Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

The University of Central Florida is seeking its next Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for one of the biggest and best universities in the nation.

The right candidate must be a strategic leader with the ability and vision to continue UCF’s upward trajectory while helping to manage a large and complex organization. That means focusing on student success and finances in addition to academics and faculty excellence.

U.S. News & World Report ranks UCF among the nation’s most innovative universities along with Harvard, Stanford and Duke. The Washington Post credits UCF with leading a “national insurgency that aims to demolish the popular belief that exclusivity is a virtue in higher education.”

Our nearly 2,500 faculty members have made that possible. During the past three years, UCF has established more than 245 new faculty positions, nearly all of them tenured or tenure track. They’ve strengthened the university in a variety of fields, supported high-growth programs and added new interdisciplinary faculty clusters.

Our faculty are also deeply involved in continuing UCF’s success by supporting the university’s Collective Impact Strategic Plan. Those goals focus on increasing measures that already are trending upward, including the number of graduate students, tenured faculty, research degrees and research grants.

With more than 66,000 students, UCF is one of largest universities in America. No public university in the U.S. confers more degrees annually than UCF.

UCF is big because we believe in access and opportunity. We’re big because we believe lifting the lives and livelihoods of more people results in a stronger community and a stronger society.

Our strategic plan distills our approach to a simple formula:

SCALE × EXCELLENCE = IMPACT

The power of scale and the pursuit of excellence make a better future for our students and society. Bill Gates describes UCF as pioneering in its efforts to “expand access to students of all economic backgrounds and provide them a high-quality, affordable education.”

UCF values diversity and our enrollment shows it: 46 percent of our students are minorities. We are an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution with Hispanic students making up 26 percent of our enrollment.

The impact of this approach is shown in the success of our students.

The average GPA of incoming freshmen for fall 2017 was a school-record 4.06. UCF ranks 13th among U.S. public universities for enrolling National Merit Scholars, and welcomed a school-record 88 to campus in the fall.

UCF holds the Carnegie Foundation’s highest designation in two categories: community engagement and very high research activity. Kiplinger ranks us a national best-value university. At UCF, 44 percent of students graduate without any educational debt. Nationally, 34 percent of students graduate debt-free.

UCF and our 13 colleges offer 216 degrees from UCF’s main campus, hospitality campus, health sciences campus, online and through our 10 regional loca­tions. The university offers 95 bachelor’s and 87 master’s degrees, 28 research doctorates, three professional doctorates and three specialist degree programs.

More than 11,000 students live on UCF’s 1,415-acre main campus and in UCF-affiliated or UCF-managed housing next to campus. The campus is adjacent to one of the top research parks in the nation and anchors the state’s nearly $5 billion modeling and simulation industry.

UCF’s fully online programs include bachelor’s degrees, graduate degrees, graduate certificates and more.

UCF also includes a fully accredited College of Medicine in the Medical City at Lake Nona and has received state approval for a university medical center adjacent to the medical school in partnership with Hospital Corporation of America. Plans are underway to open a cutting-edge cancer research and treatment facility.

Our footprint will expand further in 2019, when a new campus opens in downtown Orlando with 7,700 students in partnership with Valencia College. UCF Downtown expands our commitment in Orlando, a city with thriving tech and arts scenes and a young, well-educated and diverse population of more than 1.2 million people.

Partnerships like those at our health and downtown campuses are deeply ingrained in UCF’s culture. We partner with business, government, nonprofits and other educational institutions because we know that when we work together, we are all better for it. Our approach has brought new facilities, better opportunities for students and faculty, and a stronger region.

 

UCF employs more than 12,000 people and operates on a budget of $1.7 billion. In FY 2017, UCF earned $136 million in research funding.

 

Donors have helped the university raise more than $385 million toward IGNITE: The Campaign for UCF’s $500 million fundraising goal. The campaign, focused on student success, academic excellence, and growth and opportunity, concludes in 2019. The UCF Foundation manages an endowment of more than $160 million, as of June 2018.

 

Do you have what it takes?

The provost provides academic leadership and is responsible for academic support services, student services, curriculum, academic planning, and student and faculty success. The provost chairs the university’s budget committee and, in consultation with the president, is responsible for the university’s annual budget.  At the president’s direction, the provost also serves as liaison to the Board of Trustees on academic matters.

The successful candidate will:

• Possess an earned doctorate or equivalent terminal degree and scholarly credentials that merit appointment at the rank of professor with tenure
• Demonstrate a commitment to excellence in teaching, research, creative activity and public service

• Understand the power of higher education to lift lives and livelihoods
• Believe in and articulate the power of diversity and inclusion
• Respect faculty and engage them in decision making
• Understand how to improve the student experience and student success
• Have demonstrated success leading in a large and complex institution
• Believe in the promise of scale, excellence, research and partnership
• Be prepared to maintain the momentum in fulfilling the university’s strategic plan

Nominations and Applications
The Search Committee invites letters of nomination, applications (letter of interest, full resume/CV and contact information of at least five references), or expressions of interest to be submitted to the search firm assisting UCF. Review of materials will begin immediately and continue until the appointment is made. For additional information, please contact:

Jan Greenwood, Partner
Julie Holley, Principal
850-650-2277
jangreenwood@greenwoodsearch.com
julieholley@greenwoodsearch.com