Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

University of California, Merced

Search for the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Merced, California

 

The University of California (UC), Merced, the newest campus in the world-renowned University of California system, seeks a new Executive Vice Chancellor (EVC) and Provost to lead this unique institution into an exciting new era as it continues to grow and distinguish itself within the UC system and among research universities globally. With many aspirations and a $1.3 billion expansion underway, the new EVC/Provost will be joining the university at a pivotal time to support its extensive growth and ensure its continued success. The EVC/Provost will need to be a gifted academic leader who will work closely with the campus community to continue to develop the campus as a magnet for high-caliber students from diverse backgrounds, talented faculty, and a respected center for research addressing major global challenges as well as the pressing needs of the San Joaquin Valley.

 

Opened in 2005, the University of California, Merced was the first new University of California campus in 40 years, and the first American research university of the twenty-first century. UC Merced experienced a significant milestone, appearing in the U.S News & World Report rankings for the first time in 2017. UC Merced now ranks #87 among public universities and #165 overall among national universities, even as the youngest university on the list. UC Merced has also been designated a “doctoral-granting university with higher research activity” - or R2, the second-highest classification for American research universities - in its very first appearance on the highly cited Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Since welcoming its first freshman class, UC Merced has grown in enrollment to more than 8,000 students, including more than 600 graduate students in its three Schools: School of Engineering, School of Natural Sciences, and the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

 

Through the 2020 Project campus expansion initiative - a commitment by the State of California and the University of California to increase access to the UC system for eligible state students and to support a rapidly growing San Joaquin Valley region - the campus will nearly double its physical capacity to support enrollment growth to 10,000 students over the next few years. The growth to 10,000 students will also include the hiring of approximately 150 new faculty by 2022. The impact of UC Merced’s rapid ascent reaches beyond its campus and continues to transform the region, economically, academically and environmentally. UC Merced maintains a focus on sustainability, research, diversity, and community. It leads the UC system in the percentage of students from underrepresented ethnic groups, low-income families and families whose parents did not attend college, and has been designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education.

 

UC Merced is becoming well-known nationally for its state-of-the-art facilities and extensive growth plan, its talented and diverse student body, and for its already well-established recognized research programs in emerging fields, such as cognitive science, stem-cell science, artificial intelligence, climate-change science, renewable energy and sustainability, and nano-engineering. The EVC/Provost will build upon this strong foundation to lead the continued evolution of the Merced campus as it strives to become an R1, or “Highest Research Activity,” institution.

 

UC Merced has recruited an outstanding, award-winning faculty, currently numbering 233 ladder-rank and 159 non ladder-rank, that is highly productive in research.  Thus far, sixteen faculty have won National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awards, and one NIH Career Development Award. The faculty can be characterized as relatively early in their careers (roughly 45% are assistant professors) and many take highly interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching.  This talent has attracted major grants from leading research supporters, such as NASA, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and major national foundations.

 

Working with faculty, students, and staff across the UC Merced community, as well as with leaders from the UC System and regional community, the EVC and Provost will continue to enhance the campus’ reputation among leading research universities by helping to address a set of key opportunities and challenges, as follows:

 

  • the academic agenda and development of a robust, top tier infrastructure that will strengthen academic reputation with a goal of achieving R1/Highest Research Activity status
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  • and continue to invest in efforts that will ensure a dynamic environment that supports and strengthens the diversity of faculty and the academic administration group
  • the effectiveness and quality of the provost’s office leadership group
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  • as an effective representative and advocate for the campus within the UC System, the Merced community, and with other important external stakeholders.

 

UC Merced has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this search. Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. For more details, including the full position profile and complete list of the desired qualifications, and to submit inquiries, nominations, referrals, and applications, please see the Isaacson, Miller website: www.imsearch.com/6658. Electronic submission of materials is strongly encouraged.

 

David Bellshaw, Lindsay Gold, and Camille Sheffield

Isaacson, Miller

1000 Sansome Street, Suite 300

San Francisco, CA 94111

Phone: 415.655.4900

Fax: 415.655.4905

 

 

UC Merced is an EEO/AA/Vet/Disability/Minority Employer