Georgia Institute of Technology

Director, Office of the Arts

Organization

Founded in 1885, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is a highly ranked public research university based in Atlanta boasting a student body of more than 45,000 students worldwide, including campuses in France, China, and distance learning. The tree-lined campus, spanning 400 acres, supports a rigorous academic experience balanced by a collegiate atmosphere incorporating sports, campus traditions, more than 600 student organizations, and over 50 Greek-letter social organizations. Georgia Tech’s NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program is one of the oldest and most renowned in the country. For the larger student body, its 20 intramural sports, 45 sports clubs, and one of the best outdoor recreation programs in the country offer year-round action.

Georgia Tech has grown from a trade school to an internationally renowned technological institution. With a mission to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition, Georgia Tech is focused on making a positive impact in the lives of people everywhere. Its 2020-2030 Strategic Plan highlights well-being as a focused area of action and attention. With more than $1 billion annually in research awards across six colleges and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Georgia Tech is among the nation’s most research-intensive universities, and is an engine of economic development for the state of Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation.

Georgia Tech’s Office of the Arts reports within Student Engagement & Well-Being, a cabinet area established in 2021. The mission of the Office of the Arts is to serve the campus community by facilitating connections with exceptional artists from around the world, and by supporting students in the development of their own creative practices. The vision of the Office of the Arts is an arts-infused campus that supports the active collaboration of art, science, and technology while providing students with the creative tools, experiences, and inspiration to improve the human condition. Its four areas of impact are to amplify impact of the arts and creativity at Georgia Tech, to build community within the campus and public sphere, to support student well-being, and academic integration of the arts into the mission of the institution. The Office of the Arts is the recipient of many grants, including a partnership with the arte_FITS Foundation that was funded through a $275,000 private gift.

The home of the Office of the Arts is the Ferst Center for the Arts (the Ferst Center), an arts and theatre facility with 1,159 seats serving as the second largest venue at Georgia Tech. The Ferst Center presents performing arts programs that include film, music, and dance, as well lectures, artist residencies, and community programming, and serves as the home to the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra. The Ferst Center also holds two galleries, the Richards and Westbrook Galleries. Past events include the Tech Arts Festival Series, which included a Data Visualization Competition, Photorythms: a Computational Art-based Inquiry of Portrait Photography, a Block Party, a masterclass with Guitarist and composer Kaki King, an Arts Plaza Pop-Up, and several others. The Office of the Arts is affiliated with DramaTech, Georgia Tech’s student-run theatre, which is housed in the black box theatre of the Ferst Center, and is operated separately from the Office of the Arts. Along with the Office of the Arts, Arts, Belonging, and Community at Georgia Tech supports a culture of equity and inclusion through student programs, an LGBTQIA Resource Center, a Veterans Center, an office of Black Culture, Innovation and Technology, as well as a Women’s Resource Center.

The Office of the Arts is currently has a full-time staff of 12 and is advised by a 25-member board of advisors, comprised of alumni, community members, and business leaders. For the fiscal year ending in June of 2024, annual revenues will be $615,352, with approximately $571,116 from resident instruction (RI), and the remainder from ticket sales, investments, and other revenues. For the 2024 fiscal year, the total annual operating budget, including revenue is budgeted at approximately $1,200,000.

Community

Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Southeast region and home to more than six million residents. Known as a “city in a forest” due to its abundance of trees, Atlanta is popular among millennials for its diverse cultural and recreational offerings and affordable cost of living. It is the headquarters of 30 Fortune 500 Companies, including Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and CNN. A rapidly growing technology hub, Atlanta is recognized for its aerospace, transportation, media operations, medical, and information technology services.

Known as the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta has deep historical ties to modern civil rights activism. The city is home to the late Congressman John Lewis and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was led by the father of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Atlanta has also become a hub for the film industry, with television pilots, series, reality shows, and feature films currently in production. Popular television shows like The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Ozark, The Resident, and MacGyver are currently filming in neighborhoods throughout metropolitan Atlanta. Film studios, stages, and production companies are also expanding the entertainment industry landscape in Atlanta, including Trilith Studios and Tyler Perry Studios, one of the largest production facilities in the country.

