University Libraries Dean Search

The dean of the University Libraries is a tenured professor who reports to and is appointed by the vice chancellor for academic resource management (VC ARM). This appointment is made in consultation with and approval by the provost and chancellor.

The dean of the University Libraries serves two equally important roles at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder. First, the dean is expected to be the principal leader of, and advocate for, the University Libraries both within and outside the university. Second, as a member of the provost鈥檚 academic leadership team, the dean is expected to work cooperatively and collaboratively with other academic and administrative leaders to advance 麻豆免费版下载Boulder鈥檚 goals and mission to be Colorado鈥檚 comprehensive, doctoral-granting, public research university, with a 鈥渦niversity-first鈥 mindset.

Meet Our Finalists

Brian W. Keith

Professor and the dean of library services, Eastern Illinois University

Review Brian W. Keith's CV

Brian W. Keith is the dean of the Mary J. Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University, where he provides strategic, fiscal and organizational leadership for a comprehensive academic library. His portfolio includes the library and archives, as well as the Center for Student Innovation, with a focus on inclusive excellence, research support, innovative spaces, digital scholarship and campus-wide collaboration.

Keith served for nearly two decades in progressive senior leadership roles at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. During a period of significant expansion in the University鈥檚 research enterprise, he helped position the Libraries as a strategic partner in research growth, scholarly communication innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, graduate education and publicly engaged scholarship.

Keith has led numerous externally funded initiatives, including serving as co-principal investigator on the $2 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation鈥揻unded Revitalizing the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC). A multinational consortium, dLOC is one of the largest open-access digital repositories dedicated to Caribbean cultural and historical materials, advancing international collaboration and open digital research ecosystems.

Keith holds both an MLIS from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Florida, a combination that informs his approach to organizational leadership. He is an alumnus of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership Fellows Program, and his professional contributions have been recognized with the SirsiDynix Award for promoting the status of library workers. His scholarship includes co-developing Liberatory Librarianship, a post-colonial framework for advancing justice-oriented library practice.

Bohyun Kim

Associate university librarian for library information technology and interim associate university librarian for collections, University of Michigan

Review Bohyun Kim's CV

Bohyun Kim is the associate university librarian for Library Information Technology and the interim associate university librarian for collections at the University of Michigan Library, which serves over 47,000 students in three campuses with the collection of more than 15 million physical and digital volumes. Her responsibilities include the strategic planning and execution of the library鈥檚 vision and goals, the ongoing financial, human resources and space or facilities management, and the oversight of the library鈥檚 collections and IT services and operations.听

She previously held the position of the chief technology officer and full professor at the University of Rhode Island Libraries, and her research interests lie in emerging technologies and their innovative applications through user-centered design and approaches in the library context. She is the author of three books鈥 (2020), (2015), (2013)鈥and published many articles. She is a frequent speaker at international and national conferences, the former president (2018-19) of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of American Library Association (ALA), and an elected member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) IT Section Standing Committee.听

Kelly Elizabeth Miller

Associate dean for learning and research services, Libraries, University of Miami

Review Kelly Miller's CV

Kelly Miller is the associate dean for learning and research services at the University of Miami Libraries in Coral Gables, Florida. She is also the director of the Libraries鈥 Mindfulness and Well-Being Programs and a certified mindfulness meditation teacher. She previously served as the director of teaching and learning services and head of Powell Library at UCLA Library. Miller is the recipient of a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellowship (University of Virginia Library) and a graduate of the Leading Change Institute.

Miller earned an MA and PhD in Slavic languages and literatures from the University of Michigan and has taught courses on Russian language, literature and culture at the University of Michigan, Dickinson College, and the University of Virginia. Her publication record includes translations of Czech poetry, writings about Russian literature, and articles and essays about varied topics in libraries and archives, including space and service design.

In recent years, she has focused especially on developing library programs that support wellbeing, and she has given invited presentations on this theme for the Association of Research Libraries, Hemispheric University Consortium Library Network, AMICAL Consortium, International Association of University Libraries, and Designing Libraries.

Leslie J. Reynolds

Senior associate dean of libraries, 麻豆免费版下载

Review Leslie Reynolds' CV

Leslie Reynolds is the senior associate dean of libraries at the 麻豆免费版下载, where she also served as interim dean of the libraries (2017-18) and interim dean of the Graduate School (2019). Since joining 麻豆免费版下载Boulder in 2013, Reynolds has overseen all key areas of library operations, including faculty affairs, fiscal and human resources, information technology and space planning. Leslie鈥檚 collaborative approach has fostered inclusive organizational culture and strengthened partnerships across campus and with external institutions. She is a dedicated advocate for shared equity leadership, student success and innovation in academic libraries. Reynolds currently serves on the Driving Open Educational Resources for Sustaining Student Success (DOERS) steering committee, is active in statewide open education initiatives, and has a long-standing record of service with the Special Libraries Association. She is the co-editor and co-author of Interim Leadership in Libraries: Building Relationships, Making Decisions, and Moving On听补苍诲 .听

Process for Review of Candidates FAQs

Initial Review

The search committee uses a candidate evaluation worksheet/rubric that is developed collaboratively by WittKieffer, the search chair, the search committee and the search coordinator to align with the professional qualification and personal qualities detailed in the leadership profile. Committee members independently rate each candidate on how well they match the criteria before coming together to discuss candidates and decide on a group of approximately eight candidates to move forward to the first-round of interviews.听

WittKieffer supports the search by organizing candidate materials, assisting with the creation of the candidate evaluation worksheet/rubric, and facilitating the discussion meeting.听

WittKieffer, the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder search coordinator, and 麻豆免费版下载Boulder HR representative are all present for the discussion meeting. They do not complete a candidate evaluation and are present only to support the search committee.听

No. The search advisory committee and search chair make the final decision on whom to invite to first-round interviews.听

First-round interviews

The first-round interviews are conducted on Zoom and are 60 minutes in length. The search committee, with support from WittKeiffer, the search coordinator and 麻豆免费版下载Boulder HR representative, develops a set of interview questions that align with the leadership profile ahead of these interviews and each candidate is asked the same set of questions during their interview.听

The search advisory committee and the search chair conduct these interviews. Also present, but as nonevaluative support parties are the search coordinator, the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder HR liaison and WittKieffer staff assigned to the search.听

WittKieffer arranges the logistics for the first-round interviews (inviting candidates and arranging the schedule) and attends the Zoom interview to facilitate. Following the interviews, they will facilitate the committee debrief and discussion on which candidates to invite to the second-round interview.

