Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the second-largest campus in the University of Tennessee System, seeks a collaborative academic team builder and visionary to serve as Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. This senior administrator will have a key role in charting the future of this growing university as it continues to create outstanding student experiences and embrace and develop productive and profitable partnership opportunities to enhance its educational programs.

For complete information on this search, see the Search Profile at

http://myersmcrae.com/skins/userfiles/files/UTC-Provost.pdf

The Opportunity

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a national model for metropolitan universities. In collaboration with its many regional partners, UTC offers students an experiential learning environment with outstanding teaching delivered by a talented and committed faculty.

The University offers bachelor’s, master’s, specialist’s, and doctoral degree programs. More than 11,500 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in courses across its five instructional units: Arts and Sciences; Business; Engineering and Computer Science; Health, Education, and Professional Studies; and the Graduate School. UTC’s Honor College provides a network of programs and resources for students at all levels of their undergraduate careers.

Dedicated to providing quality education to a diverse population of students, UTC is a Carnegie-classified community-engaged university. It is actively involved with regional municipalities, schools, businesses, and industries and offers expanded instructional opportunities that respond to area needs.

The University is committed to providing a student-oriented learning experience. Students benefit from small classes, personalized advising, and frequent opportunities to interact with faculty.

Research is a growing priority at UTC for both faculty and students, with benefits reaching well beyond the campus. Effective teaching and faculty involvement in scholarship, research, and creative activities foster the intellectual growth of the faculty, provide students with opportunities to participate in the development and application of new knowledge, and enhance the region’s economic development growth.

The University is committed to diversity, inclusion, and other programs that contribute to the cultural and ethnic diversity of the campus. Through aggressive recruitment efforts, UTC has significantly increased the minority student enrollment to approximately 25 percent.

Under the accomplished leadership of Chancellor Steven R. Angle and his Executive Leadership Team, UTC is well positioned to take advantage of future opportunities.

The Position

The Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (“Provost”) is the chief academic officer of the University. Reporting directly to Chancellor Steven R. Angle, the Provost serves as a member of the Chancellor’s Executive Leadership Team.

Currently reporting to the Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs are the deans of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Health, Education and Professional Studies; Engineering and Computer Science; the Graduate School, the Library, and the Honors College. Academic Affairs also encompasses several support units, such as the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Institutional Research.

To be successful at UTC, the Provost will be a collaborative decision maker, who seeks the opinions and suggestions of deans and other leaders in developing programs and initiatives. One who values the art of listening and transparency, the Provost will know and embrace higher education best practices and understand and support both undergraduate and graduate education.

Effective communication skills will be key in working across the University, as well as with the community and UTC’s numerous partners. The ability to connect with people at all levels of the University, from students to trustees, to community and state leaders, the Provost will be articulate, forward-thinking, knowledgeable on academic issues and processes, and committed to being visible on the campus and in the community.

This executive-level administrator will be a servant leader as well as a seasoned and politically astute representative of the University. In support of the University’s mission, the Provost will advance the strategic goals, diversity, faculty and student research, leadership and faculty development, and wise stewardship of resources.

Preferred Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have an earned doctorate in a recognized academic discipline, with credentials consistent with those of a tenured full professor.

Additional professional qualifications and personal characteristics will include:

• A proven record of broad, progressive, and substantive administrative experience equal to or above the dean level
• Understanding and knowledge of trends and issues in higher education
• Demonstrated commitment to excellence in teaching, research and creative activities, and public service
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion
• Demonstrated ability to relate well to students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and to the leadership of the community
• Demonstrated commitment to achieving the mission of the University
• Understanding of the mission of an engaged metropolitan university
• An appreciation for the mix of traditional arts and sciences and professional programs
• The ability to build on UTC’s strategic initiatives, including student-success initiatives in collaboration with the Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management and Student Success
• Commitment to support a vibrant undergraduate research program in collaboration with the Vice Chancellor for Research, facilitating and enhancing interdisciplinary programs and building the University’s international programs
• Commitment to enhancing and growing experiential learning
• An established track record of being a consensus builder and of launching academic initiatives involving a process of open communication
• Demonstrated skills to create a vibrant, collaborative atmosphere and environment between Academic Affairs, faculty, staff, and students
• A dedication to transparency in decision-making, diversity, and open to critical feedback
• Ability to be instrumental in helping to identify those programs that make UTC unique as well as identifying the needs of the community, both local and regional

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

UTC was founded in 1886 as the then-private Chattanooga University and was renamed in 1889 as U.S. Grant University. In 1907, the University changed its name to the University of Chattanooga and, over its first 83 years, operated as a private college. In 1969, it merged with a junior college, Chattanooga City College, and the University of Tennessee, one of the oldest land-grant universities in the nation, to form The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

From its founding, UTC has achieved institutional excellence on the basis of an extraordinary blend of the private and public traditions of American education. Its membership in the UT System has enabled the University to establish a stronger foundation on which to build than otherwise would have been possible. From the strength provided by this union, it has developed the ability to forge its own strategies, plans, and programs to further position itself as a top-rated academic institution.

