problems in a research university setting with a positive attitude focused on problem solving.
Prior to employment the successful candidate must pass a pre-employment background investigation.
SALARY/BENEFITS: 12-month faculty appointment at the Associate Professor rank or higher. Salary is commensurate with qualifications, experience, and advanced degrees. Strong benefits, including professional development support, tuition fee waiver, and matching retirement contributions.
Minimum Qualifications
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Master's degree in Library & Information Sciences from an ALA-accredited institution.
• At least 5 years of progressive management experience in a research library, including supervision and responsibility for program innovation.
• Strong leadership skills, including the ability to lead collaborative organizational change, inspire innovation, provide professional mentorship, and lead teams.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Demonstrated engagement in areas associated with the job portfolio.
• Experience supervising tenure-track faculty on their tenure and promotion trajectory.
• Experience hiring, training, and working with colleagues in a research library setting, as well as developing onboarding programs for liaison librarians.
• Experience with various levels of outreach for students and faculty.
• Demonstrated experience with strategic planning.
• Demonstrated expertise in current trends and best practices in information literacy, reference services, liaison librarianship, instructional design, curricular integration of library resources, and related areas.
• Demonstrated portfolio of digital learning objects used for instruction and experience supervising media production.
• Knowledge of emerging technologies and their applications to distance education.
• Experience with reporting tools and generation of high-level reports to facilitate data-driven decision-making.
• Experience with Circulation modules, preferably Voyager or FOLIO.
• Experience with Interlibrary Loan software such as RapidILL, ILLIAD, and Reprints Desk.
• Experience providing training on research software and other focused curricula that support University Libraries Research Data Services program.
• Knowledge and experience with FOLIO.
• Experience with assessment methods that demonstrate the value of libraries to the institutional mission, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement.
• Published peer-reviewed research on the assessment of student learning outcomes within library instruction programs.
• Experience investigating and integrating emerging technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, to enhance teaching and learning.
• Evidence working collaboratively and creatively in a leadership role.
• Experience developing library guidelines, articulating vision, and providing leadership and direction toward achieving strategic goals.
• Strong comfort with creative ambiguity.
• Evidence of robust teaching and research portfolios, including several peer-reviewed publications, as well as a record of service at the national level to support the faculty rank of associate professor or higher.
• Ability to work independently and evidence of strategic initiative to carry projects through to completion.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute collegially and productively in a rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to support and enhance a robust learning and working environment.
• Responsibilities change as the University Libraries continue to evolve.
Preferred Qualifications
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: • Doctoral or additional advanced degree. • Experience leading and developing complex collaborative projects. • Ten years progressively responsible experience in an academic library setting. • Experience submitting grant proposals. • Understanding of grant and award funding agencies requirements regarding data management, preservation, and access.
Instructions and Required Materials for Application
Applications are accepted online only at https://careers.ua.edu. Click Faculty Jobs, then University Libraries. Please include your application, Curriculum Vitae, cover letter, and names, addresses, phone numbers, and e- mail addresses of three references, including one current supervisor. Consideration of applications will begin immediately and will continue until position is filled. Applications received by July 11, 2025 are assured of receiving full consideration. For questions regarding the search, contact Michael Arthur, Senior Associate Dean, at maarthur@ua.edu.
About the Division/College/School
The University of Alabama Libraries, a system of four separate discipline-related libraries, is proud to support the research enterprise at the University of Alabama via a comprehensive and integrated network of resources, services, and technologies designed to meet the academic and research needs of students, faculty, and staff. We take pride in serving as a hub for innovation, knowledge creation and dissemination, research assistance, and collaborative learning.
Members of the University of Alabama family visited our physical and virtual spaces over 10 million times in 2022. Our print collections span over 6 million volumes, and we offer access to 2.5 million E-Books, 220,000 AV titles, and 98,000 E-Journals via our 685 databases.
University Libraries provides strong mentorship for faculty and staff, with ongoing collaborative opportunities, and administrative support for innovative services and ideas. We provide excellent support for needed technology and conference travel, and we are invested in academic freedom with teaching and research.
Our staff routinely update and maintain cutting edge programs of service in support of our stakeholders. Our faculty librarians have developed a robust instruction program, including a series of research data services and workshops, that consistently performs at the top of the SEC. We are heavily invested in performing the same high value research that our stakeholders produce, and that assists us in our data-driven strategic planning for the future. Our librarians have produced 75 peer reviewed journal articles in Tier 1 journals in the last 2 years.
If working with a talented group of professionals who value service, innovation, and high achievement, earning a nationally competitive starting salary, in a thriving college town, with a low cost of living, close to Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, and the Gulf Coast sounds interesting to you, start your application process with us to learn more!
About the University
The University of Alabama is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, named one of Travel + Leisure’s 25 Best College Towns and Cities in the U.S. As one of the nation’s premier universities, UA offers bachelor’s, master's and doctoral degrees in nearly 200 fields of study. With more than 1,400 acres of tree-lined academic core campus and over 300 state-of-the art facilities, UA has been ranked among the most beautiful and most impressive college campuses in the South, in the state of Alabama and in the nation.
In Fall 2023, the Capstone set a new enrollment record with more than 39,000 students, including more than 8,200 in the freshman class. The current enrollment includes students from every county in Alabama, every state in the nation and 92 countries around the world. More than 1,100 National Merit Scholars are currently enrolled, making UA one of the largest enrolling institutions of the scholars in the country.
UA was recently recognized as a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. students for the seventh time in nine years, as well as a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. Scholars for the first time. UA is one of only 12 universities in the nation to receive both honors.
For reasons like this, the University made Forbes list of America’s Top Colleges for 2023 and Time magazine’s list of Top 50 Best Colleges for Future Leaders. It also made Princeton Review’s list of Top Value Colleges.
UA is also designated among the top doctoral research universities in the United States in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. One of the fastest growing major research institutions in the nation, UA saw a 21% increase in sponsored awards in the 2023 fiscal year.
Since 2015, UA has invested over $1.1 billion in the physical campus, adding more than 2.55 million gross square feet of space, over 150 new research-intensive faculty, signature research areas (e.g., “The Alabama Research Institutes”), and a growing number of partnerships with industry and with state and federal agencies.
The University employs nearly 2,100 faculty and over 4,500 staff, with 52 UA researchers included in the National Academy of Inventors. An additional 40 current faculty have received the NSF CAREER Award, the nation’s most prestigious recognition of top performing young scientists in disciplines ranging from nanoscience and engineering to biological sciences.
Background Investigation and EEO Statement
Prior to hiring, the final candidate(s) must successfully pass a pre-employment background investigation and information obtained from social media and other internet sources. A prior conviction reported as a result of the background investigation DOES NOT automatically disqualify a candidate from consideration for this position. A candidate with a prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags will receive an individualized review of the prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags before a hiring decision is made.
The University of Alabama is an Equal Employment/Equal Educational Opportunity Institution. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against because of their protected status. Applicants to and employees of this institution are protected under Federal law from discrimination on several bases. Follow the link below to find out more. "EEO is the Law" https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf
