Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

California Health Sciences University seeks a Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Location: Clovis, California
Click here to view position profile: https://summitsearchsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CHSU_Provost_Profile.pdf 

The Position:
Reporting to the President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs is the Chief Academic Officer of the University and may serve as the University Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO). The Provost is responsible for leadership of academic enterprise at the University. The College Deans report to and are evaluated by the Provost. In addition, the Provost oversees the Office of Institutional Assessment and Research, the University Library, the Registrar, and the Office of Research. The Provost manages a broad professional portfolio that includes responsibility for accreditation, and faculty recruitment, retention, governance, and promotion across all colleges. The Provost serves as the academic representative on the President's Executive Council. As such, the Provost collaborates with the President on matters related to strategic planning, shared governance, budget, facilities, human resources, institutional advancement, university relations, legal and compliance issues, and information technology, especially academic technology. The Provost ensures the academic integrity of the Colleges; serves as the representative of the Colleges’ academic programs and faculty interests to both internal and external constituents, and is an exemplar with demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. 

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Provost shall be responsible for the specific duties listed below and other duties as assigned by the President:

• Lead effective operations of all academic programs and program development.
• Build a sound and sustainable budget for academic affairs. Responsibly manage fiscal resources and budgetary processes within the University's academic units in alignment with the University's strategic priorities and budget.
• Strengthen the culture of assessment and program review to ensure academic quality.
• Work with CHSU leadership to develop and launch new academic programs that align with enrollment planning and student success.
• Champion implementation of the University's student success strategy.
• Recruit, hire, and retain talent at all levels in Academic Affairs.
• Evaluate all College Deans and direct reports, with appropriate input from the President.
• Facilitate professional development and collaboration among academic leadership and faculty.
• Oversee the systematic and routine assessment of all academic and student affairs programs and services to analyze and evaluate the quality of the academic and support programs of the University and its colleges.
• Advance recruitment and retention efforts of students for the Colleges, and ensure efforts are analyzed and evaluated for efficacy.
• Preside over processes to ensure collaborative, transparent decision-making among administrators, faculty, staff, and students that advance shared university governance.
• Foster the University's commitment to "engaged learning," including internships and cooperative learning agreements, civic engagement, scholarship, and outreach.
• Pursue global education opportunities on behalf of faculty and students.
• As the University’s ALO or in collaboration with the designated ALO:
  1. Communicate with authority and expertise the standards of accreditation policies and procedures for the institution.
  2. Establish processes of quality control to ensure academic alignment with the standards of accreditation.
  3. Lead/support programmatic accreditation.
  4. In collaboration with other senior academic leaders, develop and execute University self-studies.
  5. Spearhead the development of a system to maintain all pertinent accreditation files making them available as appropriate and necessary.
  6. Ensure dissemination and posting of all pertinent information and develop a system to respond to inquiries, questions, and program concerns.
  7. Engage actively in professional accreditation convenings and leadership in the ALO community.
• Work effectively with the President and leadership of various University and College committees.
• Present and report to the Trustees, as assigned by the President.
• Lift with authenticity the image and profile of the University to internal and external constituents.
• Serve as an honest, trusted confidant to the President and members of the Board of Trustees. 

Qualifications:
Education

• A terminal degree (e.g., MD/DO/Ph.D./Ed.D.) is required. 

Personal and leadership qualities:

• A high level of integrity and devotion to ethical behavior.
• Superb oral and written communication skills.
• Broad higher education experience.
• Strong record of fiscal management.
• Deep and varied academic and scholarship record.
• Effective strategic thinker.
• Aptitude for executive, administrative leadership.
• Ability to make evidence-based decisions in a timely fashion and to verify them with assessment and evaluation practices.
• History of effective, high caliber hiring decisions.
• Capacity to forge and nurture partnerships with private, non-profit, and public entities as well as other institutions of higher education. 

