Provost
- Employer
- Luther College
- Location
- Decorah, Iowa
View more
- Executive Administration Jobs
- Provosts
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Institution Type
- Four-Year Institution
Job Details
Luther College invites applications for the role of Provost. Luther seeks an experienced, forward-thinking, and collaborative leader with a deep and abiding commitment to the college’s mission and values.
The Provost will join Luther in the context of disruptive changes in all of higher education, including the opportunity to consider how colleges will respond to a post-pandemic world in which the evolution of student expectations and needs has accelerated. Luther’s dedicated faculty and staff endeavor to ensure an excellent academic and campus experience for current and future students, while recognizing that demographic challenges add to the need to stay alert to possibilities for innovation and iteration in our offerings. The Provost will join these community members, President Jenifer K. Ward, a highly dedicated and student-focused Cabinet, and an engaged Board of Regents in advancing this institutional work. The Provost will also have strong and energized leadership partners in Academic Affairs, Student Engagement, and Student Success as part of the integrated Provost model at Luther, only in its second year. The Provost will have the opportunity to both provide stability and continuity with this nascent model, as well as to identify gaps and adaptations in a spirit of continuous improvement.
The Position: Provost
The Provost at Luther College will be a mission-centered and key voice in the President’s Cabinet and will lead a division that creates an integrated approach to student-facing work, overseeing academic affairs, student engagement, and student success. As the chief academic officer, the Provost will be an individual with academic training, but will understand and affirm the crucial importance at Luther College of co-curricular programs and initiatives; the residential experience; student leadership development; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and retention–with experience in most of these areas. In addition, the Provost, in concert with the President and other cabinet members, will provide energetic and creative leadership and the vision that will take the college to a future-facing transformation of the business model focused on student outcomes.
Reporting to the Provost will be front line administrators in academics, student engagement, and student success. General knowledge of other divisions of Luther College will be necessary going forward, in order to collaborate with the cabinet on developing a strategic roadmap for the immediate future and to work toward shaping funding priorities for a comprehensive campaign. Additionally, the Provost serves as staff liaison to the Board of Regents’ Academic Affairs and Campus Life Committees.
Qualifications
The Provost will bring to the role a record of teaching, scholarly and administrative success reflective of Luther College’s own high standards, coupled with an eye for innovation, a strong work ethic, and a collegial spirit. The successful candidate will possess a Ph.D. or its equivalent in one of the disciplines represented on campus. In addition, the candidate of choice will be:
- A person of proven and steady academic leadership;
- A seasoned administrator with evidence of progressive managerial experience of diverse teams and institution-wide strategic focus;
- A person with deep curiosity about the variety of academic disciplines at the college and their possible intersections;
- An eloquent advocate for the selective, residential, liberal arts college experience;
- A student-centered educator with a history of meaningful engagement with co-curricular and student success initiatives;
- A leader with a proven track record of success in driving diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including both supporting current faculty, staff, and students, and ensuring that recruitment processes for new community members are advanced with an eye toward diversity and inclusion;
- An inclusive decision-maker who builds consensus, makes difficult decisions when necessary, and communicates decisions with alacrity, clarity, and care;
- An entrepreneurial person with financial acumen who will aid the college in matching aspirations with finite resources while thinking creatively about growth opportunities;
- An evidence-driven planner with experience in assessment and outcomes measurement as well as accreditation efforts;
- A leader with a deep understanding of and respect for the college’s commitment to shared governance;
- A superb listener and communicator who is at ease in a multitude of settings with multiple constituencies;
- A person of global perspective;
- A strong manager with a history of and commitment to accountability and implementation;
- A “student” of higher education, knowledgeable about the major trends influencing liberal arts institutions nationally;
- A respectful community member who understands, appreciates and supports the college’s history and mission; and
- An engaged citizen who embraces the character of the college’s surrounding community and will value the quality of life in and around Decorah.
Demonstrated experience in regional accreditation, specialized accreditation, and budget management are required, as are a deep knowledge of the evolution of best practices in and the current state of institutional research, data-informed decision making, and assessment in higher education. Experience with grantseeking is a plus.
