VICE PROVOST, STUDENT EQUITY, ACCESS, AND SUCCESS

UNIVERISTY OF MASSACHUSETTS, BOSTON

The University of Massachusetts Boston invites applications for the position of Vice Provost, Student Equity, Access, and Success (VP, SEAS). Reporting to the Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the VP SEAS will have the opportunity to join UMass Boston to further its commitment to academic excellence, diversity, and community engagement. With a strong dedication to student success, UMass Boston offers a range of programs and services designed to support students throughout their academic journey, from admission to graduation. Led by the VP, SEAS, the university's Student Equity, Access, and Success (SEAS) unit plays a critical role in this effort, providing students with access to equity-minded and inclusive resources, services, and learning opportunities that support their academic and career goals. Through its various departments and programs, including Inclusive Excellence, Pathway Programs, and Academic and Career Engagement and Success (ACES), SEAS works collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students to design and coordinate integrated academic and career programming that recognizes the cultural wealth and diversity of identities and experiences that comprise the UMass Boston community. As outlined in its strategic plan, UMass Boston is committed to continuing to expand and enhance its student success initiatives, recognizing the critical role that these programs play in promoting academic achievement, social mobility, and lifelong success. The VP, SEAS will take a leading role in developing and executing innovative strategies that support a diverse community of undergraduate and graduate students and further the university's mission and strategic plan.

The VP, SEAS is responsible for leading the Student Equity, Access, and Success (SEAS) unit, which comprises the following departments and programs:

• Academic & Career Engagement & Success Center
  • U54 UMB – DF/HCC Partnership
  • Career Engagement and Employer Partnerships
  • Academic and Career Advising

• Office for Advising Excellence
  
  
• Inclusive Excellence
  • Center for Academic Excellence
  • Ross Center for Disability Services
  • Department of Undergraduate Studies
    
    
• Pathways & Student Success Programs
  • Early College
  • Pathways & Multilingual Programs
  • Student Support Services
  • Upward Bound
  • Upward Bound Math-Science
  • Urban Scholars
    
    
• Asian American Resource Office (AARO)
  
  
• SEAS Central
  • Business Operations
  • Technology Team
  • Project Management

The Vice Provost works collaboratively with the Provost, Vice Chancellors, Deans, faculty, staff, and students to design and coordinate integrated, data-informed academic and career programming and services that recognize the cultural wealth and diversity of identities and experiences that comprise the UMass Boston community, with a particular emphasis on advancing equitable academic outcomes through effective retention strategies, seamless pre-collegiate and transfer pathways, cultivating a sense of belonging, aligning and coordinating academic and career advising, expanding experiential learning opportunities, offering proactive support for degree completion, and implementing data-informed and equity-minded practices.

Further opportunities for the next VP, SEAS include:

Provide People-Centered Leadership

Cultural leadership, effective communication, and the ability to lead people through change with strong emotional intelligence is a priority for the next VP. UMass Boston seeks a leader who can listen deeply and build unity across distinct departments. The successful candidate will model maturity, resilience, transparency, and the ability to develop individuals and teams. Experience and skill with systems thinking, especially during the current era of shifting federal priorities, will be important.

Build and Mentor a High-Performing Team

The VP will be an experienced leader committed to the continuous development of a dedicated team with a focus on engaging best practices in student outcomes. An important way the VP will demonstrate their commitment to promoting student success and advancing equity will be to focus their energies on recruiting, onboarding, and supporting associate and assistant vice provosts and colleagues who comprise SEAS’s departments. The investment in mentoring team members and supporting their training will signal SEAS’s priorities, as will holding individuals and teams accountable for fulfilling their charge to the institution and the contemporary student body that UMass Boston serves.

Promote Opportunities to Collaborate Internally and Externally

Partnering with campus leadership and local, regional, national, and international stakeholders to develop and sustain academic partnerships that support student success and promote equitable academic outcomes will be increasingly important in the future.  The VP will lead efforts to build key partnerships that will further elevate student services and academic pathways at the pre-collegiate, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Experienced leaders will appreciate the challenge of funding the collection of programs and departments within SEAS in the current national environment. The next VP will be solution-oriented and proactive in seeking out relationships and resources that will advance SEAS’s important contributions to students and alumni. Through these relationships, UMass Boston will continue its nationally prominent role in leading efforts to eradicate inequities and advance post-secondary success.

Ensure Effective Stewardship of Financial Resources

The VP will lead the unit budgeting process and operations to advance impact in services, systems, spaces, and technology. The VP SEAS will maximize physical and financial resources within the unit, as to continue to serve as the hub for student support with an ongoing commitment to the strategic priorities of SEAS and UMass Boston. These priorities include longstanding commitments for which UMass Boston is well known and newer initiatives such as Early College. The VP’s skill and persistence in identifying ways to tether funding sources to SEAS initiatives will advance the campus' student success and equity goals. The VP will prepare grant proposals to new and existing federal, state, and local government and private funders, with a focus on promoting student success and advancing equity. The VP SEAS will identify and pursue strategies to sustain resources to maintain the continuity of services.

Desired Qualifications and Characteristics

The successful candidate has an earned doctorate and significant experience in leadership in managing academic advising, career services, academic support services, or relevant student services.   As an experienced and transformational leader, the VP SEAS possesses organizational and operational expertise, including demonstrated evidence of effective change management, personnel development, and complex budget oversight. The next VP SEAS will be a highly strategic, visionary, and collaborative leader with the ability to architect innovative and impactful student support services within an institution that is deeply committed to its students, faculty, staff, and greater communities.   In addition, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following attributes:

• Deep knowledge of current high-impact practices in holistic academic advising, career services, student development and student success.
• Experience developing and implementing work-based learning models and/or career literacy initiatives
• Significant experience designing, implementing, and assessing high-impact services for the contemporary college student in a diverse, urban, educational setting. 
• Evidenced success with implementing equity-minded practices, culturally sustaining practices and restorative justice models.
• Demonstrated personnel development and management skills, including the ability to lead teams and encourage initiative, teamwork, collaboration, and creative/innovative thinking.  Experience working in a collective bargaining environment is preferred.
• Illustrated ability to develop strategic partnerships on and off campus, and to oversee major projects from development to implementation.
• Experience with leading strategic planning and programs evaluation, including the assessment of co-curricular learning outcomes.
• Demonstrated financial management skills required, including budget development and oversight.  Experience with grant development, writing and implementation is preferred.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including presentation skills and the ability to communicate the mission and goals of SEAS to administrators, staff, faculty, alumni, and potential partners and funders.

This is a full-time position that will be performed on-site in Massachusetts. UMass Boston expects to pay within an approximate range between $205,000 and $225,000 for this position.  The specific pay for this position will be determined by the University based on the consideration of all relevant factors when and if it decides to extend an offer of employment. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

DSG Storbeck has been exclusively retained for this engagement, which is being led by Jim Sirianni, PhD and Laura Bertonazzi, EdD. Express interest in this role by filling out the Talent Profile [https://www.dsgco.com/search/22546-university-of-massachusetts-boston-vice-provost-student-equity-access-and-success/] or emailing the search team directly at laura.bertonazzi@dsgco.com. All inquiries and discussions are strictly confidential.

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HR@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.