Vice President for Inclusion and Belonging - 471001
University of Richmond

Job Info

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TO APPLY

Confidential inquiries, nominations/referrals, and applications (including CVs and letters of interest responding to the opportunities and challenges outlined above) should be sent electronically to the Isaacson, Miller executive search team via the link below.

Keight Tucker Kennedy, Partner Lehman Robinson, Associate

Alexis Scott, Senior Search Coordinator Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/university-richmond/vice-president-inclusion-and-belonging

THE SEARCH

The University of Richmond seeks a collaborative, bridge-building strategist to serve as the institution's inaugural vice president for inclusion and belonging. For decades, Richmond has made important strides in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion - important components that contribute to a sense of belonging - in its university community. Guided by the university's mission, vision, and values, and a new strategic plan that includes pillars such as belonging and community, as well as well-being, and with the support and partnership of the president, the senior leadership team, and the Board of Trustees, this inaugural vice president will connect and build on robust and ongoing efforts across the university community to foster inclusion and belonging and help to further position the University of Richmond as a leader in the national conversation on belonging in higher education.

Reporting to the president and serving as a member of the president's cabinet, the vice president for inclusion and belonging will be a strategic partner to the president and senior leadership team in enhancing existing efforts related to inclusion and belonging while also establishing and leading new efforts across the university and implementing parts of the university's new strategic plan. This individual will serve as a visible and active resource for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts; lead a strategic framework to guide ongoing work across campus and identify growth opportunities; work with key campus partners to design constructive and intentional programming for the university community; and serve as a strategic advisor to other campus offices, including ones that serve students, staff, faculty, and alumni. The successful candidate will be a collaborative, optimistic, and forward-thinking subject matter expert in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, with the demonstrated ability to lead, collaborate, and engage empathetically across differences.

A committee supported by the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller will lead the search. Confidential inquiries, nominations, and applications may be directed to the firm as indicated at the end of this document.

THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND

Approaching its 200th anniversary, the University of Richmond is dedicated to educating in "an academically challenging, intellectually vibrant, and collaborative community" that prepares students for "lives of purpose, thoughtful inquiry, and responsible leadership in a diverse world." Richmond has been consistently ranked in the top 25 national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report and is regarded as one of America's most selective liberal arts universities. On its stunning Virginia campus (ranked #1 Most Beautiful by Princeton Review), the University brings together approximately 4,000 intellectually curious students with a commitment to learning, leading, and serving the world, and 1,800 staff and faculty dedicated to supporting each other as well as our students in their educational journey. The University enrolls approximately 3,300 traditional undergraduate students in the School of Arts and Sciences, Robins School of Business, and Jepson School of Leadership Studies, as well as 850 students in the School of Law (JD and LLM), School of Professional and Continuing Studies (graduate, undergraduate, and certificate programs), and Robins School of Business (MBA) programs. The undergraduate student body currently represents 48 U.S. states and 77 countries. Retention and graduation rates are excellent for students from all backgrounds. Richmond also has a global network of over 55,000 alumni who enrich the university community.

The University of Richmond is the nation's only top liberal arts college that is also home to a top-20 undergraduate business school, the first undergraduate school of leadership studies in the nation, a highly regarded school of law, and a school of professional and continuing studies that reaches thousands of individuals in the region each year. The University's learning and research environment is grounded in the liberal arts and is enriched by a singular integration of learning and scholarship across its five schools. It is defined by a culture of mentorship, interdisciplinary connections, collaboration, small class sizes, and robust curricular and cocurricular opportunities, guaranteeing students close interaction with faculty and the ability to shape their academic experience. Outside of the classroom, Richmond students have myriad opportunities to engage and connect with each other - from gathering to cheer on our student-athletes or playing club sports, attending artistic performances, sharing research findings at symposia, participating in more than one of the 175+ student organizations on campus, or exploring the Richmond region or going on international trips. The University emphasizes the importance of educationally grounded civic engagement and international experiences in transforming student learning and preparing students to be engaged citizens in a diverse world.

