Vice President for Government and Community Affairs

Clark University

Vice President for Government and Community Affairs

Worcester, MA

THE SEARCH

Clark University seeks a collaborative, seasoned, and innovative leader to join the institution as vice president for government and community affairs (VP) and play a lead role in shaping the vision and direction for this highly respected small, private, liberal arts-based research university. The VP will join Clark under bold new leadership as the University welcomed its 10th president and distinguished alumnus, David Fithian ’87, Ph.D., in July 2020. The position is a strategic leadership role on President Fithian’s dynamic and evolving senior cabinet, with several other key appointments recently made or currently underway. This recruitment aligns with President Fithian’s focus on amplifying Clark’s prominence as a vocal leader within the national higher education landscape, as well as Clark’s investment in expanding outward engagement at the state and federal level.

For more than three decades, Clark has been a national model in the movement of anchor institutions increasingly partnering with local governments, civic and business organizations, and neighborhood residents to rehabilitate and revitalize urban communities. Building upon this important legacy, the VP will partner directly with President Fithian, overseeing all government and community affairs across the institution. This individual will also work closely with deans, faculty, administrators, and trustees, among other diverse stakeholders at all levels of the University. Through broad collaboration and partnership, the VP will develop strategies to strengthen Clark’s government and community affairs, and effectively communicate its academic, research, and service missions to a wide variety of constituencies locally, regionally, and nationally. 

Founded in 1887, Clark was one of the first all-graduate institutions in the United States. Today the University is a highly-ranked, student-centered institution that educates approximately 2,350 undergraduate and 1,100 graduate students every year to be imaginative and contributing citizens of the world and to advance the frontiers of knowledge and understanding through rigorous scholarship and creative effort. This commitment to scholarship and inquiry reflects the University’s commitment to “challenge convention and change our world” and to address issues of critical societal importance. It is also reflected by Clark’s many national and international distinctions, including recognition for its diversity and inclusion efforts, innovation, community engagement and impact, as a top green campus, and for its distinguished geography and international development programs. Clark has also been included in the groundbreaking Colleges that Change Lives guide since it was first published in 1996.

Clark is located in Worcester, Massachusetts, a dynamic, diverse city “on the rise.” The second largest city in New England, with a population of roughly 186,000, Worcester is home to 11 institutions of higher learning including the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester State University, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Worcester is increasingly recognized for its growing healthcare and biotechnology communities, for its thriving arts and cultural communities, and as a vibrant food hub with an abundance of new restaurants and craft breweries. In addition, the city enthusiastically anticipates the relocation of the Red Sox minor league baseball team from Pawtucket, RI to Worcester this year.

Clark University has retained Jack Gorman of Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the recruitment. All applications, inquiries, and nominations, which will remain confidential, should be directed to the search firm at the following link: www.imsearch.com/7807.

Clark University embraces equal opportunity and affirmative action as core values: the University believes that cultivating an environment that embraces and promotes diversity is fundamental to the success of our students, its employees, and its community. This commitment applies to every aspect of education, services, and employment policies and practices at Clark. Clark’s commitment to diversity informs its efforts in recruitment, hiring, and retention. All positions at Clark share in the responsibility for building a community that values diversity and the uniqueness of others by exhibiting integrity and respect in interacting with all members of the Clark community to create an atmosphere of fairness and belonging. Clark strongly encourages members from historically underrepresented communities, inclusive of all women, to apply.