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INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, MORRIS Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean
Search The University of Minnesota, Morris seeks an experienced educational leader with a distinguished record of teaching, scholarly or artistic achievement, and service for the position of Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean. In order to assure full consideration, applications must be received by July 15, 2007. The new Vice Chancellor will assume duties as early as January 1, 2008. The University History The Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota established the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) campus in 1960. Located in west central Minnesota, the campus is situated on the rolling agricultural prairie along the Pomme de Terre river adjacent to the city of Morris, an attractive community with a population of approximately 5,000. While only 46 years old itself, UMM makes its home on a 118 year-old campus. The first buildings housed an American Indian boarding school operated initially by the Sisters of Mercy of the Catholic Church, and later by the United States government. The school was closed in 1909 and the campus was transferred to the State of Minnesota with the stipulation that American Indian students “shall at all times be admitted to such school free of charge for tuition,” a policy still proudly honored. The following year the West Central School of Agriculture, a boarding school for rural youth under the auspices of the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Agriculture, was established on the campus. The facilities of the West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station have since been entered on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District. From its establishment as a campus of the University of Minnesota in 1960, UMM was conceived as a four-year, liberal arts college. The guiding principles of selective admission, controlled growth and academic excellence in a residential campus atmosphere have not changed for over four decades. In 1992, UMM helped found the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. This national body has 14 member institutions that share a common commitment to academic excellence and concern for undergraduate student development. The Council sponsors professional development conferences and helps tell the public liberal arts story. Mission The mission of the University of Minnesota is carried out on multiple campuses throughout the state. Its mission is threefold: research and discovery, teaching and learning, and outreach and public service. The University strives to sustain an open exchange of ideas in an environment that embodies the values of academic freedom, responsibility, integrity and cooperation; that provides an atmosphere of mutual respect, free from racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice and intolerance; that assists individuals, institutions and communities in responding to a continuously changing world; that creates and supports partnerships within the University, with other educational systems and institutions and with communities to achieve common goals. The mission of UMM as a rigorous undergraduate, residential liberal arts college is distinctive within the University of Minnesota. While it shares the University’s mission of teaching, research and outreach, UMM is specifically and intentionally a small, undergraduate college where students play a major role in shaping their own education. The campus serves undergraduate students from Minnesota and across the nation, and is a highly valued educational resource and cultural center for residents of West Central Minnesota. UMM attracts and serves a student body, faculty and staff reflective of a multicultural society. The college empowers the campus community to participate fully and thoughtfully in a diverse society, regionally, nationally, and globally. Through its instructional excellence, commitment to research in which students are actively engaged, many extracurricular programs and services and a strong sense of community, UMM is recognized as one of the premier public liberal arts colleges in the nation. Academic Programs UMM offers a four-year curriculum that leads to bachelor of arts degrees in more than thirty fields, as well as student-designed interdisciplinary programs. Students can also choose from one-year to four-year liberal arts curricula that provide preparation for admission to a variety of professional schools. The UMM Honors Program offers a distinct, academically challenging educational experience for motivated, high-achieving students that utilizes an interdisciplinary curriculum. As seniors, Honors students complete an Honors Project, a substantial scholarly or creative interdisciplinary work designed by the student working cooperatively with a project advisor. Study abroad is an important aspect of the Morris experience. Nearly half of UMM students participate in some type of international study. Opportunities include exchange programs in Japan, Korea, China and France; an English Language Teaching Assistant Program (ELTAP) that lets participants develop an understanding of another culture as they help others to learn; May and summer session study abroad; and an International Student Program (ISEP) that offers direct matriculation in a wide array of countries throughout the world. Continuing Education and Regional Programs (CERP) shares the liberal arts mission of UMM and serves as the primary outreach unit of the campus. Among its many responsibilities, CERP organizes and administers evening, May and Summer Session offerings, including a wide range of credit and non-credit courses offered on campus as well as online. Campus Atmosphere A genuine sense of community pervades the UMM campus. Students, faculty, staff