Provost and senior vice president for academic affairs
About the position
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) seeks as its next Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs an innovative and collaborative leader to advance a diverse, engaged and ambitious institution. The university and its academic health sciences center serve as one national urban public research institution dedicated to the success and well-being of its students, patients, faculty, staff and community.
The provost is the chief academic officer with oversight of the curricular, student life, and faculty affairs of the institution. The provost is the second-ranking executive officer at VCU and serves as the president’s partner in the articulation and execution of a compelling vision that builds on a history of excellence and access in higher education.
Virginia Commonwealth University is a Carnegie I Research University and a designated top 100 Research University by the National Science Foundation. Many of the universities, schools and colleges are among the top 100 in the U.S., including engineering, the arts, business and medicine. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 30,000 students in more than 200 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Twenty-two of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 11 schools and three colleges and a robust Division of Student Affairs to support student success and well-being. The VCU Health brand represents the health sciences schools of VCU, the VCU Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Health System, which comprises VCU Medical Center (the only academic medical center in the region), Community Memorial Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and MCV Physicians. Today, VCU serves an integral role in the economic health of the city of Richmond and the region by providing the highest quality education for the current and future workforce, advancing research across a broad range of academic disciplines and enhancing the translation of research to serve the needs of the Commonwealth and Nation. The university and its health system combined contribute more than $6 billion annually to the region’s economy and therefore plays a significant role in regional development and community planning.
The ideal candidate will hold a terminal degree and bring a distinguished academic record that merits appointment as a tenured full professor at VCU. In addition, the individual must have significant administrative experience appropriate to the size and complexity of VCU.
Inquiries, nominations and application materials should be directed to: Storbeck Search at vcuprovost@storbecksearch.com
Survey for position feedback
Storbeck and Associates provides a confidential survey to collect feedback for the search committee as they launch the provost search. All members of the university community are welcome and encouraged to participate. The survey will take about 15 minutes and will be open until Dec. 11, 2020.
The search is being supported by Susan VanGilder, Julie Tea and Beth McCarthy of Storbeck Search, who are a part of the Diversified Search Group. The search committee is comprised of:
- Beth Angell, dean, School of Social Work (co-chair)
- Arthur Kellermann, senior vice president, Health Sciences and CEO, VCU Health System (co-chair)
- Holly Alford, director of inclusion and equity, School of the Arts
- Jihad Aziz, director of university counseling services, Student Affairs
- Debra Barksdale, associate dean of academic affairs, School of Nursing
- Faye Belgrave, interim dean of equity and community partnerships, College of Humanities and Sciences
- Christopher Brooks, professor, College of Humanities and Sciences, Black Education Association president
- Brian Brown, professor, School of Business
- Andrew Daire, dean, School of Education
- Jay Davenport, vice president, Development and Alumni Relations
- Timothy Davey, vice provost of faculty affairs, Office of the Provost
- Danielle Dick, commonwealth professor, College of Humanities and Sciences
- Tomika Ferguson, interim assistant dean for student affairs and inclusive excellence, School of Education
- Stephen Fong, director, Center for Integrative Life Sciences Education and the Integrative Life Sciences doctoral program
- Karol Gray, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Office of the President
- Nancy Jallo, associate professor, School of Nursing, Faculty Senate president
- Tomikia LeGrande, vice president, Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success
- Anirban Mahanty, biology student, VCU SCHEV representative, SCHEV Student Advisory Council chair
- Aashir Nasim, vice president, Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success, director of iCubed
- William Pelfrey, program chair, Wilder School
- Michael Peters, professor, College of Engineering
- Saher Randhawa, program manager, School of Medicine, Staff Senate president
- Srirama Rao, vice president, Office of Research and Innovation
- Betsy Ripley, senior associate dean for faculty affairs, VCU clinical research compliance officer, School of Medicine
- Coleen Santa Ana, VCU Board of Visitors
- Scott Street, associate professor, College of Humanities and Sciences, Faculty Senate past-president
- Maggie Tolan, senior associate vice provost, Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success
- Camila Tirado, iCubed community core scholar
- Erin Webster-Garrett, assistant vice provost for REAL, Office of the Provost
- Faika Zanjani, associate professor, College of Health Professions
We invite feedback for both the search firm and search committee as we start the search for a new provost. Please see opportunities to provide feedback below.