Nominations and Applications
For more information about Luther College or to request the full position announcement, please contact Matthew Bills at bills@luther.edu.
Luther College offers an excellent benefit package including expansive paid time off programs, competitive health insurance premiums, generous retirement contribution, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, and tuition benefits for employee, spouse and dependents.
Luther College seeks to build a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students. Luther College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and persons of diverse ethnic backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply. We value the input of multiple viewpoints and perspectives to create an academic community rich with cultural, social, and intellectual diversity. Candidates are encouraged to identify their strengths or experiences that will contribute to this goal.
Interested applicants should send a cover letter addressing their qualifications and experience, a current CV, and contact information for 5 references (who will only be notified in the event that the candidate is a finalist and with the knowledge of the candidate) electronically to Matthew Bills, Director of Human Resources, at bills@luther.edu. Applications will be accepted and reviewed until the role is filled.
Organization
Located in the small northeast Iowa town of Decorah, Luther College is an undergraduate liberal arts institution of about 2,500 students. The college is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Founded in 1861 by Norwegian immigrants, Luther offers more than 60 majors and preprofessional and certificate programs leading to the bachelor of arts degree. Its mission statement emphasizes faith, leadership, and community service. Luther College provides equal opportunity for all qualified persons in its educational programs and activities.
After discussions extending over several years, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided on October 10, 1857, to found a college and began to gather subscriptions for a building fund. In the same year, it also decided that, until such time as suitable buildings could be erected, students should be sent to Concordia College and Seminary in St. Louis, and that a Norwegian professorship should be established there. The first three students went to St. Louis in 1858 and five more followed the next year.
Luther College moves to Decorah
In the summer of 1862 the school was transferred to Decorah; its first home was the building, still standing, at the northwest corner of Winnebago and Main streets. The first building on the college campus was "Main," dedicated October 14, 1865.
The present Main building is the third "Main" to stand on the same site, the two preceding having been destroyed by fire in 1889 and 1942. Though college work was begun in 1861, the Civil War, illness, and other causes left none of that year's freshman class to graduate in 1865. The first graduating class, therefore, was that of 1866.
The classical curriculum established by the founders of the college was changed in 1932 when the requirement that all students take both Greek and Latin was dropped.
For 75 years the school admitted men only; then in 1936 Luther College became coeducational. When the institution celebrated its centennial in 1961, it had an enrollment of 1,357 and a staff of 74 full-time and 12 part-time teachers.
Student body enrollment expands
Expansion has marked Luther's second century with the student body at 2,545 in the fall of 2005. Faculty have increased to 175. The college has expanded physically since 1960 with an extensive building program that included a new union, library, science hall, field house and athletic complex, three residence halls, a music building, an art and theatre building, and a center for worship and performing arts.
Farwell Hall, a residence hall, and a major expansion of the field house, now renamed the Regents Center, were completed in early 1991. The Franklin W. Olin Building, was completed in Fall 1995. Baker Village, a townhouse-style residential complex, opened in Fall 1999. The Center for the Arts opened in Fall 2002.
The college has also expanded its academic program to include the professional areas of nursing and social work, several preprofessional programs, and a study center in England—all based in Luther's commitment to the liberal arts.
I
n the reforming spirit of Martin Luther, Luther College affirms the liberating power of faith and learning. As people of all backgrounds, we embrace diversity and challenge one another to learn in community, to discern our callings, and to serve with distinction for the common good.
As a college of the church, Luther is rooted in an understanding of grace and freedom that emboldens us in worship, study, and service to seek truth, examine our faith, and care for all God’s people.
As a liberal arts college, Luther is committed to a way of learning that moves us beyond immediate interests and present knowledge into a larger world—an education that disciplines minds and develops whole persons equipped to understand and confront a changing society.
As a residential college, Luther is a place of intersection. Founded where river, woodland, and prairie meet, we practice joyful stewardship of the resources that surround us, and we strive to be a community where students, faculty, and staff are enlivened and transformed by encounters with one another, by the exchange of ideas, and by the life of faith and learning.
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