and administrators uniformly point to this sense of community when asked to identify the institution’s distinguishing characteristics. Active participation in all aspects of campus endeavors is highly valued and respected. At the foundation of this sense of community is a proud history of shared governance and decision-making. Students, faculty, staff and administrators alike invest themselves heavily in policy development, operational planning and charting UMM’s future, and all value and protect their rights and responsibility for such involvement. The commitment to liberal arts education is more than words on paper at UMM. Students, faculty,staff and administrators can articulate what that commitment to the liberal arts means in terms of curriculum, teaching/learning and inquiry, institutional and personal values, human interaction and engagement with contemporary issues. In addition, UMM makes a passionate commitment to multiculturalism through both the curriculum and out-of-classroom experiences. Through its intentional recruitment of a diverse student body, ongoing support to the historic tuition waiver for American Indian students and annual programs such as the Multicultural Student Leadership Retreat and World Touch Cultural Heritage Week, UMM seeks to become a leader in addressing the changing needs of our increasingly diverse society. Campus leaders have advanced sustainable, environmentally friendly initiatives since the original Earth Day. Since 2000, the efforts have grown to levels of national leadership and touch nearly every aspect of campus life -- from energy to food, water, transportation and waste stream infrastructure. Members of the campus community speak with pride about their green campus, one visible example of which is the recent addition of a wind turbine, a joint venture with the University of Minnesota’s West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC), also located in Morris. Given Morris’ location in the heart of prime agricultural country, the location of the USDA North Central Soil Conservation and Research Laboratory in Morris, and the link to WCROC, UMM’s connections to the environment and sustainability are strong. Statistical Information Detailed statistical information is available online at www.morris.umn.edu/academic/ instres.html through the “Current Data Book” link. UMM has a total expenditure budget of approximately $25,400,000 and enrolls about 1800 students, of whom 150 are non-degree enrollees. About 15% of students are students of color, with 8% being American Indian. Eighty percent of students are from Minnesota, with 35% coming from the 7-country metro (Twin Cities) area. Almost half the students live on campus. The average combined SAT score for entering freshmen is 1180 and the median composite ACT is 25. The student/faculty ratio is approximately 13:1. Academic, Civil Service and Bargaining Unit staff total 395. There are 125 full-time teaching faculty. This number does not include full-time administrators with faculty rank or faculty teaching in Continuing Education programs. Over 40% of full-time faculty are female, over 17% minority and about 53% are tenured. Challenges and Opportunities Facing the University Strong Leadership within Framework of Shared Governance Broad and active participation in campus governance and decision-making is one of the defining characteristics of UMM. It is a characteristic that historically has attracted excellent faculty, outstanding students and committed staff. While this process requires significant investments of time and energy, its effectiveness can be demonstrated. Campus leaders at all levels must be genuinely committed to leading the institution within the context of shared governance and decision-making. At the same time, campus leaders and the campus community must agree that leading in such a context does not equate to passive leadership. Thoughtful and proactive leadership, both internally and externally, combined with effective management skills, are required to address the challenges and opportunities facing UMM. Such leadership must engage the community early and consistently in the generation and development of ideas, strategies, and operational procedures and create an environment where ideas and judgments are exchanged freely, participation is valued, and open communication and transparency prevail. Enrollment Enrollment of 1567 degree-seeking students for fall 2006 has declined from 1917 students in fall 1994. The comparable enrollment in fall 1999 was 1789; thus, the pattern of decline has been more significant in the past six years. Many factors contributing to the institution’s enrollment decline have been identified. Among them are the following: • The demographics of the rural upper Midwest, show a declining and aging population. While the demographics of the region are beyond the control of the institution, strategic leadership is required to redefine and refocus the recruiting methods used to reach prospective students. • Competition for students within the UMM profile is intensifying, with significant competition coming from the U of M Twin Cities campus. • Tuition rates for undergraduates are higher at UMM than at other U of M campuses, and scholarship support is a concern. • The offices responsible for student recruitment, admission, financial aid, etc (the enrollment management functions) experienced significant instability in recent times that clearly affected enrollment. Major reorganization and staffing have recently occurred and preliminary data are encouraging, but enrollment remains a significant concern. Financial Resources UMM is recognized regionally and nationally as an exceptional public liberal arts college. Indeed, it has few peers in the public higher education sector. It compares itself and tends to be compared by others with selective, private liberal arts colleges. Its financial resource