Vice President of Academic Affairs Search

About the Position

TMCC is seeking a visionary and results-oriented Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) who embraces innovation to advance student learning. The VPAA is the Chief Academic Officer for the college and is a member of the President’s executive leadership team. The Vice President is responsible for the overall design, organization, delivery, supervision, evaluation, and fiscal management of a comprehensive instruction program. Working in collaboration with Student Services and Finance and Administrative Services to promote and fulfill Truckee Meadows Community College’s Mission and Core Values, the Vice President manages a budget of over $25 million, providing effective leadership and ensuring academic integrity for all academic affairs at the institution. The position leads a team of 861 employees including 5 academic deans, the Associate Dean of Assessment and Planning, and the Learning Commons Director.

Opportunities

Academic Excellence and Student Success

Students love this college because of the student-centered focus of the institution and its attention to academic excellence and student success. The position maintains high academic standards while managing pressure of achieving performance funding benchmarks. There is an opportunity to improve faculty engagement, embrace assessment, and honor academic freedom. It is important to balance traditional liberal arts and work force development offerings in ways that support the region TMCC serves while also inspiring faculty and staff to innovate when responding to community workforce needs. The Vice President will identify opportunities to expand access, while continuing to improve persistence, retention and completion.

Articulating an Inspiring Vision

We define the college by its opportunities and not by its constraints. TMCC has exceptionally talented and dedicated full and part time faculty, in addition to academic staff, that support the academic master plan. The Vice President will listen to all stakeholders, evaluate input and cast an inspiring academic vision that is strategic, participative and fully engages all subject matter experts. The Vice President is the academic affairs ambassador and advocate for TMCC within the Nevada System of Higher Education and the legislature.

Adapting to COVID-19

All of higher education has been impacted by COVID-19. Transitioning students, staff, and faculty to remote environments is challenging AND doable. The emphasis is on maintaining educational quality, incorporating best practices in online pedagogy, supporting faculty in delivering a fulfilling educational experience by offering additional training and/or resources, and improving student and worker engagement. TMCC has done an excellent job of adapting to remote education, yet there are always improvements on the horizon. The Vice President will continue to coordinate courses and programs both in the remote and online/hybrid form. These plans will follow all recommended safety guidelines keeping the health and well-being of students and staff in mind. 

Budget Constraints

The Nevada System of Higher Education utilizes a funding formula that relies on a range of performance factors assigned to each institution, governed by state revenue. Budget constraints in the midst of seeking to improve enrollment, and corequisite mandates that may be unfunded creates an opportunity to continue to evaluate providing education in the most effective and fulfilling ways possible. Everyone is doing more with limited resources. TMCC’s budgetary planning processes are inclusive, transparent and comprehensive. The Vice President will develop non-traditional ways to show appreciation for good work.

Please note that pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 3 passed by the Nevada State Legislature during the 32nd Special Legislative Session, employees are required to take furlough at a 4.6 percent monthly reduction in compensation from Jan. 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021.

Leadership Qualities of the Ideal Candidate

  • Collaborative
  • Transformational leader
  • Highly communicative 
  • Team player 
  • Values honesty and integrity
  • Decisive
  • Data-informed 
  • Inclusive 
  • Visionary with implementation success
  • Inspiring and motivating
  • Hard worker
  • Entrepreneurial within the methodology of a higher education environment 
  • Empowering
  • Active listener 
  • Servant leader
  • Sense of humor 
  • Able to display empathy 
  • Willing to challenge the status quo in pursuit of innovation 
  • Experience enhancing a culture of trust

Desired Credentials and Experiences

  • Earned doctorate in a specific academic discipline from a regionally accredited institution.
  • Three (3) or more years college level, full-time classroom teaching experience, preferably at a community college.
  • Experience in grant writing and obtaining external funding.
  • Experience with collective bargaining agreements and shared governance environments.
  • Demonstrated commitment to student undergraduate research, scholarship, and mentoring.
  • Understanding of the dynamics of a community college within a state system of colleges and universities.
  • Experience in curriculum development, instructional delivery and assessment.
  • Proponent of professional development for faculty and staff.
  • Experience that exemplifies the values of a teaching and learning college.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution.
  • Five (5) years progressively responsible executive-level administrative experience in a specific discipline.
  • The equivalent of two (2) years full-time classroom teaching experience at the college level.
  • Demonstrated understanding of a comprehensive community college.
  • Demonstrated ability to successfully cultivate, expand, and sustain productive relationships with students, faculty, staff, and external constituents.
  • Demonstrated successful experience with assessment, workforce development, and developmental programs.
  • Demonstrated commitment to fostering an environment of diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Position Responsibilities

The Vice President of Academic Affairs exhibits an appreciation of, sensitivity to, and respect for a diverse academic environment, inclusive of students, faculty, and staff of varying social, economic, cultural, ideological and ethnic backgrounds. The position: 

