Dean of Academic Affairs

Job Summary:

The Community College of Vermont is part of the Vermont State Colleges System and the only community college in the state. Engaging an all part-time faculty of nearly 500 to serve over 10,000 students a year through 12 state-wide learning centers and online, CCV is seeking a new chief academic officer. CCV is a responsive and flexible college with a proud tradition of balancing the needs of all constituents. With an institutional culture that values openness, collaboration, pragmatism, humor, integrity, inclusion and respect, CCV is looking for candidates who demonstrate these qualities.

Reporting directly to the President of the College, the Dean of Academic Affairs is responsible for planning, implementing, managing, and supervising all academic programs and personnel at the College. The Dean of Academic Affairs provides strategic leadership in curriculum and program development and assessment, recruits and develops academic personnel, including both faculty and staff, and monitors the success of academic programs by ensuring they meet the highest standards of excellence. They serve as principal officer for reaccreditation; oversees Workforce Development and collaborates closely with Student Affairs. Works with college and system councils and the Vermont State University’s Provost to develop academic policies and procedures and oversees the development, support, and evaluation of all academic courses and degree programs.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• In collaboration with the President, provides college-wide leadership, oversight, and vision for academic and student success to advance the College’s mission, vision, and strategic plan.
• Leads and oversees long term strategic planning and operations for Academic Affairs.
• Leads and oversees the development, management, assessment, and quality improvement of the College’s academic programming and services based on local community and state-wide workforce needs.
• Provides operational oversight for college-wide curriculum including providing direction to the College Academic Council. Oversees curriculum development, review, and the formulation of recommendations for changes and improvements, including promoting program innovation.
• Provide leadership and quality assurance for programmatic accreditation, articulation agreements, and other areas in accordance with published standards, rules, regulations, and law.
• Directly supervises associate academic deans, the Senior Director of Workforce Education, the Director of Prior Learning, and the Registrar; indirectly supervises instructional staff and faculty.
• Ensures Workforce Education is integrating emerging credentials and skill- based models with traditional academic offerings, including noncredit and adult basic education programming. Ensures Workforce Education is providing opportunities to expand engagement with community and business partners and oversees the development of partnerships to provide career development opportunities.
• Collaborates and coordinates with the Dean of Strategic Initiatives and Student Affairs to ensure a flexible pathway approach to student services programming and support.
• In collaboration with the Dean of Enrollment and Community Relations, directs the colleges course planning and cancellation process each semester to ensure that courses, programs and degree offerings align with targeted enrollment numbers and are in compliance with academic and accreditation standards and College requirements.
• Builds strong collaborative relationships with other units on campus, including with other deans, enrollment services, administration and finance and others to develop, enhance, and expand self-support programs.
• Identifies, develops, and refines academic action plans; monitors key metrics; and is responsible for decision-making for academic functions.
• Guides and oversees teaching and learning technologies, including readiness for emerging platforms and best practices for different modalities.
• Collaborates with Vermont State University Provost and system leaders around shared resources and goals, such as the VSCS library, curriculum core competencies, and degree completion projects.
• Ensures project plans are in keeping with the mission and operational initiatives of the College.
• Monitors workflow and evaluates processes, methods, and procedures. Leads efforts to identify and implement processes and systems with the goal of improved service and cost effectiveness crucial to the academic success of the College.
• Directs the management of grant-funded programs including Northern Lights, Corrections Post-Secondary Educational Initiative, and Perkins.
• Performs other related duties as necessary.

Supervisory Responsibility: Yes. Will directly supervise eight staff and provide administrative managerial oversight for their teams.

Minimum qualifications (Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)

Minimum Education and Experience: Master’s degree, plus at least ten years of relevant teaching and administrative experience in a community college or other accredited institution of higher education, or education and experience from which comparable knowledge and skills are acquired.

Preferred Education and Experience: Terminal degree, plus more than ten years of relevant teaching and administrative experience in a community college or other accredited institution of higher education.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Previous college-level teaching experience; preferably at a community college.
• Demonstrated strong commitment to academic excellence, strong work ethic, and demonstrated academic record of innovation and program development, analysis, and evaluation required.
• Knowledge of nationally recognized reform efforts in the areas of instructional and curricular innovation practices, Guided Pathways, developmental education, as well as practices in retention and enrollment development.
• Knowledge of state and federal laws related to higher education required.
• Experience in academic assessment work at the course, program, and institutional levels required.
• Evidence of a commitment to teaching and learning and the vision of a student-centered institution required.
• Conversant in technological innovations and potential programs of the future.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills including engaging verbal and written communication and ability to influence a wide range of individuals from different backgrounds and at different levels.
• Demonstrate a collaborative approach to governance.
• Prior supervisory experience required. Demonstrated ability to develop, manage and lead.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and use discretion in managing information.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise good judgement in evaluating and assessing complex situations to inform sound recommendations for next steps.
• Demonstrated analytical ability: ability to identify, understand, analyze and use data in decision making required.
• Experience demonstrating collaboration, consensus building, conflict resolution and problem solving required.
• Ability to articulate complex higher education issues in a manner that can clearly be understood by a variety of audiences.
• Ability to maintain sensitivity, understanding and respect for a diverse academic environment, inclusive of students, faculty, and staff of varying social, economic, cultural, ideological, and ethnic backgrounds required.

Physical Requirements: Duties performed causes light fatigue of eyes, fingers, or other faculties as a result of repetitive motion and/or long periods of standing or sitting. Duties require little physical effort in work with light to moderate (up to 25lbs) easy-to-handle materials.

Working Conditions: Job is performed in general office or comparable working area with many and frequent distractions such as noise and interruptions. Work schedule may vary during high volume periods. Willingness to work flexible hours, including occasional evenings and weekends, required. Some travel to all CCV centers is required.

This general outline illustrates the type of work which characterizes the job classification. It is not an all-encompassing statement of the specific duties, responsibilities and qualifications of individual positions assigned to the classification.

CCV values individual differences that can be engaged in the service of learning. Diverse experiences from people of varied backgrounds inform and enrich our community. CCV strongly encourages applications from historically marginalized and underrepresented populations. CCV is an Equal Opportunity Employer, in compliance with ADA requirements, and will make reasonable accommodations for the known disability of an otherwise qualified applicant. Please contact Bo Finnegan for assistance with accommodations at bo.finnegan@ccv.edu.

All new full-time employees will be subject to a criminal background check. Any offer of employment is contingent upon the satisfactory results of this check.

Application Instructions: In order to be considered, please submit a complete application package which includes a cover letter, resume/CV, employment application and contact information for three professional references by clicking on the apply now button on the top right of this posting.