Higher education and professional knowledge:

• At least 5 years of senior leadership experience in Health Sciences Colleges or Universities, preferably with a medical school or college.
• Experience with the accreditation processes including both institutional and specialized accreditation.
• Understanding of the operations of a comprehensive academic institution, including professional disciplines
• Demonstrated commitment to shared governance and transparent decision-making.
• Commitment to advancing a high level of teaching and research across disciplines at the graduate levels.
• Familiarity with effective strategies for increasing student academic success.
• Proven responsibility to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in a higher education context.
• Awareness of innovative strategies in online learning and other technologies.
• Ability to advance global education strategies. 

About Academic Affairs:
College of Pharmacy
Aligned with the University mission, CHSU’s College of Pharmacy will offer a new, 3-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program in fall 2022 (contingent upon various accreditation approvals) that is sharply focused on student success and quality and prepares students to be highly trained, collaborative, and compassionate pharmacists who serve the community and who are competitive in the pharmacy field through successful completion of didactic courses, labs, and clinical experiences. Thus far, 244 students have graduated from the Pharmacy program. 

The College of Pharmacy encompasses five classrooms; a library; two student lounges; a variety of flexible study spaces; faculty and staff offices; and pharmacy practice, mock pharmacy, dispensing, compounding, and research labs. 

College of Osteopathic Medicine
Aligned with the University mission, CHSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) is the first program of its kind in the Central Valley and is committed to recruiting and educating physicians with the expectation that they will retain these physicians to expand health care options for the local community with a special emphasis on rural and underserved populations. Thus far, 199 students have enrolled in this program. 

The CHSU COM program is a four-year Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) program where students spend the first two years learning from a modified two-pass systems-based curricular model in a team-based learning (TBL) environment to improve knowledge, retention, and performance. This model integrates realistic patient scenarios with scientific principles, problem-solving skills, active learning, and clinical practice. Medical knowledge, osteopathic manipulative medicine, clinical skills, nutrition as medicine, and patient-centered care are components of this unique curricular model. 

In years three and four, COM students gain hands-on experience through their clinical clerkships based at regional hospitals, clinics, and health care facilities with qualified local health care providers in the community. Students rotate through 4-to-8-week clerkships in areas including family medicine, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, behavioral medicine, emergency medicine, and more. 

The new, three-story COM building on CHSU’s expanded campus provides the Deans, faculty, and medical students with state-of-the-art, innovative technology. The new medical school has three large classrooms, an osteopathic skills lab, library, plentiful private and collaborative study spaces, a spacious student lounge with Teaching and Demonstration Kitchen, Simulation Center (featuring a holographic anatomy classroom), and beautiful views of the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

About the Institution:
Founded in 2012 and envisioned by the Assemi family, California Health Sciences University (CHSU) offers a local option for those seeking to attend pharmacy or medical school and to help remedy the shortage of health care services offered in the Central Valley. CHSU currently offers a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) program. 

CHSU students and faculty enjoy the unique combination of high quality of life, affordable cost of living, and plentiful career opportunities in health care that the Valley provides. CHSU makes student achievement the highest priority through a multitude of teaching modalities; innovative curricula and a culture of support, which includes academics, wellness, leadership, and career services. Students feel supported by their peers, the administration, faculty, and staff of the University and Colleges, as well as the leadership and Board of Trustees. 

The University is proudly guided by the Board of Trustees from varying health care, education, and business backgrounds. Long-time educator and community leader, Dr. John D. Welty, President Emeritus of California State University, Fresno, served as the founding Board Chair and helped to fast-track the University. The Founding President of CHSU, Florence T. Dunn, is a long-time Valley resident and a former Bank Executive. 

“The University has received tremendous community support, collaborating with key state and local leaders, including top educational and healthcare executives,” stated President Florence T. Dunn, “CHSU is proud to collaborate with Fresno State, Fresno Pacific University, CSU Bakersfield, Clovis Community College, and other universities in Central California for interdisciplinary research and interprofessional education. CHSU has also partnered with local physicians, pharmacists, and institutions throughout the Central Valley – Community Medical Centers, Kaiser Permanente, Valley Children’s Hospital, Madera Community Hospital, Adventist Health System, United Health Centers, and Camarena Health to name a few – to provide students with diverse clinical education and experiences.” 

These partnerships have been vital to the success of the University and ultimately led to rapid growth, which has commanded a need for campus expansion. 