base, however, is markedly different from those institutions. State appropriations have been relatively flat or declining, and tuition income has declined along with enrollment. While the University grants UMM some offset for the tuition that is foregone as a result of the standing commitment to American Indian students, the net loss of income remains significant. A concerted effort to achieve full funding from the state or federal government to meet this important obligation is essential to UMM financial health. UMM has, at $8.8 million, a very modest endowment even in comparison to its public liberal arts peers. A recent capital campaign was very successful, exceeding its $6 million goal by $3.6 million. UMM intends to triple its endowment over the next decade. The University of Minnesota development infrastructure is available to assist with this effort. At the campus level, new efforts are being mounted to invigorate the 10,000+ UMM alumni as a means to significantly expand annual fund giving, and comprehensive external relations plan has been developed. In the last year, the UMM Alumni Association has expanded by 50% its alumni outreach and instituted a Senior Class giving program along with a Young Alumni Program. In terms of capital and deferred giving, significant numbers of alumni are at the point in their careers where they can make major contributions themselves and lend their influence in securing major gifts from corporations, foundations and individual philanthropists. Identifying and cultivating these individuals is a high priority as the institution attempts to broaden the sources and increase the level of external financial support. Relationship within the University of Minnesota The multi-campus University of Minnesota is one of the nation’s leading land grant research universities. The future of UMM is inextricably tied to the strategic and financial future of the University. . The University has repeatedly expressed its pride in UMM as one of the nation’s premier liberal arts colleges, and the current leadership of the campus is highly regarded by the University’s executive leadership. The University of Minnesota is currently engaged in an all campus strategic analysis and planning initiative. UMM is actively engaged in campus-based activities related to the initiative, and some representatives from the campus serve on University-wide committees, study groups, and task forces. For the final report of the UMM strategic planning task force go to http://www.morris.umn.edu/strategic/finalreport.pdf. Clearly the results will impact the challenges and opportunities to be addressed by the campus. Many benefits accrue to UMM as a result of being a campus within a multi-campus, land grant research university. Among the benefits are an impressive technology and information management infrastructure; a large, professionally staffed development function; an array of centralized services; opportunities for cross-unit collaboration; and statewide political access and representation. At the same time, there are challenges associated with this status. While highly valued, UMM remains a small part of the overall University. The substantial majority of the University’s programs, personnel and resources are concentrated on the Twin Cities campus, and the President of the University is also the CEO of that campus. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the leadership of UMM to be continually proactive in articulating the programs, goals, achievements and needs of the Morris campus to the University and creative in identifying opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation and collaboration. It is important that the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at UMM be able to articulate the particular needs and strengths of the academic programs at Morris and work effectively in the context of a large multi-campus university. Community Relations and Constituency Building UMM is the largest employer in Morris, and the population of the campus represents a significant percentage of the city’s total population. In short, UMM has a significant impact on its host community economically, culturally and operationally. Still, differences between the culture, values and attitudes of a strong liberal arts college and those of a rural, midwestern community are to be expected. Consequently, college/community relations are a high priority and require continued attention. Despite inevitable fluctuations in the quality of college/community relations, UMM has had a number of notable cooperative initiatives with the local community. Prime examples include the Regional Fitness Center, which serves both the campus and the city, and a new football stadium that serves both the local high school and UMM’s NCAA Division III athletic programs. Such joint projects require thoughtful, patient and persistent leadership on the part of all parties, as well as considerable amounts of time. The UMM Center for Small Towns is an important and direct link to the towns in UMM’s immediate region. The involvement of students in the work of the Center enriches their educational experience and gives personal and physical presence to UMM in those communities. Business leaders, professionals, farmers and neighbors in the surrounding communities have the potential to be a strong base for both financial and political support for UMM, but they must know that UMM values them. That requires the genuine interest and consistent presence of campus leaders in those communities. THE
