Hendrix College, the Phi Beta Kappa national liberal arts college of Arkansas and a standard-bearer for engaged liberal arts education, seeks a new Executive Vice President, Provost and Dean of the College. A residential institution with approximately 1400 undergraduates and a 12:1 student-faculty ratio, Hendrix has been situated in Conway, 33 miles northwest of Little Rock, since 1884. With a progressive identity derived from its historic relationship with the United Methodist Church, the College is non-sectarian in its admission and educational program and maintains a vision that is national and international in scope. It is one of the 40 Colleges That Change Lives.
Hendrix’s recent history of nimble presidential, faculty and trustee leadership has put it in the vanguard of innovation that conserves the curricular primacy of the arts and sciences within an intimate collegiate setting. Responding to increased financial competition from public higher education, Hendrix implemented its trademark Odyssey Program in 2005, encouraging all Hendrix students to embark on educational adventures in experiential learning. Graduation requirements include the completion of an approved activity in at least three categories: Artistic Creativity, Global Awareness, Professional and Leadership Development, Service to the World, Undergraduate Research, and Special Projects. Students are given recognition on an experiential transcript for completion of approved Odyssey projects. Concurrently, the College pursued a master plan for campus expansion overseen by the seminal New Urbanist architects Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. One measure of the success of these initiatives has been extraordinary institutional growth: between 2005 and 2010, the College grew enrollment by 43 percent, increased net tuition revenue by 60 percent and pushed freshman-to-sophomore retention rates to 88 percent—up seven percentage points.
Looking ahead to its next phase of curricular renewal and an increasingly national enrollment profile, the College now seeks a Provost who has a distinguished record as a scholar, teacher of highly motivated undergraduates and faculty leader. The ideal candidate will be supportive of research and publication within the context of the 3-3 teaching expectations (or appropriate variations thereof) of a liberal arts college. He or she will have the capacity to represent faculty interests with a credible, well-grounded voice, while also taking the lead in advocating for and implementing institutional strategies and objectives. He or she will be a naturally dynamic public speaker and a convincing champion of private liberal education, with a high degree of comfort in engaging College constituents as well as non-academic audiences. He or she should feel genuine enthusiasm for faculty mentorship and development and the political mechanics of academic administration: one-third of Hendrix’s 109 full-time faculty were appointed in the past five years. He or she will have had budgeting and supervisory responsibilities. Candidates should have an interest in pursuing institutional collaboration, through Hendrix’s membership in the Annapolis Group, the Associated Colleges of the South and other channels such as the Hendrix Rwanda Consortium, initiated by Hendrix in partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation in 2009. Also, the ideal candidate will take pleasure in visibly inhabiting a progressive, inclusive Southern community that is a beacon for ambitious students in its state and region. An earned PhD and tenure in a traditional arts and sciences discipline are necessary credentials.
The Provost reports to the President of the College and directly supervises the Assistant to the Provost and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs; three Associate Provosts (for Academic Affairs, Advising and Retention, and Engaged Learning), the Registrar/Director of Institutional Research; the Director of the Bailey Library; the Director of the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling and the Director of the Hendrix-Murphy Programs in Literature and Language.
A complete application will include a letter of interest, a current curriculum vitae and contact information for five professional references (who will not be contacted without the candidate’s prior permission). Expressions of interest, nominations and inquiries should be sent electronically, with application materials as PDF attachments, to Hendrix’s search consultant, Chuck O’Boyle of C. V. O’Boyle, LLC at chuck@cvoboyle.com [3], who will furnish a detailed specification upon request. Telephone inquiries are also welcome and may be made to Mr. O’Boyle directly at 401-919-5767. Development and evaluation of candidates have already begun and will continue until the appointment.
Hendrix College adheres to the principle of equal educational and employment opportunity without regard to age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or national origin. Further, the College is committed to the maintenance of an atmosphere of civility and respect for all students, faculty and staff.