Vice President for Student Affairs

Working/Functional Title

Vice President for Student Affairs

Position Summary

Reporting to the President, the Vice President for Student Affairs will work closely with their leadership team of three direct reports, two dual reports, and the 90 full-time employees in their unit to build a new Division of Student Affairs that leads student engagement and campus life activities and is closely aligned with student success initiatives. They will oversee a budget of $20 million. The next VPSA will bring a track record of building and managing cohesive and vibrant teams and modeling a solutions-focused approach to navigating change. They will be a strong advocate for student engagement and well-being through the student lifecycle and provide targeted programming to support the entire study body, including undergraduate, graduate, transfer students, adult and continuing education students, and veterans. It is important that the VPSA be a visible and active presence on campus, opening lines of communication to faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders. This active presence will enhance a culture of responsiveness to student needs and ideas and serve as a model to staff within the Division. The VPSA will envision a future that redefines how student affairs holistically supports students by prioritizing a sense of belonging while connecting their co-curricular activities with their scholarship and career goals. 

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

Bachelors

Desired Degree

Other

Minimum Requirements

• MSU seeks an experienced student affairs scholar-practitioner and innovative leader with the skills and experience to develop a bold, strategic, and student-focused vision for the Division of Student Affairs.
• Bachelor's degree 

Desired Qualifications

An advanced degree is strongly preferred, along with demonstrated progressive administrative and leadership experience directly related to student affairs. While no one person will embody all of the following, the successful VPSA candidate will bring many of the following professional qualifications, skills, experiences, and personal qualities:

• A proactive approach to redefining what the future of student affairs could be and the willingness to take risks to effect change;
• A record of success as an administratively strong, innovative, and collaborative leader in a fast-growing and complex organization;
• A demonstrated commitment to and experience with inclusive excellence as applied to higher education and student affairs;
• Demonstrated effectiveness and competency in the development and execution of strategic and operational plans that require coordination and collaboration across internal departments and external functions;
• The ability to establish a welcoming and inclusive presence as a visible, active, and responsive leader;
• An interpersonal style that fosters collaboration, high levels of collegiality, and meaningful relationships with colleagues and staff;
• An understanding of the resources necessary to provide a campus experience that supports the intellectual growth, physical and mental health and well-being, and diverse identities and experiences of students;
• The ability to inspire, build, lead, motivate, and provide vision to staff while leading within a complex organizational structure;
• Deep knowledge of current best practices and trends in student affairs and higher education with a strategic lens and affinity for change and continuous improvement through the use of data, learning, and program outcomes;
• An understanding of the land grant mission of MSU and a commitment to the connected values including broad access to higher education;
• Proven ability to build and maintain effective partnerships and work collaboratively with campus leaders across a complex university; of particular importance is experience implementing initiatives, programs, and structures that address retention and student success;
• Strong business acumen and a proven track record of managing a sizeable team;
• Demonstrated successful stewardship of physical, financial, and human resources;
• A high degree of character and integrity; and
• A powerful commitment to the mission, vision, and values of public higher education.

Required Application Materials

• CV
• Letter of Interest

Special Instructions

Michigan State University has retained the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist in this search. All applications, nominations, referrals, and inquiries should be sent in confidence to: 

Rebecca Kennedy, Partner (she/her)

Keight Tucker Kennedy, Partner (she/her)

Melissa DePretto Behan, Senior Associate (she/her)

Cortnee Bollard, Senior Search Coordinator (they/them)

Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/michigan-state-university/vice-president-student-affairs

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 will conduct a professional misconduct review of all individuals seeking employment in executive management and academic management positions (e.g., President, Provost, Vice President, Vice Provost, Deans, etc.)

A professional misconduct review is a prerequisite for all individuals to be selected for this position. 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 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 interview stage, the University will not reach out to the current and former employers until the semi-finalist candidates are identified for on campus interviews but before a 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 an applicant fails to sign the authorization and release, the application will be deemed incomplete and will be considered withdrawn.

Review of Applications Begins On

02/20/2025

Department Statement

Michigan State University is committed to cultivating a safe and inclusive campus community characterized by caring and respect for others. Michigan State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

We collectively acknowledge that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize, support, and advocate for the sovereignty of Michigan’s twelve federally recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Michigan State University more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples.

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.