POSITION The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean reports to the Chancellor and provides overall leadership for UMM’s academic endeavors. S/he is the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) and ranking administrator on campus in the Chancellor’s absence. The VCAA and Dean convenes and provides leadership for the chairpersons of the four academic divisions and other academic support unit heads on the Morris campus. Duties include working with academic administrators throughout the University of Minnesota System. The following officers report to the VCAA and Dean: Director of Academic Advising, Director of International Programs, Director of Computing Services, Director of Institutional Research, Director of Continuing Education and Regional Programming, Director of Grants Development, Director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, the Registrar, Director of Media Services, Director of the Honors Program, Director of the Library, Coordinator of Academic Assistance and the Coordinator of Disability Services. The VCAA and Dean functions as a Dean of the Faculty overseeing the hiring, review and promotion of faculty, faculty development and the dispensation of programs such as single-semester leaves and sabbaticals. The VCAA and Dean provides leadership for the campus on general academic planning and curricular development, promotes teaching and curriculum improvement, supports research and outreach by both faculty and students, and allocates funds for instructional and support programs. The VCAA and Dean also serves as the unit head for courses and programs which fall under the rubric of Interdisciplinary Studies. As such, this officer is in charge of the college’s mandatory First Year Seminar program and provides oversight for the college’s self-designed Major and Minor programs (Areas of Concentration and Areas of Emphasis). The VCAA and Dean chairs the Curriculum Committee and serves ex officio on the Assessment of Student Learning and the Multi-Ethnic Experience Committee. S/he is also the Morris campus representative to the University of Minnesota’s Council of Undergraduate Deans. THE
AGENDA FOR THE VICE CHANCELLOR UMM is committed to positioning itself as the best public liberal arts college in the nation. Achievement of that objective will require shared vision, broadly collaborative effort, strategic judgment and use of resources, creativity, and a willingness to take risks. The VCAA and Dean as CAO will play a leadership role in the creation and maintenance of an environment in which such actions and attitudes can flourish. To that end, an agenda for the new CAO includes the following priorities: Foster Community and Build Relationships In order for UMM to
fulfill its educational mission, healthy and vibrant community is required,
both culturally and operationally. Community is
essential to the personalized educational experience that current UMM students
value; it is among the defining qualities that alumni associate with their
experience at Morris; it provides a foundation for meaningful interdisciplinary
teaching and learning; and it is essential to the effectiveness of the
institution’s broadly participatory system of governance. Healthy and vibrant community does not
occur in the absence of consistent and continual effort, and the CAO plays a
key leadership role in articulating its value to the institution, nurturing its
growth and development, and reinforcing its significance through his/her own
behavior. Community grows out of
relationships, both formal and informal, based on mutual respect and trust,
authenticity, and transparency.
Because of the central role that community plays in almost every facet
of institutional life and work at UMM, the new CAO will want to make the
building and nurturing of relationships throughout the campus a top priority
from the beginning of his/her tenure in office. Promote Academic Excellence As part of a University-wide strategic initiative known as Transforming the University of Minnesota, UMM set as its strategic goal to position the institution as the best public liberal arts college in the nation, in the top tier of national liberal arts colleges, and as a public honors college. While already recognized as one of the premier public liberal arts colleges in the nation, the achievement of this strategic goal will require the leadership of a CAO who is knowledgeable of the requirements for and dimensions of excellence in liberal arts education and is prepared to encourage and support academic rigor and innovation, faculty scholarship and creative activity, and outreach that forms an integral part of students’ educational experience. This agenda item clearly calls for keen analytical skills, creativity, effective communication, diplomacy, and an ability and willingness to make strategic choices. Actively Engage the Campus Community in the Implementation of the Campus Strategic Plan In order to position UMM as the best public liberal arts institution in the nation, all sectors of the campus community must be actively and productively involved. This means that the new CAO must place a high priority on becoming thoroughly familiar with the campus strategic plan and his/her responsibilities for its implementation. In fulfilling those responsibilities, it is essential that s/he continually articulate to the campus community the shared vision reflected in the strategic plan and engage relevant constituencies through the established governance structure in the deliberation of alternative strategic actions, the means and timetable for their implementation, and the metrics for assessing their achievement. Encourage and Creatively Support the Development of the Institution’s Human Resources Human resources are the key assets of an institution of higher education. In the absence of a highly qualified, dedicated faculty there can be no academic excellence. Among the major responsibilities of the CAO is the encouragement and support of the recruitment, development, evaluation, and retention of faculty who are dedicated to effective teaching and student learning, serious scholarship and creative activity, and service and outreach that contributes to teaching and learning while being valuable in its own right. Given the