Employment Detail


Position Announcement:
 
Academic Vice President
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Open Date: 9/1/2009 Close Date: Open until filled with review of applications beginning immediately.
Job Title Academic Vice President
Department Academic Vice Presidents Office
Job Category Exempt
Classification 40 hours per week, 12 months per year
Hiring Salary Commensurate upon experience
Job Purpose
Gonzaga University, a Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic university located in Spokane, Washington and founded in 1887, seeks an Academic Vice President who will provide visionary leadership and a commitment to supporting a vibrant academic community during an era of changing student demographics and technological advances in teaching and learning. The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership, direction, and policy formation for the university’s eight major academic divisions: The College of Arts and Sciences, The School of Business Administration, The School of Education, The School of Engineering and Applied Science, The School of Law, The School of Professional Studies, the International Studies Program (ESL & MA-TESL), and the Gonzaga-in-Florence Program (Florence, Italy). The Academic Vice President also directly supervises the Dean of Admissions and the Dean of University Libraries, and (through an Associate and Assistant AVP) the Directors of Student Academic Services; Studies Abroad; the Office of Sponsored Research; Institutional Research; University Assessment; and Summer Programs. Furthermore, the successful appointee will, together with the President and Deans guide faculty, students, and academic administrators in actualizing the University’s strategic plan, which through its goals seeks to integrate faith, service, justice, ethics, and leadership into the fabric of a vibrant learning community.
Essential Functions
  • The University: One of the 28 Jesuit universities in the United States, Gonzaga University is a private, coeducational institution situated on 131 acres in the center of the city of Spokane. Gonzaga is located in the heart of the Northwest’s beautiful Inland Empire, a vibrant and growing metropolitan area with a population of over 450,000. The University is Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic in its mission, and ecumenical in its faculty, staff, and student body. As Jesuit and Catholic, Gonzaga is committed to the advancement of faith and justice, instructional excellence, the centrality of scholarship, open inquiry, diversity, and innovation in learning and teaching. As a humanistic institution, the University places special emphasis on maintaining a student-centered environment that promotes teaching and learning in both curricular and extracurricular settings. Gonzaga University considers its fundamental mission to be the academically rigorous education of men and women whose actions reflect a faith that promotes justice, the pursuit of truth, a dedication to service, and a commitment to advancing the common good. Gonzaga seeks to inspire in its students a deep desire to provide values-based leadership in life-long endeavors.

    Over the past eight years, Gonzaga University has experienced dynamic and rapid growth in its student body, faculty, staff, programs, facilities, and support infrastructure. Current enrollment is approximately 7,300, consisting of 4,425 full-time undergraduate students, 2,200 graduate students, and 500 law students. There are 77 undergraduate majors and programs, 24 masters’ programs, a doctoral program in leadership studies, and a J.D. program. Supported in part by a highly successful capital campaign, the University has recently built or remodeled a large number of facilities across its beautiful campus. The University has consistently been ranked among the top institutions of higher learning by U.S. News and World Report, having been ranked among the top three institutions in the West for Master’s level institutions each of the last four years. Gonzaga also is listed among Barron’s best-value universities in the nation and in the Princeton Review’s best colleges for undergraduate education.
  • Responsibilities of the Academic Vice President: The Academic Vice President must demonstrate an unqualified commitment to foster, promote, enhance and maintain the Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic identity of the University as expressed in its vision, mission and strategic plan documents. Concomitant to pursuit of the University’s vision, mission and strategic plans, the Academic Vice President is expected to provide creative and dynamic leadership during a time of change, to coordinate instructional operations efficiently, to encourage excellent teaching, to maintain high standards for academic excellence, to conduct objective review and evaluation of academic programs, and to support faculty scholarship and development. The Vice President is also engaged in strategic planning, fiscal decision making, and resource allocation efforts that support of the goals of the University. The applicant’s leadership style should reflect a commitment to transparency and authenticity, the ability to listen carefully, and an openness to listening to the concerns of all members of the University community. He or she should support and construct avenues for effective faculty governance and participation, and facilitate open and authentic communication from faculty to administration, and from administration to faculty. The Academic Vice President reports to the President and serves on the President’s Cabinet.
Supervision Given/Received
The Academic Vice President reports to the President and serves on the President’s Cabinet.
Required Qualifications
  • We seek an academic leader who can advance the Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic mission of Gonzaga and draw upon its tradition of intellectual rigor, the faith that promotes justice, and the education of men and women for others in charting new academic initiatives. While there is no requirement that the successful applicant must be a Jesuit or Catholic, this senior academic officer must have an unqualified commitment to implement the mission values of the University.
    All applicants should have:
  • an earned doctorate, with strong preference for a Ph.D.;
  • a teaching and scholarly record that would allow appointment to a tenured full professorship;
  • demonstrated success in University administrative positions of increasing responsibility;
  • a strategic (broad and visionary) and integrative perspective of university administration;
  • a proven ability to lead and manage change in a dynamic, cross-disciplinary environment through consultative decision making;
  • a demonstrated commitment to excellence in teaching, advising, continuing professional development, and service to the University and to the community;
  • excellent organizational and human relations skills.
Application Procedure
The search committee will begin reviewing applications on October 5, 2009. The position is open until filled, yet it is recommended to submit application materials as soon as possible, preferably by October 15, 2009. Applicants must submit the following information on-line, through the Human Resources application process: the Application and the Notice of Intent form; a letter of interest; current resume; and the contact information for five references. All inquiries and applications will be kept completely confidential. Current employers and references will not be contacted without prior approval of the candidate.

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