Provost and Vice President (Academic)

University of Calgary

UNIVERSITY DESCRIPTION

The University of Calgary (UCalgary), is a global intellectual hub located in Canada’s most enterprising city. UCalgary is a bold and spirited institution with a strong vision developed through its Eyes High institutional strategy to be recognized as one of Canada’s top-five research universities, grounded in innovative teaching and learning, and fully engaged with the community it serves and leads. UCalgary is building a community of discovery, creativity, and innovation, aligning its activities to position the university as one of the boldest, most welcoming, spirited, rigorous and well-run institutions in Canada.

Despite its youth, at 53 years of age, UCalgary is already one of the nation’s leading research universities, with over $488M in annual research revenue and 146 research chairs (75 Canada Research Chairs), NSERC Industrial Research Chairs and more than 50 research institutes and centres. UCalgary benefits from the ongoing support of our community, which rallies behind the university, recently completing the third-largest fundraising campaign in Canadian history, surpassing their goal of $1.3B. 

In 2019, the University of Calgary was ranked as the top university under the age of 80 in Canada and as #25 in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In 2019, RE$EARCH Infosource Inc. positioned the University of Calgary as #6 nationwide amongst Canadian research universities. 

SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the President and Vice-Chancellor, the Provost & Vice-President Academic (VPA) is the senior officer of UCalgary, responsible for achieving the strategic academic direction and priorities of the institution – serving as both the Chief Academic Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Calgary. This position is a member of the University’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT), and the President’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

The successful candidate will be offered an academic position with tenure at the rank of Professor. The appointment as Provost & VPA is for a five-year period with the possibility of renewal.

The Provost & VPA functions in a highly demanding environment which requires constant scanning for issues and challenges against multiple priorities and demands on resources. The workload is significant, the issues are frequently complex, and the partnerships and decisions required of the Provost & VPA are critical to UCalgary and its academic success. This position develops and maintains positive and productive relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including other ELT and SLT members, the Board of Governors, faculty, students, staff, alumni, granting agencies, community leaders, other educational institutions, and senior level government officials.

The Provost & VPA has responsibilities across four primary domains:

• Strategic and transformational leadership of the academy;
• Academic operations;
• Student enrolment and experience; and,
• Long-range institutional planning and university operations.

DESIRED CANDIDATE ABILITIES, BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

Given the critical role this individual will play in the University of Calgary’s continued growth and success, it is essential that the successful candidate possess the following education, experience, and personal characteristics:

EDUCATION

• A Ph.D. or equivalent, along with academic qualifications and career accomplishments commensurate with an appointment “With Tenure” at the rank of Full Professor.

EXPERIENCE

• An internationally recognized catalogue of excellent scholarly research and teaching;
• A minimum of 10 years’ progressive experience in leadership as well as significant graduate and/or postdoctoral supervisory experience. Experience in the administration of grants and contracts is key;
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, including not only the ability to lead the academy, but also the ability to work collegially as an integral member of a leadership team;
• The demonstrated ability to acquire the resources necessary to support best-in-class teaching and learning at the University of Calgary;
• Highly attuned political acumen and community awareness;
• The proven ability to create, communicate, and set achievable objectives, and promote and develop an environment for success;
• Strong administration skills and experience managing significant financial resources;
• Demonstrated history of effecting change and leading transformation within a university; and,
• A commitment to continuous learning, and the ability to continuously seek out and acquire new knowledge, skills and expertise.

DHR International Contacts

The University of Calgary is partnering with the executive search firm, DHR International on this search. All deliberations of the Provost & Vice-President (Academic) Advisory Search Committee will be conducted with full confidentiality for all candidates. Inquiries, nominations and applications are invited. Interested candidates should submit confidentially, in electronic form (Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files preferred) a Curriculum Vitae, a summary of accomplishments, and a letter of interest to Provost@dhrinternational.com by September 22^nd, 2020.

The University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and we will support their academic and professional success while they are here. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities.

The University of Calgary’s comprehensive benefits and pension program is designed to promote productive level of health and well-being to staff members through coverage for health, dental, life insurance, income protection for disability, and retirement income planning. The base salary wage range is established to be between $200,000 and $365,000 Canadian dollars per annum and will be negotiated based on the candidate’s skills and experience.