Vice President for Administration

Position Overview

The Vice President for Administration (VPA) is a senior executive officer providing strategic vision, institutional leadership, and administrative oversight for the university's operational infrastructure. This portfolio includes Facilities and Asset Management, Human Resources, and Information Technology. Managing a 40-acre main campus with historically significant but aging infrastructure, the VPA ensures an exceptional environment for approximately 1,500 students.

As a high-level thought leader and key advisor to the President, the VPA drives the execution, phased implementation, and comprehensive cost forecasting for the university's existing campus master plan. Additionally, the VPA steers executive-level strategies for the optimization, management, or disposition of the university's off-campus real estate portfolio. The VPA exercises executive governance through a team of skilled, direct-report directors across facilities, HR, and IT.

Executive Direct Reports

• Director of Facilities and Asset Management
• Director of Human Resources
• Chief Information Officer / Director of Information Technology

Key Executive Responsibilities:

1. Executive Leadership & Institutional Strategy

• Cabinet-Level Thought Leadership: Serve as a core member of the President's leadership team, aligning administrative, physical, technological, and human capital strategies with the university's mission.
• Master Plan Cost Estimation: Lead the financial scoping and analysis of the existing campus master plan, identifying, projecting, and validating all capital costs required for implementation.
• Phased Capital Planning: Translate the master plan into actionable, phased development projects backed by accurate multi-year budgeting and fiscal projections.
• Board of Trustees Liaison: Prepare and present comprehensive master plan financial models, capital risk assessments, and progress updates to the Board of Trustees' administrative and finance committees.

2. Strategic Facilities & Asset Stewardship

• Historic Preservation Costing: Direct high-level capital renewal strategies that modernize student housing and learning spaces in accordance with the master plan, accurately budgeting for the premium costs associated with safeguarding historically important assets.
• Off-Campus Real Estate Strategy: Govern the strategy for the university's off-campus property footprint, ensuring non-contiguous holdings align with or support the goals of the broader master plan, and executing property acquisitions or dispositions to maximize liquid capital.
• Residential Infrastructure Alignment: Partner with senior Student Affairs leadership to ensure campus operations continuously support an optimal environment for the 1,200+ residential students.

3. Strategic Human Resources Governance

• Workforce Architecture: Oversee the institutional strategy for talent acquisition, retention, total rewards, performance management, and succession planning.
• Campus Culture & Inclusion: Guide initiatives that cultivate a high-performing, inclusive, and legally compliant workplace culture across all academic and administrative divisions.

4. Information Technology Strategy & Oversight

• Digital Transformation: Provide executive advocacy for enterprise-wide technology solutions, cyber-security posture, and cloud-based infrastructure migrations to support both current operations and future master plan expansions.
• Business Continuity: Ensure the deployment of robust data security protocols and disaster recovery plans across both administrative systems and student-facing networks.

5. Fiscal Stewardship & Risk Management

• Divisional Budget Management: Authorize and govern multi-million-dollar operational and capital improvement budgets across facilities, IT, and HR divisions.
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): Oversee legal compliance, institutional safety protocols, worker's compensation strategies, insurance lines, and OSHA standards across all campus assets.

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Advanced Degree: Master's degree in business administration (MBA), Higher Education Administration, Public Administration, or a related field required.
• Executive Experience: Minimum of 10-12 years of progressive, senior leadership experience, preferably within a residential higher education institution or a highly complex non-profit/corporate environment.
• Multi-Disciplinary Oversight: Proven track record of managing large, diverse administrative portfolios, specifically showing executive success in Facilities/Real Estate and Human Resources.
• Direct Report Management: Experience managing highly skilled directors or department heads in technical fields (such as construction, IT, and human resources).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Financial Modeling & Cost Estimation: Advanced capability in developing complex cost projections, financial feasibility studies, and life-cycle cost analyses for large-scale construction and institutional infrastructure projects.
• Strategic Execution: Exceptional ability to operationalize and execute complex, multi-year institutional master plans and guide diverse stakeholder groups toward unified goals.
• Real Estate Acumen: Sophisticated understanding of commercial real estate transactions, asset disposition methods, and property valuation concepts.
• Human Capital: Deep understanding of strategic HR metrics, organizational design, federal labor standards, and other employment regulations.
• Executive Communication: Elite written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to inspire confidence among trustees, donors, faculty, staff, and students.