The University has a deep and unwavering commitment to access and affordability. The University offers robust merit-based and equally robust need-based aid programs. Undergraduate Virginians with family income under $60,000 receive a grant equal to tuition, room, and board (no loans), and full need is met through grant aid (no loans) for graduates of Richmond Public Schools and participants in designated community partner programs. Additionally, Richmond boasts an endowment of $3.1 billion, which provides important resources to enable an unparalleled student experience - inside and outside of the classroom.

The University of Richmond acknowledges that its institutional history is neither a singular story nor always one of progress for all community members. The University's past and its legacies intertwine with the City of Richmond, the state of Virginia, and the nation, producing a narrative that is at once deep and diverse, complex, and painful at times, inspiring at others.

In 2018, the Presidential Commission for University History and Identity was charged with studying the University of Richmond's history and its implications for the current campus climate and future by exploring how the institutional history is recorded, preserved, and made accessible to diverse audiences; re-examining the past to identify people and narratives previously excluded from the University's institutional history; and recommending ways to acknowledge and communicate the institution's history inclusively. The co-chairs submitted the Commission's report to former President Crutcher in June 2019.

In 2019, a report was published that revealed that a site on the southeastern side of Westhampton Lake was once a burying ground for those enslaved by former landowners and that remains were discovered and desecrated by the University in the early to mid-twentieth century. Following the report's publication, a Burying Ground Memorization Committee was formed and charged with identifying appropriate means to memorialize the burying ground and enslaved people who lived and labored on the land before the University's arrival. The University has begun work on a permanent memorial to honor the enslaved burying ground on the land that became the campus, based on concepts and recommendations provided by the committee and lessons learned through meeting with and listening to the descendant community and campus stakeholders.

In 2021, the Board of Trustees established the Naming Principles Commission, comprised of students, staff, faculty, alumni, trustees, and external expert representatives. The commission's charge was to recommend principles to guide future decisions about naming and removal of or modification to names across applications of names (e.g., buildings, professorships, programs, etc.). The commission recommended, and the board approved, a set of ten principles to guide decisions related to naming and removing names at the University. In accordance with the newly established principles, the Board of Trustees moved to remove the names of six campus buildings in March 2022. The president also established a Name Removal Review Advisory Committee that is charged specifically with applying the naming principles adopted by the Board of Trustees and making a recommendation to the president and the Board about formal requests for the removal of a name.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is a vibrant city that is host to a number of federal and state agencies, a dynamic biotech research center, a highly respected teaching hospital, a Federal Reserve Bank, two of the nation's top 100 law firms, and five Fortune 500 companies. The metropolitan population is 1.128 million, and Richmond's neighborhoods showcase a diversity of settings, building styles, and demographics. The University of Richmond campus location in the west end provides options for urban, suburban, or rural residential lifestyles within a few easily commutable miles of campus.

The city has a strong network of public and private schools both within and outside the city limits and is home to seven colleges and universities as well as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; the Richmond Symphony; the Virginia Opera; the Richmond Ballet; the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens; and the Flying Squirrels, a double-A San Francisco Giants affiliate baseball team. The James River runs through the center of the city and offers white-water rafting, canoeing, kayaking, tubing, and fishing. The city and surrounding area have a great local food scene, with some 900 restaurants offering a wide variety of cuisines, plus many microbreweries, distilleries, and wineries.

The city of Richmond was recently ranked in Forbes magazine as the fifth-best U.S. city for jobs and is frequently recognized for creativity and livability. For more information about Richmond and the surrounding area, visit www.visitrichmondva.com.

UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE

President | Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F. Hallock became the University of Richmond's 11th president in August 2021. Prior to coming to Richmond, President Hallock spent a total of 26 years on the faculties of the University of Illinois and Cornell University. Most recently, he was Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and served as Joseph R. Rich '80 Professor and Director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell.

An award-winning teacher, President Hallock is a labor market economist and author or editor of 11 books and over 100 publications. President Hallock's research has included areas such as the gender pay gap, executive compensation, quantile regression, and job loss. He teaches a course to first-year Richmond students on why people earn what they earn. President Hallock graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and earned a PhD in economics from Princeton University. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He serves on the boards of the Jepson Scholars Foundation, Venture Richmond, and Homeward, a Richmond nonprofit dedicated to preventing, reducing, and ending homelessness.