According to Americans for the Arts, the nonprofit arts and culture sector in metropolitan Atlanta is historically a $720 million industry—one that supports 23,514 full-time equivalent jobs and generates $64.5 million in local and state government revenue. Atlanta Ballet is part of a thriving performing arts and culture scene that includes the Tony award-winning Alliance Theatre, the Grammy award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alternate Roots, Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, High Museum of Art, National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, Woodruff Arts Center, The Atlanta Opera, and Atlanta Jazz Festival, among many others.

Downtown Atlanta hosts the business community, with hotels and destinations like Centennial Olympic Park, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and Georgia Aquarium. Distinctive neighborhoods include Buckhead, Druid Hills, Little Five Points, East Atlanta Village, and Edgewood Avenue. In a recent study, “2019 US Cities Scorecard for Millennials,” Atlanta ranked among the top five cities in 20 different categories, including second for best value, everyday expenses, and friendliest, and third for restaurants.

Sources: InStyle, February 2021; census.gov; atlantaregional.org; 11alive.com; thelangstonco.com

Position Summary

The Director, Office of the Arts (the Director) will oversee a dynamic professional staff, as well as inspire additional student assistants, ushers, and box office team members. Reporting directly to the Associate Vice President for the Arts, Belonging, and Community, they will collaborate with student groups, and internal and external community members, by providing leadership in programming, strategic vision, venue management, event planning, project management, overall operations. The Director will empower students to utilize the facilities at the Ferst Center to establish a unique identity as a presenter for touring artists and organizations, as well as an integral part of student life on the Georgia Tech campus. The Director will connect the Office of the Arts to the greater Atlanta community, while navigating the complexities of Georgia Tech and the academic setting.

Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Program Development

Set the artistic direction and programming vision for Office of the Arts, fostering and sustaining conditions that facilitate experiential learning, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Create, present, and produce artistic works at the intersection of science, engineering, art, design, and technology.
Lead strategic planning and implementation efforts, as well as the development and delivery of key programs and initiatives for the Office of the Arts.
Serve as a key connector between the campus community, Georgia Tech’s educational mission, and the Office of the Arts in shaping a foundational experience for Georgia Tech’s students that includes access to and interaction with the arts.
Conceptualize, lead, and help ensure collaborations between various departments across the campus and within the Student Engagement & Well-Being cabinet area to support the vision, mission, and strategic priorities of the Office of the Arts.
Responsibly manage and maintain facilities in the Office of the Arts portfolio in partnership with Capital Projects within Student Engagement and Well-Being and the Division of Infrastructure and Sustainability, in alignment with best practices to promote health, safety, and sustainability.
Advise, mentor, and promote development and learning for students and student organizations interested in producing work at the intersection of science, engineering, art, design, and technology.
Embrace other strategic leadership and program development responsibilities, as needed.

Student Development and Community Engagement

Realize the mission and purpose of a newly established division that leverages the complex, diverse and full range of arts, creativity, innovation, and performance to authentically engage students, foster out-of-classroom learning, build community, foster connections, and promote a sense of belonging.
Partner with the Arts Advisory Board in building relationships outside of the campus, including community leaders who are connectors within the greater Atlanta community.
Interface with the Council for the Arts, the on-campus advisory group dedicated to ensuring a real-time means of feedback on student and facility thoughts relating to enriching the arts experience at Georgia Tech.
Utilize the Arts Advisory Board and Council for the Arts to gain access to potential capital for programmatic initiatives, and brand expansion through broader communication of the Office of the Arts agenda, and manage these groups for maximum benefit and efficacy.
Ensure that Arts@Tech and the proposed Arts Square reflects the rich diversity in history, culture, identities, and narratives that encompass the past, present, and future of the Georgia Tech community – with an emphasis on its students and alumni.
Operate effectively in a student-centered environment committed to the values of shared governance and supporting a diverse student body.
Partner with colleges, schools, divisions, and departments to advance the aspects of Arts@Tech that are co-curricular in nature and/or occur in non-instructional settings; integrate activities, events, exhibits, and performances hosted by the Office of the Arts with the work of other units.
Continually build relationships and maintain trust, to balance the needs of various stakeholders, and to identify and advocate for achievable solutions that generate desired educational impacts and outcomes.
Embrace other student development and community engagement responsibilities, as needed.

