Vice President for Administrative Affairs (VPAA-23)

About Oakton College :

Oakton College, a caring community of educators dedicated to transforming lives through education, invites applications for Vice President for Administrative Affairs (VPAA 23)

A premier comprehensive community college, Oakton is 17 miles from downtown Chicago. Oakton serves the near northern suburbs of Chicago with campuses in Des Plaines and Skokie with buildings totaling over 700,000 square feet of space resting on 192 acres. These campuses serve almost 10,000 students annually that are enrolled in over 82,000 credit hours of instruction and a wide array of adult and continuing education classes. The College's Operating Funds' budget (Education and Operations & Maintenance Funds) for the academic year ending on June 30, 2023 amounts to $77.1 million.

The College is known for its academic innovation, commitment to serving students, solid financial position, and supportive environment for both students and employees.

Candidates with a commitment to working in a culturally-responsive environment are especially valued at Oakton.

The College's fourth president, Joianne Smith, Ph.D ..., has served since 2015. The College is governed by an elected board . It is in the second year of both its current strategic plan and facilities master plan . Oakton's most recent annual report provides a good overview of the College and demonstrates the institution's transparency about its solid financial condition .

We encourage applications from candidates who reflect the increasing diversity of Oakton's student body and community, enhance and promote engagement with other cultures, and have demonstrated a commitment to working with and as part of a diverse community.


Job Description:

Challenges and Opportunities for Leadership

• The College is seeking a leader who understands the VPAA role as advancing the Institution's mission and strategy and who understands the critical role played by all of the functions within the position's purview.
• The VPAA will need to be a change agent, seeking to support Oakton's strategy and to continuously improve services.
• Equity is a core value.
• Cultural competency is essential.
• Transparency in information, service processes, and decision making is essential.
• Decision making is based on collaboration and shared governance. Four unions are also a part of the College's shared work together.
• Risk management and regulatory compliance are also a key duty for the position.
• A new facilities master plan requires careful management and execution, including financing.
• Partnerships with related external service organizations and corporations in the community require careful business planning.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with other senior officers to advance the values, mission, and strategy of the College.
• Direct reporting responsibility for budgeting, accounting, procurement, auxiliaries, facilities and construction, information technology, risk management, and police.
• Under the president, leads budgeting and financial strategy.
• Advances Oakton's diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice (DEIBJ) objectives, both by supporting the College's overall objectives and by embedding DEIBJ values into the administrative functions that are the VPAA's direct responsibilities.
• Serves as the treasurer and chief risk manager for the College.

Ideal Candidate will possess:

• Demonstrated capacity to envision how a college like Oakton can adapt its programs and services to new circumstances.
• Cultural competence, i.e. being aware of your own cultural beliefs and values and how these may be different from other cultures?including being able to learn about and appreciate different experiences and perspectives.
• Track record of success advancing DEIBJ, both by supporting Oakton's overall objectives and by embedding DEIBJ values into the administrative functions that are the VPAA's direct responsibilities.
• An understanding of shared governance, ideally including in a union environment.
• Experience leading budgeting and financial strategy for a complex institution with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience coordinating and integrating multiple service functions in support of an institution's mission and strategy.
• Understanding of the potential for digital tools to enhance learning and services.
• Experience in a similar role, ideally but not necessarily in higher education.
• Experience in the public sector.
• Experience working with an elected governing board.

Attributes:

• Demonstrated cultural competence.
• Strong personal commitment to the mission of community colleges.
• Strong personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Expertise in budgeting and financial strategy.
• Demonstrated capacity to work collaboratively within the position's areas of responsibility, with other senior colleagues, and other multiple stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills, including capacity for listening.
• Takes a systems approach to issues.

Requirements:

APPLICATIONS, NOMINATIONS, AND EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

AGB Search is pleased to assist Oakton College with this leadership search.

To apply for the Vice President for Administrative Affairs position, candidates are requested to submit the following: (i) a resume; (ii) a letter of interest; and (iii) contact information for five references (to be contacted with candidate's permission at a later date). Application materials should be sent to: OaktonVPAA@agbsearch.com by October 17, 2023 for best consideration. The search will remain open until an appointment is made.

Nominations and expressions of interest in the VPAA position are encouraged. Please direct them to OaktonVPAA@agbsearch.com or to the AGB search consultants listed below:

Larry Ladd, Executive Search Consultant

larry.ladd@agbsearch.com / 508-274-0910

Julie Staggs, Executive Search Consultant

julie.staggs@agbseardh.com / 571-970-7895

We encourage applications from candidates who reflect the increasing diversity of Oakton's student body and community, enhance and promote engagement with other cultures, and have demonstrated a commitment to working with and as part of a multicultural faculty and diverse student body and community.

URL: www.agbsearch.com/searches/vice-president-for-administrative-affairs-oakton-college