CHSU’s Recently Expanded Campus
The California Health Sciences University campus is located in beautiful Clovis, California. The campus includes two buildings located on Clovis Avenue, which house University Administrative offices and the College of Pharmacy. The newest building on Alluvial Avenue houses the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Simulation Center. 

The College of Pharmacy encompasses classrooms; library; student lounges; study spaces; faculty and staff offices; and other related facilities.

Only a five-minute drive away, you will find CHSU’s latest campus expansion project which began in May 2018 when they broke ground on the first building at 2500 Alluvial Avenue, near Clovis Community Medical Center. Construction for the new CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine building was completed in eighteen months and the faculty and staff moved into the building in early 2020. 

The new, three-story COM building on CHSU’s expanded campus enjoys beautiful views of the Sierra Nevada mountains and provides the Deans, faculty, staff, and medical students with state-of-the-art, innovative technology, classrooms, lab, library, study spaces, and student lounge which includes a Teaching Kitchen, and a Simulation Center which has an In-Patient area and Out-Patient area. 

Future
Other options being considered in the University’s campus expansion plan include up to eight additional colleges, a student center, a library, an auditorium, and student and faculty housing, along with support buildings. The approximately 110-acre site has enough space for decades of continued expansion. The campus holds the potential to meet the needs of nearly 2,000 students and 300 faculty and staff in the future. Further development of the campus will occur in multiple phases as each new health science related college is established. The timing and specific discipline for each new program will be determined based on the need and opportunity for job placement within the region. CHSU is committed to developing up to 8 additional post-graduate colleges to educate health care professionals in the coming years. The entire development and construction process is a long-term commitment to the community and will take up to 20 years. 

Leadership
Florence T. Dunn has served as Founding President of California Health Sciences University since 2012. Under President Dunn’s leadership, the University has rapidly grown, successfully building the current campus and establishing two Colleges, the College of Pharmacy and the College of Osteopathic Medicine, to fulfill the mission of the University. She is a long-time advocate for education and community service. 

President Dunn is a seasoned leader with more than three decades of banking experience in California’s Central Valley with an extensive record of shaping and helping organizations of all industries succeed in that region’s unique economy. Prior to joining the University, President Dunn was Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for the Sacramento and Central Valley regions of California Bank & Trust. In that position, she played a vital leadership role in the bank’s strategic planning, financial management, budgetary oversight, and she oversaw marketing for two geographically vast and rapidly growing regions within the state. 

President Dunn has served in various leadership and service capacities on numerous Boards ranging from health care, education, agriculture, and manufacturing to business. She is currently a Board member for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium and other private boards and foundations. She is a past board member for the Fresno Economic Development Corporation and, for thirteen years, served the Board for Community Hospitals of Central California and was a past chair. 

Mission & Vision
CHSU’s mission is to improve health care outcomes of people living in the Central Valley by graduating healthcare professionals who are compassionate, highly trained, and adaptive leaders who will serve in healthcare roles throughout the community. 

Strategic Plan
The University’s current strategic plan was adopted in 2019 and outlines the goals CHSU strives to achieve in the five-year span from 2019-2024, including strategies and metrics to help assess its progress in achieving its vision to enhance the wellness of the community by educating health care professionals dedicated to proving collaborative care for the Central Valley. With recent changes, an update to the University’s 2019-2024 strategic plan is planned to commence in spring 2022. Program-specific strategic plans are listed below for the Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine programs. 

CHSU Strategic Plan 2019-2024
CHSU College of Pharmacy Strategic Plan
CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Strategic Plan 

Accreditation & Licensing
California Health Sciences University is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), and its programs are approved to operate by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE). To learn more about the accreditation status for the University and College programs, view the related links: 

Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE)
WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)
Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) 

To Apply:
Confidential review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled; parties who apply before or by December 10, 2021 will be given first consideration. Interested candidates should submit a curriculum vitae and a letter of interest. 

To apply online, go to: https://theapplicantmanager.com/jobs?pos=su268 

For more information or to offer recommendations:
Kristen Farha, MA
Senior Consultant
Summit Search Solutions, Inc.
Direct: 316-650-0069
kfarha@summitsearchsolutions.com 

CHSU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minorities, women, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.