In Spring 2023, after a year of gathering community input, President Hallock announced a new strategic plan for the University of Richmond, with five key areas of opportunity: academic excellence, belonging and community, access and affordability, well-being, and experiential learning and community engagement. With the university community converging around these priorities and implementing key actions, the University of Richmond is poised to build on its already remarkable strengths to cement its place as one of the best liberal arts universities in the world.

The Board of Trustees

The University of Richmond's Board of Trustees' primary responsibility is to define the purpose and mission of the University. The work of the Board is focused on issues of policy and long-term strategy. Most of the Board's work is accomplished through several committees, including the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Committee, established in 2021. The purpose of the DEIB Board Committee is to focus on strategic priorities and goals relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to continue advancing the institution's work. The inaugural vice president for inclusion and belonging will serve as administrative staff for the Board's DEIB committee and work collaboratively with the committee chair to help identify strategic priorities and goals for the committee.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING AT RICHMOND

The University of Richmond is committed to fostering an inclusive community in which all members can flourish and engage meaningfully. Richmond values the dignity, worth, and contributions of all individuals; thoughtful and respectful engagement with a broad diversity of perspectives and experiences is essential to intellectual growth.

Over the past two decades, the University has strengthened and accelerated its ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as an institutional priority. These efforts, which have been informed by the university's mission, values, vision, and institutional strategic plans, have furthered access and affordability; increased the diversity of students, staff, and faculty on campus; and created and strengthened programs, ongoing education, and support to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging across campus, among other actions. The university implemented several key community- identified needs identified in the 2019-2022 Making Excellence Inclusive plan and is now focused on building upon that work to further belonging and community, as informed by the new strategic plan launched in Spring 2023 and institutional commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Those commitments include:

• recruiting, retaining, and supporting a diverse, talented university community that fosters academic and workplace excellence and furthers the University's mission and values.

• cultivating inclusive living, learning, and work environments in which all can fully participate in institutional life, experience a sense of belonging, and contribute to the flourishing of others.

• fostering and sustaining a skilled intercultural community to enrich our campus, region, state, nation, and the world.

The vice president for inclusion and belonging will lead, support, and grow this important work that the Richmond community has undertaken.

The University of Richmond understands that cultivating belonging requires collaboration and shared and coordinated efforts across the university community. At the University, the responsibility for and ongoing attention to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work on campus is currently shared among the president and the president's cabinet, academic deans, the senior administrative officer for equity and community (outgoing position), the Office of Institutional Equity & Inclusion, the DEIBCommunity of Practice; and the Inclusive Community Council. This shared and coordinated framework was adopted at Richmond in 2019 to engage a greater number of individuals across the campus and ensure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging expertise and wisdom are a consistent presence in discussions of institutional strategy and policy. The University is committed to expanding the engagement of the university community in this ongoing, important work and is excited to recruit a leader to lead and inform that work. The vice president for inclusion and belonging is responsible for regularly evaluating the structures and systems that are in place and adjusting as needed to advance strategic goals related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, utilizing meaningful and measurable metrics.

Students

The University of Richmond has approximately 4,000 students across five schools. Our campus is a highly residential place, with more than 85% of the University of Richmond's traditional undergraduate students living on campus. We take a holistic approach to student development and provide a variety of opportunities for students to become engaged with each other and the university community. We offer living-learning communities such as the Richmond Endeavor and Sophomore Scholars in Residence, which blend academic and campus life and allow students to join a diverse community of students who live together in a residence hall, take a class, do research, travel off-campus, and become engaged in a topic on a deeper level. We also have themed residential communities, such as UR Living Well and Lavender Living, and are considering other opportunities for themed housing.

WELL 100, Introduction to College Life at the University of Richmond, is a 15-session course required of all new first-year and transfer students within their first semester at the university. WELL 100 enhances the new student experience and gives all students a stronger start to their Richmond education. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are some of the many topics that are covered in this course.