Financial Oversight and Team Empowerment

Recruit, select, hire, train, supervise, develop, motivate, and evaluate a team of professionals who provide administrative, operational, and programmatic services with and for students, and who work collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders, both on- and off-campus.
Establish and manage the Office of the Arts’ annual operating budget in close consultation with the General Operations Manager.
Collaboratively manage multiple relationships and projects in a fast-paced professional office, flexibly adapting to new priorities, anticipating needs, and being strategically nimble and responsive as projects and needs change.
Implement co-curricular initiatives and ideas, utilizing student development frameworks and models of student learning that will allow the student engagement, co-curricular, and non-instructional aspects of the Arts@Tech initiative (including the proposed Arts Square project) to flourish and expand.
Develop, implement, and coordinate an appropriate level of fundraising, sponsorship, and stewardship support for the Office of the Arts with the Georgia Tech’s Development office generally and the development officers in the Student Engagement & Well-Being cabinet area specifically, that enhances capacity to advance strategic priorities and goals.
Embrace other financial oversight and team empowerment responsibilities, as needed.

Traits and Characteristics

The Director will be a collaborative, strategic leader who is receptive to new ideas and methods of innovation. With an inclusive and people-centered approach, they will have the ability to connect with internal and external community members, acting as a bridge-builder across the campus, in their interactions with students, faculty, and community members. Calm, resilient, and adaptable, they will have a flexible approach to problem-solving. A fearless champion of inclusion and access, they will be approachable and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously while handling challenging situations with patience and a sense of humor. Impeccable integrity and a commitment in supporting accessibility and intercultural education is necessary. Some nights and weekend work will be required.

Other key competencies include:

Diplomacy and Flexibility – The ability to tactfully navigate different environments while adapting quickly when dealing with unpredictable situations.
Interpersonal Skills and Teamwork – The capacity to collaborate with the students, staff, faculty, and external stakeholders and develop long-term relationships with people across the organization and throughout the community.
Influencing Others – The authenticity to understand, embrace, and inspire others’ actions, decisions, opinions, or thinking in order to build consensus and forward momentum.
Self-Starting and Leadership – The dexterity to demonstrate initiative to inspire, build trust, and create a sense of purpose and direction and ensure work is effectively completed and desired outcomes are reached.

Qualifications

A bachelor’s degree in fine arts, business, the humanities, or a related field is required, with a minimum of five years of progressively responsible and related management experience. Demonstrable knowledge of program assessment, evaluation, process, and quality improvement is needed. Managing budgets and delivering assessment reports, as well as working in complex organizational structures, is expected. An aptitude for working with student groups or youth, as well as an understanding of the technical aspects of performing art centers, is preferred. Experience with fundraising or other methods of earned and contributed revenue generation is desirable. Strong written and verbal communication skills are critical, along with a familiarity in public speaking to diverse audiences in a variety of academic, business, and social settings.

Compensation and Benefits

Georgia Tech provides a competitive and equitable compensation package in the range of $95,000 to $125,000 with benefits that include but are not limited to sick leave, paid time off and holidays, a flexible/hybrid work schedule, parental leave, health insurance (medical, dental, vision), on-campus childcare, professional development, tuition assistance and reimbursement, long-term disability and life insurances, and mandatory retirement and additional retirement plans. For a full list of benefits, please visit benefits.hr.gatech.edu.

Applications and Inquiries

To submit a cover letter and resume with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments (electronic submissions preferred), please click here or visit artsconsulting.com/opensearches. For questions or general inquiries about this job opportunity, please contact:

Josyanne Roche, Vice President
Geoff Chang, Vice President

324 South Wilmington Street, Suite 252
Raleigh, NC 27601-1847
Tel (888) 234.4236 Ext. 240 (Roche) or Ext. 218 (Chang)
Email GeorgiaTech@ArtsConsulting.com

Georgia Tech is part of the University System of Georgia. The University is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environment for all. To that end, and in accordance with federal and state law, Board of Regents policy, and University policy, Georgia Tech provides equal opportunity to all faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including applicants for admission and/or employment, contractors, volunteers, and participants in institutional programs, activities, or services. Georgia Tech complies with all applicable laws and regulations governing equal opportunity in the workplace and in educational activities.

Georgia Tech prohibits discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or veteran status in its programs, activities, employment, and admissions. This prohibition applies to faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including affiliates, invitees, and guests. Further, Georgia Tech prohibits citizenship status, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, and recruitment, except where such restrictions are required in order to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or Attorney General directive or where they are required by Federal, State, or local government contract.

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