/Institutions/Mount-Saint-Mary-College/json/2024-2025-Handbook/Faculty-Handbook-2024-2025-local.json

/Institutions/Mount-Saint-Mary-College/json/2024-2025-Handbook/Faculty-Handbook-2024-2025.json

Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA)

Selection

A committee composed of roughly an even number of representatives from staff/administration and College faculty will be selected by the President to serve on the selection committee for the VPAA. While the number of faculty serving on the committee is determined by the President, the college faculty elect their own representatives to the search committee. The President will select the Chairperson of the search committee. The committee will formulate the advertisement, collect and review application dossiers, select candidates for interview, and offer campus visits to top candidates. Feedback from the campus community following candidate campus visits will be reviewed by the search committee and incorporated into the final ranking/recommendations of candidates that the committee sends to the President. The President makes the selection.

Responsibilities and Duties

The Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College is the College’s chief academic officer, reporting directly to the President. The Vice President for Academic Affairs provides oversight and vision for academic programs and policies; faculty recruitment and evaluation; and academic budget planning and implementation. Current direct reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs include the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Academic Deans, the Academic Division Chairs, the Registrar, and directors of the following academic units: Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), Career Center, Office of Digital Learning and Instructional Design, the Library, and the Writing Center.

The Vice President is a critical member of the College leadership team. In addition to serving as an advisor to the President, the VPAA also works with the Board of Trustees in areas of educational policy and management of College resources, and serves as an advocate for faculty and students on all academic matters.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy and Academic Leadership

• Serves as a member of the President’s leadership team, leading specific strategic initiatives identified by the President and contributing actively to the leadership team.
• Serves as the principal College academic planning officer, acting with the input and involvement of the Academic Deans, Chairs of the Academic Divisions, Academic Affairs staff, and faculty at large.
• Serves as the main academic liaison to the Board of Trustees and the Academic Affairs Committee. Prepares documents and reports in the areas of academic responsibility.
• Participates in program development as a member of the Program Development and Curriculum Committees. Provides high-level oversight for all academic initiatives and offices related to Academic Affairs.
• Participates as an ex officio member on all faculty committees, unless as specified in committee descriptions.
• Oversees orientation and development of faculty.
• Is the chief academic advisor to the President.
• Discharges the duties of the President in their absence.
• Coordinates institutional self-studies and reports to assure continued accreditation.

Operations

• Participates in College committees and meetings outlined in the Faculty Handbook or as appropriate.
• Fulfills VPAA responsibilities at convocation, commencement, and other formal events.
• Receives recommendations from the Faculty Senate and other Faculty and academic committees, reviews these recommendations, and presents a position on these recommendations to the President and/or to the Cabinet when appropriate.
• Works closely with the President and the Chief Financial Officer to make decisions about new faculty positions.
• Appoints academic Division Chairs in consultation with faculty after receiving the recommendation from the division.
• Recommends to the President the appointment of Deans after consultation with faculty.
• Holds final responsibility for all budgets in Academic Affairs and works with the President and Cabinet on College budget matters.
• Submits an annual report to the President.
• Serves as Secretary to the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee.
• Determines salary recommendations and conducts hiring negotiations with new faculty and Academic Affairs staff for which the President has final authority.
• Ensures timely evaluation of all faculty by the Promotion and Tenure Committee and makes recommendations to the President and Board.

Staff Supervision and Development

• Promotes a culture of high performance and develops staff using a supportive, collaborative, and data-informed approach.
• Ensures all areas are customer-focused in their dealings with students, faculty, staff and others.
• Provides leadership by overseeing, directing, and supervising employees in the Academic Affairs offices. This includes actively participating in the selection, hiring, training, and evaluation of all direct reports, in collaboration with the Office of Human Resources.
• Orients and guides direct reports by communicating departmental standard procedures, and philosophy of mentoring and supervising students.
• Facilitates and directs the process of goal setting for all direct reports, conducts regular meetings to monitor workflow, and offers feedback and guidance to support the professional development of direct reports.
• Delegates tasks to appropriate departmental staff members as new College initiatives arise.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Evaluation

The evaluation of the VPAA will follow the procedures for evaluating administrative officers of the College as directed by the Office of Human Resources.

Term Continuity or Termination of Appointment

The VPAA serves at the pleasure of the President. Therefore, the individual can be terminated at any time, similar to other at-will employment positions. Terms of appointment vary according to the contracted agreement between the President and the VPAA.