The university has over 175 registered student organizations, including 15 fraternities and sororities and 30 sports clubs, as well as a student programming board called SpiderBoard, which is dedicated to planning inclusive events for students. Each semester, SpiderBoard hosts events ranging from substance- free late-night programs (SpiderNights) to on-campus concerts.

Students also benefit from the resources provided by the Student Center for Equity and Inclusion (SCEI), which strives to remove barriers and contribute to the cultivation of inclusive communities and the community practice of belonging for University of Richmond students. The SCEI offers programming and support designed for first-generation, limited-income, LGBTQ+, and multicultural students and provides avenues for community building, identity exploration, and skill development that encourage flourishment and success at the University of Richmond and beyond.

Staff and Faculty

The University of Richmond has approximately 1,800 staff and faculty. The university grows stronger by recruiting and retaining a diverse staff and faculty committed to building an inclusive community. Richmond features several recently formalized affinity groups for employees, including the UR Mosaic Collective (Staff and Faculty of Color), Women in Leadership, and UR Proud (LGBTQ+ staff and faculty).

Currently, the Human Resources Office and Office of the Provost provide training and resources for faculty search committees and hiring managers to support anti-bias efforts, and new processes are in place for committees to maximize recruitment of diverse, qualified applicant pools. The annual faculty hiring workshop includes anti-bias training focused on the hiring process and is mandatory for department and search committee chairs.

Professional development workshops on diversity, equity, and inclusion for staff, faculty, and senior leadership are also regularly offered on campus, as well as weekly Intersections discussions and opportunities at the Faculty Hub. The university's Community Dialogue Network offers an extensive training series to students, staff, and faculty on equity-minded group facilitation skills and helps to build campus-wide capability to engage productively in difficult conversations.

Alumni

The university has a vast, global network of more than 55,000 alumni. Our Alumni Engagement team, which includes an Assistant Director of Alumni Belonging, is committed to advancing belonging among Richmond's alumni. The university hosts a variety of events and engages in outreach throughout the year to encourage Richmond Spiders to stay connected with each other and their alma mater.

The University of Richmond Black Alumni Network (URBAN) elevates the goodwill and intentions of the University of Richmond Alumni Association and the University of Richmond through service, educational programming, and social activities to maintain and ensure the historic legacy of African-American, African, and Caribbean students.

Similarly, the LGBTQ+ Spiders alumni group links LGBTQ+ alumni in a supportive community that provides opportunities to network professionally and socially. The group also seeks to support students, current and prospective, and LGBTQ+ programming on and off campus.

THE ROLE

Reporting directly to President Hallock and as a member of the president's cabinet, the vice president will serve as the senior central administrator, leading and championing the University's efforts to cultivate inclusion and belonging, collaborating with senior administration, faculty leadership, and other members of the campus community to advance us forward. Richmond has made significant progress over the last decade, and the inaugural vice president will align, evaluate, and enhance these efforts to build an even more welcoming and inclusive campus where all community members feel like they belong.

The vice president is expected to have tangible connections to several campus community constituents who are directly engaged in ongoing work to foster inclusion and belonging. They will oversee the Office of Institutional Equity & Inclusion and work closely with the chairs of the Inclusive Community Council (ICC) and the DEIB Community of Practice to align their work with institutional strategic priorities. They will also have strong connections to the Human Resources Office, the Office of the Provost, the Student Development division (which encompasses many offices that directly support student inclusion and belonging), and Alumni Engagement, and will serve on the president's cabinet.

KEY OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR INCLUSION AND BELONGING

In this newly created position, the vice president will be responsible for envisioning, developing, implementing, and assessing a proactive strategy for inclusion and belonging work at the University of Richmond and will build upon and enhance existing initiatives to advance inclusion and belonging for students, staff, faculty, and alumni. In carrying out this important work, the successful vice president will:

Serve as a visible and central resource

In recent years, the University of Richmond has made significant progress toward achieving a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus community through work supported by various offices on campus. The inaugural vice president will serve as the University of Richmond's first central resource and advocate on the senior leadership team for the identification and implementation of policies and initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The vice president will be an active member of the University of Richmond's campus community and will be expected to have a visible presence and engagement with students, staff, faculty, and alumni and strengthen and enrich the relationship between senior leadership and the university community.

