President

Southwestern College invites applications from accomplished, dynamic and inspiring leaders for the position of President.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Board of Trustees at Southwestern College (in Winfield, Kansas) has launched the search for its 20th president. The Search Committee invites nominations of and applications from accomplished, dynamic and inspiring individuals who will provide the college with outstanding leadership. After a highly successful six-year tenure, President Brad Andrews has accepted another college presidency. The next Southwestern President will inherit a creative, comprehensive, independent college poised to build on current significant momentum. Southwestern College offers degrees on its main campus in Winfield and through its Professional Studies programs based in Wichita.

Attentive to mission, building on strength, and eager for additional initiatives, Southwestern College seeks a president with vision and energy, who is entrepreneurially inclined and committed to quality. SC’s appetite for future growth will call for strategic thinking and planning, designed to sustain change while also unifying the comprehensive nature of its educational programs. Academically focused and committed to quality, the college seeks a president who will build on Southwestern’s historic strengths while providing bold leadership and decisive management toward distinctive institutional achievement.

In a marketplace where other small colleges have struggled to find their identities, Southwestern stands apart by offering its students a relational experience in a college that is innovative, valuable, and rooted.

THE COLLEGE

Founded in 1885 and for the first century of its existence, Southwestern was a liberal arts college whose students were largely Kansan and often United Methodist. It was regionally known for its success in producing ministers, teachers, and students ready to enter medical school. The institution changed dramatically in 1993, though, when college classes for working adults were first offered in off-campus locations.

Today Southwestern College comprises two thriving facets – the main campus in Winfield, Kansas, which continues to appeal mostly to traditional-aged students, and a Professional Studies program headquartered in Wichita, which is targeted at working adults completing their bachelor’s or graduate degrees in online classes. Even as the college has extended its reach, its fundamental commitments have not changed. Southwestern provides all of its students with educational programs and co-curricular experiences that prepare them to excel in the workplace and in service in the community.

Southwestern’s 83-acre campus in Winfield provides a beautiful and updated academic setting for students and faculty. Located on a hill overlooking the Walnut River Valley, the campus is notable for an abundance of trees (characteristic of the Winfield area) and its native limestone buildings. The Christy Administration Building, with its iconic stone pillars, is the symbolic heart of the campus. Other major buildings include historic Stewart Field House, which has undergone a major facelift, but remains the oldest field house west of the Mississippi still used for its original purpose.

In the past 30 years, four capital campaigns have allowed dramatic improvements in the college’s facilities. They have funded construction or renovation of the Beech Science Center, Richard L. Jantz Stadium, Richardson Performing Arts Center, the Cole Hall residence for freshmen women, Mossman Hall, and the Deets Library. These projects, combined with the Heart of the Hill Project which rebuilt the 77 Steps and The Mound (part of a unique Southwestern tradition), have transformed the core of the Winfield campus as will the new residence hall, expected to open in 2023.

Professional Studies administrative offices are located 45 minutes away in Wichita, providing easy access to learners and amenities in Kansas’ largest city. McConnell Air Force Base is just a few blocks from the Wichita location.

POSITION DETAILS

For more information about this opportunity, to include a complete listing of Desired Attributes and the Leadership Agenda, please review the Position Profile.  If the direct link doesn’t work in this advertisement, please go to our website at https://eflassociates.cbiz.com/ and click on Open Positions and Higher Education. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

EFL Associates (https://eflassociates.cbiz.com/), an executive search firm, is assisting Southwestern College with its search for this important leadership role.  All calls and inquiries should be made through the search firm. Nominations and applications will be held in strict confidence and candidates will remain confidential until the final stage of the search, at which time the express permission of finalists will be obtained before making their candidacy public.  In addition, no contact to references will be made without prior approval of the candidate.  To be considered for this opportunity, please follow the application steps outlined below:

• STEP 1: Interested candidates should email their letter of interest and résumé or curriculum vitae to ApplyHigherEd@eflassociates.com.
• STEP 2: Complete a brief (2-3 minutes) online application:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SouthwesternCollegePresident

KEY DATES

• Application deadline is January 25, 2022
• Semi-Finalist Interviews are tentatively scheduled for the first week of March 2022
• Campus Interviews are tentatively scheduled for late March 2022
• The desired start date is July 1, 2022, or sooner upon mutual agreement

CONFIDENTIAL INQUIRIES

Steve Waldron, JD

VP & Managing Director, Higher Education Practice

816-945-5423 (direct)

Email:  swaldron@eflassociates.com  

NOMINATIONS & APPLICATION QUESTIONS

If you would like to provide a nomination, please email all pertinent information (including an email address and phone number of the nominee) to:

Ms. Angela Lilje

Practice & Project Manager, Higher Education Practice

816-945-5410 (direct)

Email: alilje@eflassociates.com

Southwestern College is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a policy of non-discrimination/non- harassment of any of its students, employees or contractors based on an individual’s race, religion, color, gender, age, national origin, ancestry, marital status, military and veteran status, registered domestic partner status, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, or any other legally protected characteristic.