Since joining the UT system, UTC has grown significantly in enrollment and its academic and athletic program offerings, as well as its physical plant. As a Carnegie-classified community- engaged university, the University is committed to sustaining academic excellence that will enable students to meet the global challenges with which they will live and work.

From this commitment, UTC has been able to fulfill its mandate to devote the major portion of its resources to the development of excellence in undergraduate education and in selected areas of graduate study. Moreover, it is dedicated to meeting the general and professional educational needs of area residents, providing strong community involvement and leadership, and emphasizing applied research and public service.

Additionally, the University’s NCAA Division I athletics program has strengthened measurably over the past several years. These programs have produced positive results for all involved while enabling UTC to engage in more ways with both its student body and the greater Chattanooga community.

UTC enrolled more than 10,000 undergraduate students in Fall 2016, thus weathering the potential negative enrollment impact of the “Tennessee Promise” program, which enables free community college attendance for all Tennessee students. The Graduate School enjoyed a 6 percent growth in enrollment to 1,363 in Fall 2016, benefitting from both an expansion in academic offerings and a larger and more effective promotional effort. Its goal is to grow by approximately 5 percent annually and to exceed the 1,500 enrollment level in two years.

The four academic colleges and the Graduate School of the University offer 45 baccalaureate degrees with 101 program concentrations; 13 graduate certificate programs with 36 program concentrations; 20 master’s programs with 47 program concentrations, an education specialist program with 4 program concentrations, and 5 doctoral degrees with 6 program concentrations.

Two additional units are led by deans: the Honors College and the Library. UTC has 10 Chairs of Excellence and an array of endowed professorships.

The final component of the academic complex is The UTC Center of Excellence in Applied Computational Science and Engineering, also called The SimCenter. The Computational Sciences Ph.D. program was changed from Computational Engineering last year when the University was successful in obtaining a reclassification of the program’s SIP code to the current “Computational Sciences” designation. This enables the University to develop new subject concentrations that might appeal to a broader universe of potential students.

As a result of this reclassification, UTC now offers a Ph.D. concentration in Computer Science in addition to the original concentration in Computational Engineering that has been a successful degree program for more than a decade, and it will soon introduce a new Mathematics concentration to strengthen the overall Applied Mathematics program and further attract doctoral students.

Over the past few decades, UTC has progressed from its early status as a commuter college. A more residential institution, UTC is now a “destination university” for students across Tennessee, with growing recruiting success in the greater Memphis and Nashville areas.

Its enrollment has grown by 40 percent since 2000, and 90 percent of its students come from in-state locations. Over the recent period of enrollment decline throughout higher education, the University has been able to slightly increase its base of undergraduate students. UTC extends special tuition arrangements to attract students from six nearby counties in Georgia and one county in Alabama, and it has begun collaborative programs with several internationally based universities. The leadership team would like to expand total enrollment to the 15,000-level by 2025 while expanding further the proportion of out-of-state and international students on campus.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

UTC’s 418-acre campus is nestled next to downtown Chattanooga, the fourth-largest city in Tennessee. Home to some of the world’s most famous brands and industries—MoonPie, Little Debbie, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Chattem, Volkswagen—Chattanooga is a hub for successful business enterprise, a regional tourism center, and a rewarding place to live. The UTC campus has perfect access to the thriving business environment necessary to support real-world learning experiences.

In addition to its numerous outdoor recreational offerings, the city has museums, several performing arts venues, nationally recognized health care providers, outstanding private and public schools, and well-established neighborhoods.

Three major interstate highways—I-24, I-75, and I-59—meet in Chattanooga. The city is an easy drive to three major cities: 120 miles northwest of Atlanta, 135 miles southeast of Nashville, and 120 miles southwest of Knoxville.

For Additional Information on UTC

Division Website: https://www.utc.edu/academic-affairs/

Factbook: http://www.utc.edu/planning-evaluation-institutional-research/factbook/

UTC Strategic Plan: http://www.utc.edu/strategic-plan/

Chancellor’s Report to The Foundation – 2017: https://www.utc.edu/development/pdfs/chancellor-report-17-lo.pdf

Nominations and Application Process

Confidential inquiries are welcomed; nominations are invited.

1. To Apply - Applications must include:

1) Letter of interest

2) Current curriculum vitae

3) At least five references with full contact and email information

   (References will not be contacted without applicant’s consent.)

Kenny Daugherty, President of Myers McRae Executive Search and Consulting, is assisting the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with this search.

Myers McRae Executive Search and Consulting

515 Mulberry Street, Suite 200 | Macon, GA 31201

(478) 330-6222 | www.myersmcrae.com

The University of Tennessee Chattanooga is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution in the provision of its education and employment programs and services. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status.