Further understanding of inclusion and belonging through constructive programming and intentional dialogue

Work with existing initiatives and develop new ones toward advancing constructive, intentional dialogue as a signature feature of our campus culture. In collaboration with key campus partners, such as the DEIB Community of Practice and the Community Dialogue Network, the vice president will enhance existing educational initiatives and guide the development of additional programming to build a deeper understanding of inclusion and belonging and opportunities to engage across differences.

Establish a strategic framework to guide, implement, and enhance established and new initiatives and programming

The University of Richmond has identified belonging and community as one of its five key areas of opportunity in the new strategic plan and will be implementing actions over the course of the next several years. The vice president will strategize to position the university's current and future undertakings to meet strategic goals and champion an inclusive and welcoming environment that enriches the university community. The vice president will establish and maintain a strong strategic framework that connects and integrates inclusion and belonging work across campus while also identifying areas of opportunity and growth.

Serve as a strategic advisor and partner to senior leadership and campus community

The vice president will possess a deep understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in higher education and have an excellent command of relevant scholarship to advise the president and the senior leadership team on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and other related university matters. As a member of the senior leadership team, this vice president works closely with leaders in various offices on campus, including but not limited to human resources, student affairs, academic affairs, and alumni engagement, to design, implement, coordinate, streamline, and cross-promote programmatic offerings, training, and education for the benefit of the university. Beyond campus, the vice president will be active in relevant conferences and national associations and ensure Richmond is a leader in the national conversation on inclusion and belonging in higher education.

THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE

The University of Richmond seeks a collaborative, highly qualified individual with deep experience working to further inclusion and belonging in a complex organization with a variety of stakeholders. Accordingly, the vice president for inclusion and belonging will bring many of the following qualifications, skills, experience, and personal qualities to the position:

• Proven ability to provide visionary strategic leadership and a strong record of collaborating, developing, and implementing successful strategic inclusion and belonging initiatives;
• Demonstrated understanding of and appreciation for higher education and, specifically, the liberal arts, passion for the mission of the university, and alignment with institutional values;
• Broad and contemporary understanding of relevant scholarship, as well as a working knowledge of related civil rights issues and an understanding of the current national landscape;
• Experience working cross-culturally, utilizing sophisticated relational abilities and conflict resolution skills, strong emotional intelligence, and experience working across a wide range of constituencies with a high degree of diplomacy;
• Understanding of the barriers that marginalized communities may face, including but not limited to race, gender, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic status, and language barriers;
• Proven ability to embed inclusive principles into policies, practices, and programs to foster belonging;
• Ability to tailor initiatives to meet the needs and developmental stages of emerging adult learners, fostering an inclusive campus environment that supports their growth and well-being;
• A track record of implementing and continually assessing successful programs and initiatives;
• Commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom and experience handling issues around freedom of expression/freedom of speech on campus;
• Strong and savvy communication skills to listen, share, inspire, inform, and report;
• Crisis management experience and the ability to provide intellectual and emotional leadership, bringing communities together during challenging and sometimes public or high-profile circumstances;
• Anticipatory, solution-oriented thinking around broad cultural and societal concerns;
• A strengths-based and developmental approach to the work, with a sense of positive energy and enthusiasm and the ability to meet people where they are;
• The highest level of integrity.

TO APPLY

Confidential inquiries, nominations/referrals, and applications (including CVs and letters of interest responding to the opportunities and challenges outlined above) should be sent electronically to the Isaacson, Miller executive search team via the link below.

Keight Tucker Kennedy, Partner Lehman Robinson, Associate

Alexis Scott, Senior Search Coordinator Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/university-richmond/vice-president-inclusion-and-belonging

The University of Richmond is committed to developing a diverse faculty, staff, and student body, and to modeling an inclusive campus community which values the expression of differences in ways that promote excellence in teaching, learning, personal development, and institutional success.

In keeping with this commitment, our academic community strongly encourages applications

from candidates from diverse backgrounds and candidates who support diversity.

This job has expired.