- Open forums for VCU faculty
- Tuesday, Nov. 17, 4 – 5:30 p.m. - register here
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 10 – 11:30 a.m. - register here
- Open university forum for students, staff and faculty
- Tuesday November 17, 2 - 3:30 p.m. - register here
- Storbeck and Associates provides a confidential survey to collect feedback to the search committee as they launch the search to find our new provost. All are welcome and encouraged to participate. The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes and your responses are confidential. Feedback will be received until Dec. 11, 2020. Complete the provost search survey provided by Storbeck and Associates.
- Storbeck and Associates will also be meeting with the following groups for feedback:
- Black Education Association - Nov. 18, 2:30 - 4 p.m.
- Faculty Senate - Dec. 1, 4 - 5 p.m.
- University Council - Dec. 3, 3 - 5 p.m.
- Council of Deans - Dec. 8, 1:30 - 3 p.m.
Launch
- President Rao charges search committee
- Firm meets with key constituents and attends listening meetings to learn about the responsibilities, opportunities and challenges of the position, as well as desired qualifications and characteristics and to solicit suggestions of potential candidates
- Firm shares survey with larger university community to collect information about position and candidate attributes
Status: In progress
Post and advertise position
- Full position profile is written and vetted by multiple university stakeholders
- Discussion of ad placements and continued call nominations
- Position is posted and advertised
Status: In progress
Prospect review
- Firm discusses lists of possible candidates and assesses pool with search committee
- Search committee selects candidates for first-round interviews
- Search committee discusses interview strategies
Status: Not started
Semi-finalist search committee interviews
- Search committee conducts first-round interviews; selects candidates for referencing
- Search committee discusses referencing strategies
Status: Not started
Reference meeting
- Committee reviews references and identifies 3-5 candidates for campus visits
Status: Not started
Finalist interviews
- Finalists visit campus to meet with president and other university constituents
Status: Not started
Search concludes
- After thorough review and consultation, president makes final selection
- New provost appointed, pending BOV approval
- Announcement of new provost to the community
Status: Not started
With a total student population of more than 31,000, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university located in the capital city of Richmond, VA. The VCU Health System is an urban teaching hospital and is home to VCU Medical Center, the #1 ranked medical center in the Richmond metropolitan area with the only Level I trauma center in central Virginia. Together they make VCU the largest employer in the city of Richmond (22,888 including VCU and VCU Health employees).
Founded in 1838 and currently belonging to the elite group of R1 – Doctoral Universities with Highest Research Activity by Carnegie Classification, VCU enrolls students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 108 countries. Students choose from 59 undergraduate, 69 master’s, 42 doctoral programs, three first-professional programs and 44 certificate programs offered by 11 schools and three colleges. With two main campuses on 173 acres in the historic downtown area, as well as satellite campuses located across the state and internationally, VCU boasts a diverse campus community, including approximately 43 percent of the student body identifying as minority, as well as an 18:1 student-faculty ratio, and more than 500 student clubs and organizations.
One of the largest academic health centers in the nation with a 52-acre footprint one block from Capitol Square, VCU Health System also maintains over 2.5 million square feet of facilities in satellite locations surrounding the city, including research space at the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park. In addition to VCU Medical Center, the $3.2 billion health system includes Community Memorial Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, the Virginia Premier Health Plan (a 220,000-member non-profit Managed Care Organization), and the MCV Physicians (a faculty practice plan with more than 700 members and 770 residents and fellows).
For more information about VCU, visit the VCU website. For more information about VCU Health, visit the VCU Health website.