Roanoke College is a nationally ranked residential liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. The Roanoke College experience is enhanced by its setting on a breathtakingly beautiful campus only minutes away from the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains and the city of Roanoke. The college celebrates a welcoming environment that has served the local region and beyond for nearly 200 years. Roanoke College is a place where every student who works hard has the opportunity to succeed. At Roanoke, students find a community that champions potential, providing essential learning and leadership through innovative academic programs and transformative educational experiences, giving them the mettle, mindset, and empathy to pursue lives of purpose, build meaningful careers, and meet society’s most pressing needs. Roanoke College is building momentum, adding new undergraduate and graduate programs, always enhancing the student experience, and continuing its success with NCAA Division III athletics.
Reporting to the president and serving as a member of the president’s cabinet, the vice president for student success and the Roanoke experience (VPSS) champions a “student-ready, student-first” culture at Roanoke College, providing vision and strategic leadership for a comprehensive, integrated, and inclusive student-success ecosystem. The VPSS will join an eager, innovative, and collaborative leadership team to chart a dynamic future for Roanoke College. This includes fostering partnerships across campus to design experiences, environments, and support services that foster holistic learning and development, well-being, belonging, and success across the arc of the student experience. The VPSS will work especially closely with faculty in the design of the Roanoke experience, supporting the foundational role they play in students’ lives, learning, and success at the college. The VPSS will also lead a new division designed to bring together student-supporting units from across campus to create synergy, collaboration, and innovation around student success; develop cross-functional competency; and build logical succession pathways for department leaders. Functions within this new division include new-student and transition programs; identity-based programming and support; advocacy, student conduct, and crisis management; housing and residence life; health and well-being; campus activities, student organizations, and leadership development; student success center (accessibility services, tutoring, and academic coaching); campus safety; civic engagement; spiritual life; and purpose, life, and career exploration. The VPSS will serve as a pivotal institutional change agent and strategic partner for other senior leaders to develop transformative learning experiences that meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s students and increase engagement, retention, and graduation rates among all students.
Review of applications will begin on April 12, 2023, and continue until the position is filled. A resume with an accompanying cover letter may be submitted via the Spelman Johnson website at www.spelmanjohnson.com/open-positions. Nominations for this position may be emailed to Mark Hall at mah@spelmanjohnson.com. Applicants needing reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process should contact Spelman Johnson at 413-529-2895 or email info@spelmanjohnson.com.
Salary is commensurate with experience. The Commonwealth of Virginia does not require public salary disclosure. For more information, please contact Mark Hall.
Roanoke College is an equal opportunity employer and actively seeks diversity among its faculty, staff, and students; women and members of under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply.
Roanoke College values diversity in its community. Any form of discrimination, lack of respect, or act of intolerance against any person or organization based on race, religion, ethnic background, gender, gender orientation, or disability is in contradiction with college principles and unacceptable. Roanoke College does not discriminate against students, employees, or applicants on the basis of race, color, gender, creed, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, national or ethnic origin, disability, or veteran status.
A master’s degree in a relevant field and significant experience in higher education administration, including student affairs/student success units, are required. A doctorate is preferred. The ideal candidate will possess significant experience fostering learning and success among special student populations, including student-athletes and first-generation, transfer, international, underserved, and underrepresented students; expertise leveraging technology solutions, data, and metrics to inform strategies around student success, coordinated care, and engagement; and an entrepreneurial spirit, a disposition toward creative problem-solving, a willingness to take measured risks, and an abiding love for students and their learning.
