Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Santa Clara University seeks a new provost and vice president for academic affairs to serve as its chief academic officer. The provost will drive academic innovation, lead with strategic and inclusive vigor, and create a compelling vision for all aspects of academic life at the University. This will include ensuring high-quality academic programs, enhancing teaching and research, and making certain all educational programs reflect a social consciousness grounded in the Jesuit and Catholic tradition of educating the whole person — mind, body, and soul — and preparing students to create a more just, humane, and sustainable world.

President Kevin O'Brien, S.J., was appointed in July 2019, and this will be the first senior appointment to his leadership team. The new provost will join Santa Clara at a pivotal and transformational time in the University's history. Santa Clara is at the final stage of Santa Clara 2020, its integrated strategic plan, and will soon begin work on a new plan. It is in the midst of a $1 billion comprehensive fundraising campaign, Innovating with a Mission: The Campaign for Santa Clara University, that is propelling the University into the ranks as one of the leading Catholic universities in the United States. The campus is undertaking a period of tremendous capital expansion, including a new athletics center, residence hall, and the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation — the new home for the sciences, engineering and mathematics. This is an exciting inflection point for Santa Clara, with many accomplishments behind it, and just as many opportunities that lie ahead.

The new provost will play an essential role in shaping and defining the future of Santa Clara. Harnessing the insights and energy of administration, faculty, staff, and students, and working in close partnership with the president and the trustees, the provost will be expected to craft a dynamic vision for Santa Clara University's academic program, one that redefines values-based education focused on ethics and social justice by leveraging Santa Clara's Jesuit and Catholic identity amidst Silicon Valley's culture of innovation and entrepreneurism. This vision will be a core component of a new strategic plan; the provost will play a vital role in its creation. As a key member of the president's cabinet, the provost will work collaboratively with partners across campus to address a number of key issues of importance to the long-term health of the University and the wellbeing of its faculty, staff, and students. The provost will achieve these objectives while creating a culture and environment of mutual trust and respect, openness, transparency, communication, and collaboration, and will demonstrate an abiding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The provost will be a servant leader who will engage, empower, and support the academic leadership team to achieve the University's ambitions. Reporting directly to the president, the provost will lead a group of accomplished academic leaders and senior administrators including the deans of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Leavey School of Business, the School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Education and Counseling Psychology, and the Jesuit School of Theology whose campus is located in Berkeley. Other University leaders reporting to the provost include the vice provost for academic affairs, the vice provost for planning and institutional effectiveness, the assistant provost for finance and administration, the assistant provost for strategic initiatives, and the executive directors of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship.

The new provost must be a seasoned academic administrator with leadership experience at the level of provost, dean, vice provost or equivalent; have earned a doctorate or terminal professional degree; and have a record of scholarly achievement that would merit appointment as full professor., a clear sense of the diverse challenges of a university with undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, and the skills required to promote individual and mutual strength among schools. Extraordinary leadership, communications, and strategic planning skills are essential for success, as is financial acumen and the ability to work collaboratively throughout the institution to foster a culture of mutual trust and respect, openness, and transparency. The ideal candidate will bring demonstrated leadership in improving diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Founded in 1851, Santa Clara has grown in size and stature and is increasingly recognized as one of the top Catholic universities in the United States. In 2019 Santa Clara was named in the top 10 percent, at No. 51, of 650 top-tier American colleges and universities as ranked by Forbes Magazine in its annual American's Top Colleges rankings. In 2018 it was named by U.S. News and World Report as the Best Regional University in the West, and a recent redefinition of Carnegie classifications places it in the new Doctoral/Professional classification. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara University blends high-tech innovation with a social consciousness grounded in the Jesuit and Catholic educational tradition. Offering more than 50 majors, minors, and special programs, in fall 2018 the University enrolled 5,520 students at the undergraduate level and 3,122 students at the graduate level taught by a faculty of over 900. At the undergraduate level, Santa Clara offers degrees in arts and sciences, business and engineering. At the graduate level, Santa Clara offers degrees in arts and sciences, theology, business, education and counseling psychology, engineering, and law. The University has an annual operating budget of approximately $520 million and an endowment of over $926 million. Santa Clara's six schools and colleges demonstrate a commitment to undergraduate and graduate learning that encompass the values of competence, conscience, and compassion.

Inquiries, nominations and applications for the position are invited. A comprehensive leadership profile is available at www.wittkieffer.com. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. For fullest consideration, applicant materials should be received by October 31, 2019. Candidates should provide, as three separate documents, a curriculum vitae, a letter of application that addresses the responsibilities and requirements described in this leadership profile, and names and contact information for five (5) references. (References will not be contacted without candidate permission.) These materials should be sent via e-mail to WittKieffer consultants Suzanne Teer, Jean Dowdall, Ph.D, Alejandra Gillette-Teran, and Julia Venetos at SantaClaraProvost@wittkieffer.com. The consultants can also be reached through the desk of Paula Verace, executive search coordinator, at pverace@wittkieffer.com.

 

Santa Clara University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups. The University does not discriminate on the basis of a person's actual or perceived membership in a protected class including race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, religious creed, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, citizenship status, gender identity, gender expression, genetic; information, military or veteran status, or other status protected by law. To request a disability accommodation in the application process, please contact the Department of Human Resources, 408-554-4392.

Clery Act Campus Crime Statistics: Santa Clara University annually collects information about campus crimes and other reportable incidents in accordance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. To view the Santa Clara University report, please go to the Campus Safety Services website at https://university-operations.Santa Clara University.edu/campus-safety/clery-act-compliance/. To request a paper copy please call Campus Safety at (408) 554-4441. The report includes the type of crime, venue, and number of occurrences.