demographic profile of the faculty, there will continue to be numerous opportunities to recruit faculty. In order for the institution to achieve its primary strategic goal, the recruitment of highly qualified faculty must be combined with intentional programs of support and assessment geared to foster the development and retention of those faculty members who can advance the institution’s mission. Professional and support staff members within academic affairs also play a significant role in the fulfillment of the institution’s mission and goals. While turnover rates have historically been low and the recruitment of new personnel has been modest in scale, the CAO must provide encouragement and support for the continual development of staff at all levels. Through such encouragement and support the staff are equipped and motivated to be thoughtful and creative contributors to the achievement of the institution’s educational and operational goals, and the sense of community that is foundational to its mission is advanced. The encouragement of human resource development by the CAO will require purposeful formal and informal communication, and support will require strategic and creative use of resources of all types. Engage the Campus Community in the Development and Implementation of Systems of Assessment, Strategic Decision-making, and Quality Enhancement Continual enhancement of quality in any area of endeavor requires appropriate and regular assessment of significant variables, rigorous evaluation of the results of that assessment, and strategic decisions regarding alternative actions suggested by the analysis of those results. Institutional and program accreditation models, as well as campus-based strategic plans, can all be characterized as variants of quality enhancement plans. The new CAO must be knowledgeable and experienced in systems for assessing educational, managerial, and operational outcomes and the utilization of outcomes assessment to achieve educational and operational goals. S/he must engage campus constituencies early in deliberations on these matters and exercise leadership in the development of a working consensus on those systems that are judged to be most appropriate and effective for UMM. Advance the Diversity of the Campus Community UMM has a historic commitment to diversity in all its dimensions that is grounded in the institution’s special mandate to serve American Indian Students, its underlying philosophy of education, its moral commitment to justice and equality, and its understanding of the pragmatic importance of intercultural competence to a productive and fulfilling life. While the institution is proud of past achievements, its goal to position itself as the best public liberal arts college in the nation requires the further diversification of the student population, faculty, and staff. The new CAO is expected to actively engage the campus community in substantive discussions about ways to achieve this important goal, and s/he is expected to bring to the campus the personal commitment, creative and collaborative leadership, knowledge, skills, and experience to help the campus achieve measurable results. Since the achievement of greater campus diversity spans all operational divisions of the campus, the CAO is expected to exercise leadership among his/her administrative peers in keeping the issue of diversity continually on the table, while simultaneously being sensitive to and supportive of the required coordination of efforts across divisions. Articulate the Shared Vision of Academic Affairs and Advocate for the Realization of That Vision within the Campus and in All-University Forums The CAO exercises leadership through established governance structures as the faculty, staff, and students engage in the effort to define and periodically refine the vision for academic affairs at UMM. Once a shared vision is established, the CAO bears primary responsibility for clearly and regularly articulating that vision within the campus community, using both formal communication structures and informal communication opportunities.
In addition to articulating the vision, the CAO is expected to be an effective advocate for the achievement of that vision. Effective advocacy will require diplomatic skills in working with administrative peers and the Chancellor, a thorough understanding of the institution’s structure, operational systems, and decision processes, current knowledge of the shared and competing needs and aspirations of other sectors of other campus, and an ability to think and act strategically and creatively to advance to the vision of UMM as a whole while advancing the vision of academic affairs. The CAO will join his/her peers from other campuses of the
University of Minnesota in various all-university forums. S/he is expected to be an effective
advocate for the vision of academic affairs at UMM in those forums. While the same skills will be operative
in all-university forums as on campus, the CAO must become a student of
university-wide structures and procedures, become knowledgeable of the degrees
of freedom that those structures and procedures provide for achieving campus
goals, seek to identify opportunities for win-win collaborations, and
capitalize on opportunities to seize leadership on targeted initiatives. CANDIDATE
QUALIFICATIONS Essential
Requirements
Preferred
Qualifications
THE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND DEAN SEARCH A detailed position description, including instructions for submitting an application or nomination for this important leadership position is available at www.academic-search.com/search.html . |
The search is being assisted by:
Dr. Bill Franklin, Senior Consultant
Academic Search, Inc.
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Washington, D. C. 20006
Phone: 830-249-1444
The University of
Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer