Provost-Exec Mgt

Working/Functional Title

Provost & Executive Vice President

Position Summary

Michigan State University (MSU), the nation’s premier land-grant university, invites nominations and applications for the position of Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. One of the top public research universities in the world, MSU has 32 undergraduate and graduate programs ranked in the top 25 nationally. MSU is a proud member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, University Innovation Alliance, and Big Ten Academic Alliance.

U.S. News & World Report (2025) lists MSU among the top 30 public universities in the country (#63 overall) and the #1 public university (#8 overall) for education abroad. Times Higher Education 2023 Impact Rankings, which measure how more than 1,900 universities are making progress in working toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, ranks MSU 25th in the world and 3rd in the U.S.

With 3,452 faculty, 2,624 academic staff, and 7,926 support staff, MSU offers 400 academic programs across 17 degree-granting colleges. Focused on growth and excellence, the MSU research enterprise has grown substantially over the past 10 years. Total research expenditures were $844 million for 2022, closing in on the MSU 2030 strategic plan goal of $1 billion in annual expenditures. The University has a total economic impact of $6.8 billion in Michigan.

MSU enrolls 41,234 undergraduate students and 10,855 graduate students. Students come from all 83 Michigan counties, all 50 U.S. states, and more than 130 countries. Students of color make up 27.8% of the total domestic student body. The University boasts a 90% retention rate and 81% graduation rate, with the average time to degree of 3.91 calendar years. MSU has 542,415 living alumni worldwide.

Working with Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, senior leadership, deans, chairs and directors, and faculty, students, and staff, the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (“the Provost”) will help to shape and articulate the University’s academic and scholarly mission. The Provost is responsible for the administration of all programs of instruction and for promoting goals of academic excellence for the University’s faculty and students.

Key priorities for the next Provost include the following: providing vision and leadership to enhance the academic quality of the University and its faculty and students and advancing MSU’s national and international reputation and ranking; helping to operationalize the strategic initiatives outlined in MSU’s strategic plan; working closely with the academic deans to recruit and retain the best faculty and staff and invest in their career development; overseeing growth in MSU’s research portfolio; working collaboratively with the President and other senior leaders to develop a strategic enrollment plan that will pave the way for the next decade; working collaboratively to enhance the financial model (which will soon transition from incremental-based budgeting to a hybrid incentive-based model) to support the academic enterprise; ensuring that MSU’s academic programs, structures, and curriculum serve the needs of the state as well as evolving workforce needs and providing intellectual leadership for general education reform; partnering with MSU Information Technology to ensure that information systems are optimized to support teaching and research as well as overseeing the development of a plan for incorporating artificial intelligence into teaching and learning; supporting innovative programs to embed diversity and inclusion in the programs and culture of the University and enhance the cultural and ethnic diversity of faculty, staff, and students; creating infrastructure to advance interdisciplinary collaborations across schools and colleges; rebuilding institutional trust by involving stakeholders in institutional change and communicating clearly and transparently; enhancing the University’s global presence, recognition, and impact; and serving as the primary liaison to the Higher Learning Commission and ensuring that MSU is in compliance with the accrediting agency’s standards.

MSU seeks to appoint an individual who brings strong academic leadership to an institution deeply committed to its land-grant mission and to improving educational access and affordability. The next Provost will have a distinguished record of scholarship in their own academic discipline, suitable for a tenured appointment as full professor. The successful candidate will have immense intellectual breadth, be flexible and nimble in working across disciplines, and be able to move beyond their own field to champion disciplines across every school and college. The next Provost will be a collaborative leader, with a demonstrated track record of leading successfully through persuasion and the power of their ideas to achieve common goals among diverse stakeholders. The University seeks an academic leader who respects academic rigor and excellence as extremely high priorities, who values both undergraduate and graduate education, and who fully appreciates both tenure-system and non-tenure-system faculty. The next Provost must be a strong advocate for the liberal arts and a champion for academic freedom.

MSU’s next Provost will be an inclusive leader who is visionary, creative, and strategic, and also highly able to execute. The successful candidate must be committed to developing talent and to empowering other leaders to excel in their roles. The next Provost must have a thorough understanding of U.S. higher education, its international context, and its role in economic development, and must have demonstrated success at building diverse and inclusive communities. The next Provost must be an experienced leader, able to inspire others and build trust, and possess exceptional listening skills. The successful candidate should have a strong commitment to shared governance and welcome the input of MSU’s various constituent communities while being able to make difficult, data-informed decisions in a timely manner. Experience within a public R1 university is extremely valuable. As the University is interested in stable executive leadership, the hope is that the next Provost will be long-serving.

The full Position Specification can be found at https://bit.ly/MSUProvost.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Degree

Doctorate

Minimum Requirements

Consistent with the responsibilities and priorities described above, MSU seeks to appoint an individual who brings strong academic leadership to an institution deeply committed to its land-grant mission and to improving educational access and affordability. The next Provost will have a distinguished record of scholarship in their own academic discipline, suitable for a tenured appointment as full professor. The successful candidate will have immense intellectual breadth, be flexible and nimble in working across disciplines, and be able to move beyond their own field to champion disciplines across every school and college. The next Provost will be a collaborative leader with a demonstrated track record of leading successfully through persuasion and the power of their ideas to achieve common goals among diverse stakeholders. The university seeks an academic leader who respects academic rigor and excellence as extremely high priorities, who values both undergraduate and graduate education, and who fully appreciates both tenure-system and non-tenure-system faculty. The next Provost must be a strong advocate for the liberal arts and a champion for academic freedom. 

MSU’s next Provost will be an inclusive leader who is visionary, creative, and strategic, and also highly able to execute. The successful candidate must be committed to developing talent and to empowering other leaders to excel in their roles. The next Provost must have a thorough understanding of U.S. higher education, its international context, and its role in economic development, and must have demonstrated success at building diverse and inclusive communities. The next Provost must be an experienced leader, able to inspire others and build trust, and possess exceptional listening skills. The successful candidate should have a strong commitment to shared governance and welcome the input of MSU’s various constituent communities while being able to make difficult, data-informed decisions in a timely manner. Experience within a public R1 university is extremely valuable. As the university is interested in stable executive leadership, the hope is that the next Provost will be long-serving.

Desired Qualifications

•    Commitment to enhancing the quality of student learning and personal/professional development at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels;
•    Proven experience in managing a variety of educational delivery methods, including online programs;
•    Entrepreneurial mindset, able to build programs, and unafraid to take calculated risks;
•    Student-centered, with genuine interest in engaging with and developing both undergraduate and graduate students;
•    Proven fiscal and operational leadership with an understanding of budgets and budget models;
•    Commitment to academic freedom, tenure, shared governance, and other traditional academic values;
•    Vision and judgment to set priorities, ability to make difficult decisions and allocate limited resources, and courage of conviction;
•    Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, characterized by honesty, transparency, and the genuine desire to listen to others;
•    A values-driven leader with high emotional intelligence who is empathetic, patient, approachable, and personable;
•    Impeccable personal and professional integrity.

Required Application Materials

Inquiries, nominations, and applications are invited. Interested candidates should confidentially submit—in electronic format (Adobe PDF files preferred)—a curriculum vitae and letter of interest to MSU.Provost@russellreynolds.com.   

For fullest consideration, materials should be received as soon as possible and preferably by February 10, 2025. 

Special Instructions

As an institution of higher learning, Michigan State University is committed to providing a safe environment for its students, faculty, and staff in support of its educational mission.  With this commitment, the University reserves the right to conduct a professional misconduct review of those who interview on campus for executive management and academic management positions; for the provost search, this review will happen only for the finalist candidate, immediately prior to a formal job offer being extended.

A professional misconduct review is a prerequisite for any individual selected for this position. Onsite/campus interviewees will be asked to disclose whether they are subject to any pending investigation, findings or sanctions related to professional misconduct. Professional misconduct includes misconduct related to a person’s employment, including, but not limited to, theft, embezzlement, research integrity, discrimination, or harassment under civil rights laws and policies, including protected identity harassment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct (sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, etc.), and retaliation. At the onsite/campus interview stage, candidates will also be asked to sign an authorization and release, which authorizes the University to contact the candidate’s current and former employers, for a period of 7 years prior to the date of application, related to any pending investigations, findings of responsibility and/or sanctions related to professional misconduct. Although the declaration and authorization will be signed at the onsite/campus interview stage, the University will not reach out to the current and former employers until a finalist candidate is identified but before formal offer of employment is made by the University.  

The existence of professional misconduct history does not automatically exclude a candidate from employment. The University will assess the information, including any information provided by the candidate, in determining whether the professional misconduct history is compatible with the position. The University may decline to hire a candidate based on the professional misconduct review. All records obtained from external employers will be kept in a secure location, separate from personnel files. If a candidate fails to sign the authorization and release, the application will be deemed incomplete and will be considered withdrawn. 

Review of Applications Begins On

02/10/2025

Website

https://provost.msu.edu/

MSU Statement

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.