  • Cultivates and sustains an innovative environment that prioritizes learning and academic excellence. 
  • Provides leadership and strategic program planning and evaluation in collaboration with a strong and committed faculty, administration, and staff in a shared governance structure.
  • Leads the efforts to establish new degree and certificate programs. 
  • Recommends policies related to instructional programs to the college President. 
  • Works collaboratively with the President’s Cabinet to implement institutional policy.
  • Leads enrollment management efforts, retention, and persistence strategies.
  • Actively participates in external revenue generation.
  • Provides support to the Nevada System of Higher Education Academic Affairs committees.
  • Leads efforts to promote online teaching and learning in collaboration with Web College, faculty, and staff. 
  • Leads effort to incorporate digital technology in support of teaching and learning.
  • Leads effort to establish and promote student undergraduate research scholarship, and mentoring in collaboration with faculty and staff.
  • Effectively mediates conflicts at the instructional and administrative levels to resolve disputes in a reasonable and timely manner.
  • Communicates and interacts effectively with students, faculty, staff, and the community.
  • Works in a professional and collegial manner with students, faculty, staff and the community .
  • Ensures accuracy of college catalogs and class schedules; ensures ongoing, systematic assessment of academic programs.
  • Ensures adherence to academic-related accreditation standards.
  • Special projects as assigned by the college President.

How to Apply

On behalf of the Truckee Meadows Community College President, the search committee invites inquiries, recommendations and applications for the Vice President of Academic Affairs position. Do not apply via the college or system job portal. All expressions of interest are to be directed, confidentially, to the search consultant.

Soft Application Deadline: December 20, 2020

While the position is open until filled, materials received after this date are not guaranteed full consideration and will be reviewed at the sole discretion of the search committee.

Application materials are to be sent by secure upload and include:

  • Letter of Interest, not to exceed 5 pages, articulating a match to the position profile
  • Resume, chronological preferred
  • References, six minimum (name, relationship, direct email and phone), include some that can be checked early in the search process

To secure upload, please go to the Cizek Associates website and follow the instructions.

Submit Application Materials


Timeline

  • Now – December 31, 2020: The soft application deadline has been extended to December 31, 2020, due to a server upgrade glitch that deleted all applications submitted between Nov. 3 through Dec. 2 up until noon MST. The problem has been corrected. If you submitted an application within this time frame, please re-submit. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, humbly ask for your grace, and look forward to hearing from you.
  • Now – December 20, 2020: Recruitment and advertising. December 20 is the soft application deadline. While the position is open until filled, materials received by this date are guaranteed full consideration. Late applications will be reviewed at the sole discretion of the search committee.
  • Week of January 18, 2021: Committee reviews applications recommended by the search firm.
  • Week of February 8, 2021: Preliminary candidate interviews conducted by the search committee.
  • Week of February 22, 2021: Final candidate interviews.
  • July 1, 2021: Desired start date of the successful candidate, possibly sooner depending on availability.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Search Committee’s role includes assistance in identifying and encouraging candidates to apply for the position of Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA). The committee selects preliminary candidates from a slate of prospects recommended by the search consultant. The committee interviews preliminary candidates, develops interview questions for those interviews, and recommends final candidates to the President and Truckee Meadows Community College.

The Search Committee composition includes those who represent various constituencies of Truckee Meadows Community College. Every possible effort has been made to make sure that the committee accurately reflects the college community at large.

The college has retained Cizek Associates, Inc. as its search consulting firm. Cizek Associates is a national retained executive search and assessment firm headquartered in Phoenix, with additional Midwest and West Coast offices. Serving private and public sector client organizations, the firm has a higher education specialty practice, which is limited to the recruitment of senior-level administrators.

Search Firm Contact Information:
Marti J. Cizek, President 
Sheila Lehker, Senior Vice President
Cizek Associates, Inc. 
Email: vpaa.tmcc@cizekassociates.com
Telephone: 602-553-1066

The College is using a search firm for a number of reasons including assistance in identifying and proactively recruiting talented candidates for the Vice President of Academic Affairs position—especially those candidates who are not currently looking for a new position—and in screening and evaluating potential candidates in partnership with the Search Committee. The search firm also assists with many other aspects of the search process, including the development of the position profile, advertising and recruitment materials, search process timeline, document preparation, assistance to the committee in the execution of its responsibilities, the evaluation of potential candidates, and thorough background and reference checking.

All inquiries regarding this search are to be directed to the search firm whose responsibility it is to identify and attract the best possible candidates for the position, respond to all nominations and advertising inquiries, screen and evaluate backgrounds and credentials guided by the position profile, and make recommendations to the Search Committee and the college regarding those candidates best qualified for the Vice President of Academic Affairs position.

Truckee Meadows Community College and Cizek Associates are committed to identifying a diverse pool of candidates. Cizek Associates has a rich diversity network, has experience and a strong track record recruiting diverse candidates, and will provide critical access for any successful diversity recruitment effort.

The soft application deadline is December 20, 2020. While the position is open until filled, applications received by this date are guaranteed full consideration. View the position profile and then the How to Apply section which contains all application information.

Please get your nominations, recommendations, and referrals to the search firm in advance of the soft application deadline of December 20, 2020. You may nominate someone for the position by providing his/her name and contact information to the search consultant. The search firm will then contact the individual, discuss the position using the position profile as a guide, and assess the person as a potential candidate. All nominations will be treated with the level of confidentiality requested by the person offering the nomination, recommendation or referral. This means you can nominate someone anonymously.

This is a confidential search process. Confidentiality ensures the integrity of the search and provides the search firm the greatest flexibility in attracting the widest range of qualified candidates for the position. Please refer periodically to the search website for any updates. 

The work of the Search Committee is also confidential and its members will not be able to share with you details of their meetings and discussions, but will respectfully refer you to this website.