No. The search advisory committee and search chair make the final recommendation to Provost Stevens and Fernando Rosario-Ortiz on whom to invite to first-round interviews.听

Typically three to five candidates are invited as finalists.听

Finalists second-round interviews hosted by the Libraries on campus

Candidates鈥 names, biographies and CVs will become public at this time.听

Libraries community members will have multiple ways to engage in these visits. All in the Libraries will be invited to the candidate鈥檚 vision talk鈥攁 discussion of their leadership vision for the position鈥攁nd the candidate鈥檚 research talk鈥攁 discussion of their academic research for the tenure position. Additionally, there will be group meetings for particular groups within the Libraries.听

During this visit candidates will meet with the following groups in 1:1 and small group settings as is standard for dean searches:

  • Search advisory committee chair
  • 麻豆免费版下载Boulder HR liaison
  • Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, (supervisor)
  • Provost Ann Stevens (provost)
  • Search advisory committee
  • Interim dean Tammy Sumner (person currently in role)
  • Libraries advancement team聽

The candidate will also meet with key groups of the Libraries community as determined by the search committee, search chair and interim dean. These groups may be similar to those used for the engagement sessions hosted at the beginning of the search (faculty, staff, leadership team etc.).

A survey will be distributed to Libraries personnel following each candidate's visit to collect feedback. This data will be collated by WittKieffer and provided to the search committee for review ahead of the meeting to decide on which candidates to advance to campus leadership interviews.

WittKieffer will support candidates with travel logistics for their visit. They will not be involved in any of the day-to-day of the visits. They will facilitate a debrief meeting for the search committee following the visits at which the committee will decide on who they will recommend returns to campus for a final round of interviews with campus leadership.听

Finalists final-round interviews with campus leadership hosted by the Office of the Provost

Typically two to three candidates will be advanced to campus leadership interviews.听

A dean's role has two core parts: internal management (overseeing faculty, staff, budgets, curriculum, and academic standards within their college/unit) and external leadership/liaison (representing their unit to university leadership, promoting vision, fundraising, and balancing institutional goals with faculty/student needs). This visit focuses on the evaluation of the external leadership role, whereas the unit level visit focuses on the internal management role.

During this visit candidates will meet with at least the following groups as is standard for dean searches:

  • Provost Ann Stevens
  • Fernando Rosario-Ortiz (direct supervisor)
  • VC for Advancement Katy Kotlarcyk
  • Deans of schools and colleges
  • Provost鈥檚 Cabinet
  • Chancellor Justin Schwartz
  • Interim Dean Tammy Sumner
  • Janel Forde, Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations
  • Sonia DeLuca Fern谩ndez, Senior Vice Chancellor for Leadership Support and Programming

Additionally candidates will meet with the search chair, Sarah Jackson, and the 麻豆免费版下载Boulder HR representative to orient them to their visit.听

The only Libraries personnel to be engaged at this level will be Interim Dean Tammy Sumner given her understanding of the role of external leader for the Libraries.

WittKieffer will support candidates with travel logistics for these visits. They will not be involved in any meetings or interviews.听

The search committee聽is not involved in this final round of interviews. The search committee鈥檚 involvement ends after it makes a recommendation to Provost Stevens and Fernando Rosario-Ortiz on whom to invite for the final-round of interviews with campus leadership.听

A survey will be distributed to groups who engage with the candidate following each visit to collect feedback. This data will be collated by WittKieffer and provided to Fernando Rosario-Ortiz and Ann Stevens for review.

Following the leadership visit, Fernando Rosario-Ortiz and Provost Ann Stevens will make a final decision on the candidate they will appoint to the position.听

University Libraries Search Advisory Committee

Committee chair

  • Sarah Jackson, dean, Division of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Committee members

  • Arthur Aguilera, assistant professor, University Libraries
  • Melissa Cantrell, associate professor, University Libraries
  • Shamika Dalton, associate professor, University Libraries
  • Claire Hoag, associate teaching professor, University Libraries
  • Rocco Labriola, head of business, earth sciences & map, Gemmill and Music Branch Services Section, University Libraries
  • Brandon Lambdin, director of core technology & applications, Unversity Libraries
  • Turner Land, undergraduate student, student employee
  • Merinda McLure, professor, University Libraries
  • Donna Mejia, associate professor, University Libraries
  • Vanessa Seals, assistant dean of Community and Organizational Development
  • Nancy Stevens, professor, director of the Museum of Natural History

University Libraries Search Committee Charge

Search process milestones

  • October: Search advisory committee selected
  • October: Engagement sessions with University Libraries constituencies and the university鈥檚 deans facilitated by WittKieffer.
  • Late October: The search committee will convene to prepare the position leadership profile and job description using input from the engagement sessions.
  • November: The position will be posted with a call for nominations.
  • Early spring: Finalists will be invited to campus.
  • Spring semester: Rosario-Ortiz plans to appoint a permanent dean.

University Libraries Dean Search News