Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering

The successful candidate must be a dynamic, collaborative, visionary and innovative individual with demonstrated leadership experience that can promote the continued advancement of the department. He/she is expected to have strong communication skills to effectively engage with a wide variety of constituents within and outside the university. His/her leadership style should include positive attitude, transparency, integrity, trust, fairness, promptness and collegiality. In addition to the general and wide responsibilities of the department head position, as partially outlined in the Faculty Handbook , the selected applicant will be required to:

• provide effective leadership with well-defined plans to nurture and elevate the standard of the department, accompanied with the development of short-term and long-term strategies in alignment with the strategic plans of the college and the university
• ensure high-quality teaching as well as holistic development of the students, using approaches such as technology supported delivery, problem-based learning, and other cutting-edge trends in engineering education, in addition to leading the continuous improvement of the curriculum
• facilitate the conduct of innovative and cutting-edge research of high-quality and impact and promote multidisciplinary research with the optimal use of research funds and research facilities
• empower, mentor, promote, inspire and support faculty and staff to develop and sustain excellence in teaching, research and service
• foster a positive culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among faculty and students
• improve continuously teaching, research and service through benchmarking
• lead the department in achieving student recruitment goals by establishing and implementing recruitment plans for undergraduate and graduate students
• enrich the students’ experience via enhanced services, exchange visits, invited speakers, field trips, student clubs, professional certifications, competitions, conferences, etc.
• secure full-time and internship positions and provide undergraduate research experience to the students
• participate in outreach activities, including maintaining ties and collaborations with alumni, industry, government, advisory boards, other university units and community members, and maintaining involvement in local and international professional organizations
• advertise locally and publicly the achievements and expertise of the faculty, staff and students of the department through web, newsletters and media exposure to enhance the academic reputation of the program
• collect data systematically and continuously from the department to plan and execute informed decisions
• ensure and increase diversity and equity in faculty hiring and student recruitment
• maintain and actively promote a positive, safe, transparent, fair, open, respectful, collegial working environment at the department, college and university
• interact and communicate effectively with individual faculty, staff and students (and parents) on a range of professional and personal issues
• represent the faculty and staff and convey their needs to the college’s and university’s administration.
• oversee the department’s operations including scheduling, advising, registration, lab preparations, budget allocation, compliance and risk management, etc.
• review and coordinate faculty course releases, sabbaticals and leave without pay requests