Job Description

Our Institution:

Founded in 1860, Bard College is an international network of highly innovative and admired educational institutions grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. Simon’s Rock at Bard College actualizes the simple yet radical idea that many students are ready for college before the age of 18. This idea, first envisioned by Elizabeth Blodgett Hall on the original Simon’s Rock campus in 1966 in Great Barrington, MA, launched the Early College movement in the United States and beyond. Simon’s Rock has carried out this mission for 59 years in Great Barrington, and in July of 2025 relocated to the Massena campus of Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.

In this new location, Simon’s Rock will have a diverse student population of approximately 160 students, both boarding and day students, drawn nationally and internationally. This includes enrollment in the Early College Associate in Arts degree program as well as in Bard Academy. Launched in 2015, Bard Academy is a two-year high school program with courses designed and taught by college professors and leading to entry into college after the 10 th grade. Students at the Massena campus may enter the Early College either as matriculants from Bard Academy or as students directly admitted to Early College after completing 10 th or 11 th grade, or the equivalent in homeschooled or non-traditional pathways.

The Role:

For Simon’s Rock at Bard College, we seek a Dean of Student Affairs to provide leadership and administrative oversight of students’ residential, co-curricular, and overall campus experience in both the Bard Academy and Early College programs. The Dean of Student Affairs envisions, staffs, and implements a multi-tiered on-call structure that supports Simon’s Rock students 24/7, and serves in the rotation as an Executive-On-Call. The Dean of Students Affairs directly oversees the Simon’s Rock programs in campus life and housing, health and wellness, accessibility and learning supports, student activities and co-curricular programming, and equity and inclusion. Additionally, the Dean of Student Affairs liaises with Bard College departments in all of those areas, with the Office of Safety and Security and the Office of Title IX and Nondiscrimination, and with the dining services contracted with Bard College. The Dean of Student Affairs both fosters an engaging campus experience specific to the Simon’s Rock campus and collaborates with Bard College colleagues to maximize Simon’s Rock students’ utilization of Bard resources and opportunities.

The Dean of Student Affairs position has a joint reporting structure. The Dean of Student Affairs reports to the Provost, and supervises the Director of Campus Life and Housing. Together with the Dean of Academic Affairs and two Associate Deans, those positions form the leadership team responsible for the student experience inside and outside the classroom. The Dean of Student Affairs supports the Provost in realizing the mission of Simon’s Rock both conceptually and administratively. The Dean of Student Affairs additionally reports to the Vice President for Student Affairs of Bard College, to facilitate coordination between student affairs functions at Simon’s Rock and at Bard College more broadly.

This position is a full-time position with benefits, on-site five days per week at the Massena campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.

Duties include:

• Oversee the operations of all aspects of student affairs, for residential and day students:
• Oversee campus life and housing, include housing needs for residential students, and liaise with the relevant Bard College departments
• Oversee the Simon’s Rock Wellness Center and liaise with Bard Emergency Medical Services and the Bard Wellness Center
• Oversee accessibility services for Simon’s Rock students, ensuring equitable practices
• Oversee student activities and athletics available to Simon’s Rock students, including those directly offered on the Simon’s Rock campus and those, through liaising, offered on the Bard campus
• Liaise with the contracted dining service on student dining schedules
• Envision, implement, and improve policies affecting students:
• Annually update and distribute the Simon’s Rock Student Handbook
• Collaborate with leadership to ensure that the Student Handbook policies align with Simon’s Rock’s mission and utilize inclusive language and equitable practices
• Establish on-call crisis response protocols to effectively address student conduct and campus emergencies, including collaboration with the Office of Safety and Security
• Oversee the on-call rotation and serve within the rotation as an Executive-On-Call
• Implement policies in response to potential violations of the Code of Conduct and the Equity Policy, including training and convening the Code of Conduct Committee and the Bias Response Team
• Foster a safe, supportive, inclusive campus community:
• Chair the Student Support Committee, to respond to student needs
• Lead the First-Year Experience (FYE) course, through direct supervision or delegation, including curriculum development and faculty recruitment
• Lead the Council for Inclusive Community (CIC), through direct supervision or delegation, including student- and campus-wide trainings on inclusive practices, and campus-wide events, appreciations, and celebrations
• Liaise with the Office of Title IX and Nondiscrimination to support safety and equity
• Supervise the Director of Campus Life and Housing, Director of Accessibility and Learning Supports, School Nurse, and Wellness Counselor
• Teach one course per semester, ideally one Bard Academy and one early college course per year, in accordance with curricular needs
• Ensure timely communication with students, colleagues, and families through list-serve communications, individual communications, and other means
• Manage and supervise budgets of programs within Student Affairs
• Provide data as needed for institutional, state, and federal reporting purposes
• Model active presence in campus culture, including regular participation in Community Lunch, Community Meetings, and campus events
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

• Master’s degree in student affairs, education, social work, equity and inclusion, or a related field
• 6 years of professional work, with increasing responsibility, in student affairs at high school, early college, or college levels
• Knowledge of best practices and research in the field of student affairs, education, social work, equity and inclusion, or a related field
• Leadership experience, particularly in supervising and mentoring staff, leading student life on a residential campus, and working effectively across a campus community
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Experience with and commitment to working with younger scholars

Preferred qualifications:

• Doctoral degree in a relevant field, including in a field taught at Simon’s Rock
• Scholarship and engagement in field of study
• Experience with an Early College program
• Experience with an independent school and/or liberal arts college

Application Instructions

All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter, résumé, and contact information for three references. Submit your files to interfolio.com at https://apply.interfolio.com/184081 Address email inquiries to careers@bard.edu No phone calls, please. For full consideration, please submit applications by April 15, 2026, but applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled.

Compensation: $90,000 to $115,000

This salary range reflects the College's good faith and reasonable estimate of the compensation for the position at the time of the job posting. Salary decisions are dependent on several factors including but not limited to market and organizational considerations, experience, and qualifications of a selected candidate as well as internal and external equity.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Bard College is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from those who contribute to our diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, mental, or physical disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, familial status, veteran status, or genetic information.

Bard is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for all individuals in employment practices, services, programs, and activities.