Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success

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Reporting directly to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success actively participates in administrative and academic decision-making processes within the Division of Academic Affairs. The Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success will be responsible for working collaboratively with the Provost and Academic Affairs team, the deans of the OU College of Arts and Sciences, and professional schools (Business Administration, Engineering and Computer Science, Education and Human Services, Health Sciences, Medicine, and Nursing) to develop innovative, student-centered initiatives that drive high academic achievement, retention and timely graduation of a diverse student body, development of an undergraduate pipeline to graduate education, and/or professional development. The Associate Provost will enhance existing and develop new initiatives and programs centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion with a focus on cultural and contextual resonance for diverse underrepresented student populations and create an inclusive and equity-driven culture that broadens opportunities for student success.

The Associate Provost will ensure that there is effective campus-wide communication on key academic advising-related initiatives; equitable allocation of advising resources across campus; uniform advising experience for students resulting from common advising training and the use of a common set of advising resources, and technology. The Associate Provost will be an advocate for academic advisers across campus and collaborate with Student Affairs and other Academic Affairs units that directly influence student success including, but not limited to, first-year advising and professional academic advising, Student Financial Services, the Center for Multicultural Initiatives, Global Engagement, the Registrar, and Enrollment Management. The Associate Provost will also work to ensure that all OU students have the opportunity to learn in an affirming, inclusive environment. A university-wide initiative to assess high-impact practices will be a priority in addition to diversity-focused programming, best practices in culturally resonant curricula and teaching, and data-informed decision making. The Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success will also involve considerable collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) to ensure focused analyses on the OU student experience and the implementation of the OU Student Success Dashboard. The Associate Provost will work with the Provost in leading efforts that reduce and eliminate gaps in retention, academic performance, and time to graduation between underrepresented minorities (URM) and non-URM, Pell-eligible, and first-generation college-educated students, and will assess the availability of a variety of high-impact practices and co-curricular student experiences and their impact on student recruitment, retention, and academic performance. In collaboration with OIRA the Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success will develop effective training and support the uptake of the newly established OU Student Success and Equity Dashboard ensuring that leaders from all academic units are well versed in the Dashboard. Furthermore, the Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success will ensure that academic units are incorporating data, measurable objectives, and outcomes measures into regular departmental and program planning. These will include specific initiatives to optimize student success focused on recruitment, retention, GPA, time to graduation, and reducing the equity gaps that exist between and among URM, Pell-eligible, and first-generation-educated student groups and their respective counterparts. The Associate Provost will also take responsibility for leadership, direction, and oversight of administrative units that contribute to student success and coordinate these efforts with various units including eLearning, the Financial Aid Office, the Registrar, and Academic Advising among others. S/he/they will work with the Office of First-Year Advising under the Division of Student Affairs to ensure smooth transitions and articulations between first-year advising and subsequent connections to inter-department and academic unit advising. Furthermore, the Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success will work with the academic affairs team to ensure the integration of student success efforts within the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in support of the Scholar-Teacher Model. The Associate Provost will also work to ensure that all OU students have the opportunity to learn in an inclusive environment characterized by high-impact practices (HIPs), diversity-focused programming and curriculum, and data-informed decision making. To support a high sense of belonging and intention for success among all OU students, the Associate Provost will work with the academic affairs team and respective academic programs to develop a HIP portfolio that assists Academic Affairs in measuring student engagement in various HIPs throughout their OU experience. Considerable collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment will be needed to ensure the ability to clearly measure the impact of various student experiences to determine targeted best and most impactful practices at OU. Specific responsibilities include: Collaborate with Student Affairs and other Academic Affairs units that directly influence student success including, but not limited to, first-year advising and advising throughout the various academic units, the Financial Aid Office, the Registrar, Career Planning, and Enrollment Management. Collaborate closely with the leadership of the schools and college to create and support curricular and co-curricular programming and academic experiences that enhance student engagement, success, retention, and graduation and optimize the breadth and impact of high-impact practices throughout the OU experience. Work with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment to ensure effective faculty and administrative training and uptake of the newly established OU Student Success and Equity Dashboard ensuring that leaders from all academic units are well trained in the Dashboard. Ensure that academic units are incorporating data, measurable objectives, and outcomes measures into regular departmental and program planning. These will include specific initiatives to optimize student success focused on recruitment, retention, GPA, time to graduation, and reducing the equity gaps that exist between and among URM, Pell-eligible, and first-generation-educated student groups and their respective counterparts. Work with Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to ensure the development of a collaborative model to support students holistically throughout their OU experience. Work with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment to ensure effective planning, tracking, analyzing, and response to issues associated with, but not limited to student satisfaction, student performance, health and wellbeing, and student engagement. Champion efforts to utilize data to engage in strategic decision-making and curricular and co-curricular programming in connection with the uptake of the new OU Dashboard for Student Success. Serve as a strong advocate for co-curricular programming and student success-related needs. Collaborate with Student Affairs to build supplemental curricular, mentorship, and tutoring programs to increase student success and support the needs of emerging student populations. Work collaboratively with Academic Affairs colleagues to assist the Provost in analyzing and developing recommendations in response to evolving issues impacting the achievement of strategic initiatives. Develop and maintain strong relationships with key campus administrative areas, faculty, and leaders to enhance the planning and implementation of strategic student success initiatives. Other duties as assigned. The desired candidate will be comfortable engaging in a mission-driven team and supporting Academic Affairs, building supportive relationships that optimize student success and engagement throughout campus. The Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Success will work to ensure streamlined programming, communication, and robust curricular and co-curricular activities. In addition, s/he/they will develop and maintain efforts with individual the schools, college, and academic units to build research engagement, mentoring, community engagement and service-learning, and short-term study abroad opportunities.Tenured faculty appointment in an academic department with a minimum rank of Associate professor. The equivalent of or the earned rank of full professor is preferred. Earned doctorate or a terminal degree in an academic discipline and a substantial record of successful academic experience with demonstrated leadership roles. Minimum of three years of administrative experience such as department chair, unit director, program director, or associate dean. Outstanding communication skills in writing, speaking, and listening. Demonstrated skills in program planning, project management, and budget development. Experience in working on the development of educational success initiatives focused on first-generation-educated and underrepresented student populations. Experience in publishing and presenting student success efforts is desired. Evidence of successful collaboration and interdisciplinary and interprofessional work. Experience with college/university curricula, policies, and procedures, and program assessment. Knowledge of academic support services and current trends in higher education. Ability to handle sensitive situations and information with discretion. Demonstrated commitment to student success and creating equity-focused and culturally resonant initiatives within the educational experience.

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