Assistant Vice President of Equity and Access

Job no: 525362
Position Type: Staff Full Time
Campus: UMass President's Office
Campus Location: Beacon Street-Boston
Department: Academic Affairs
Date opened: Oct 15 2024 Eastern Daylight Time
Applications close:

The University of Massachusetts System seeks an inspiring, collaborative, and solution-oriented leader to serve as its inaugural Assistant Vice President of Equity and Access (AVP). Reporting to the Senior Vice President & Deputy Vice President for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Equity, the AVP will serve as the System’s primary advisor on all issues related to equity and access and aid in developing and sustaining a new equity and access unit within the System office. Working collaboratively across System campuses, they will assess and address needs that enhance the System experience for all constituents in order to continue advancing and sustaining an intellectually curious, welcoming, and diverse community for students, staff, and faculty.

The AVP will provide innovative leadership in the System’s effort to cultivate a stronger and more inclusive university community by providing information, sharing resources and best practices, and facilitating conversations around issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

THE ROLE OF ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF EQUITY AND ACCESS

Reporting to the Senior Vice President & Deputy Vice President for AASAE, the inaugural AVP will be responsible for supporting the development of a new equity and access unit within the System office. They will work with colleagues in Institutional Research (IR), DEI, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Human Resources on the System’s five campuses and in the System office to support these efforts. The AVP will also work with the Office of General Counsel. The AVP will be responsible for overseeing and growing pipeline programs, such as the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship and the Commonwealth Collegiate Academy.

The ideal leader will serve through both influence and strategy development and will possess the ability to evaluate the progress of the System toward its vision for equity and diversity. The AVP must be able to convene and work effectively with people at all different levels, including state legislatures, senior leadership, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community. The AVP also must have extensive knowledge of existing research and best practices to advance equity and access in higher education.

PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS

While no single candidate will likely have all the ideal qualifications, candidates should possess many of the following qualifications and characteristics:

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social science, business, education, or related field 5+ years of experience within the higher education policy, equity and access, diversity, inclusion, and similar fields.
• Experience navigating basic data visualization tools such as Tableau.
• Experience developing equity and access policies related to or within the higher education industry.
• Excellent communication skills and experience presenting findings to decision-makers.
• Ability to collaborate with internal and external audiences, work effectively and independently on multiple priorities with clear deadlines.
• Experience working with government, for-profit, non-profit, and education sector professionals.
• Experience executing conferences, summits, or similar events.
• Knowledge of equity and access literature and frameworks as they relate to policy, process, and implementation.
• Experience in diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and access in higher education, and the ability to synthesize and implement state and federal policy as it relates to higher education institutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Terminal degree in social science, business, education, law, or related field.
• Advanced research and data experience.
• Prior experience working in the higher education sector.
• Strong understanding of federal, state, and higher education equity and access policy, process, law, and regulation.

WORK ARRANGEMENT

The Office of the President is supportive of flexible work arrangements when aligned with the ability to meet the needs of the unit and the essential duties of the position. The location of this position is flexible (Option to work in offices located in Boston, MA and Westborough, MA) and can operate in a hybrid model.

TO APPLY

The University of Massachusetts System has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the search for the Assistant Vice President of Equity and Access. Confidential inquiries, nominations, referrals, and curricula vitae with letters of interest should be sent electronically to the following:

Donna Cramer, Partner
Miguel Santiago, Senior Associate
Ryan Smillie, Senior Search Coordinator
Isaacson, Miller
https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/university-massachusetts-system/assistant-vice-president-equity-and-access

Electronic submission of application materials is strongly preferred.