Vice President, Equity and Inclusion

Responsibilities

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

Founded in 1850, the University of Rochester is a private research university that is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). The University’s mission is to “Learn, Discover, Heal, Create¿¿and Make the World Ever Better,” a mission reflected in its Latin motto, Meliora (“ever better”), also an acronym for its recently adopted values: Meliora, Equity, Leadership, Integrity, Openness, Respect, and Accountability. Located in the City of Rochester on the southern shore of Lake Ontario and northwest of the picturesque Finger Lakes in New York State, the University of Rochester enrolls more than 12,000 full¿time and part¿time undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.

The University employs nearly 3,900 full- and part-time faculty, who serve the University’s teaching, research, and clinical missions in eight schools and colleges and its renowned medical center. More than 36 percent are women. Increasing faculty diversity continues to be an institutional priority: approximately 79 percent of faculty are White, nearly 16 percent are Asian, and five percent self-identify as underrepresented minority or having multiple racial/ethnic identities. Approximately 18 percent of staff are from underrepresented minority groups.

The University’s academic programs are delivered through seven academic units: Arts, Sciences & Engineering (comprising the School of Arts& Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences); the Eastman School of Music; the School of Medicine and Dentistry; the School of Nursing; the Eastman Institute for Oral Health; the Simon Business School; and the Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Academic programs are offered within three locations: the River Campus, which houses Arts, Sciences & Engineering, the Simon Business School, and the Warner School of Education; the Medical Center, which is next to the River Campus and houses the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the School of Nursing; and downtown Rochester, home to the Eastman School of Music. The University has many strengths and elements of distinction. At the undergraduate level, the College in Arts, Sciences & Engineering is known for its unique curriculum, which emphasizes a major area of study, plus two three¿course clusters drawn from humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering in lieu of more traditional general education requirements, giving students greater opportunity to develop their academic program within a flexible framework. The Eastman School of Music is widely considered to be one of the country’s most prestigious music education institutions. The University’s Institute of Optics was the nation’s first educational program devoted exclusively to optics and is considered to be one of the nation’s premier programs of its kind.

The UR Medicine health system comprises six hospitals, anchored by Strong Memorial, an 846-bed University-owned teaching hospital located at the Medical Center, and known for its work in liver and heart transplants, maternal-fetal medicine with a focus on congenital birth defects, and a range of pediatric surgical subspecialties. UR Medicine is an accountable care organization with 500 primary care providers and 1,500 specialists serving more than 500,000 patients in upstate New York.

LEADERSHIP

Sarah C. Mangelsdorf became the 11th president of the University of Rochester on July 1,2019. An experienced academic leader, she has earned wide recognition for developing important strategic initiatives tailored to the goals of each institution and for taking a leading role in building both financial and institutional support for those goals. She is known for her work on issues of academic quality, educational access, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion at some of the nation’s leading public and private institutions. Before taking the helm at the University of Rochester, Mangelsdorf served as provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a professor of psychology who is internationally known for her research on emotional and personality development.

As chief operating officer at Wisconsin, Mangelsdorf oversaw all academic programs and budget planning for 12 schools and colleges, including Education, Business, Engineering, and Graduate Studies, as well as the Schools of Medicine and Public Health and of Nursing, which are affiliated with UW Health, the integrated health system of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earlier served as dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University before becoming provost at Wisconsin in 2014. She began her academic career at the University of Michigan and in 1991 moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was later named dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

In her first year in office, Mangelsdorf made a priority of a “listen and learn” tour, hearing voices representative of students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents, and community members, to help inform the University’s strategic vision for the next chapter. In her inaugural address, she underscored commitments to strengthening the University’s research prominence, fostering equity and inclusion, and engaging with the community. With important new structure in place, in 2022, she launched the development of the University’s Strategic plan.

UNIVERSITY FINANCES

On June 30, 2022, the market value of the University of Rochester’s Long Term Investment Pool (“LTIP”) was $3.2 billion. Performance for the fiscal year was -11.6%, net of all fees and expenses, compared with the benchmark return of -13.3%. Performance of the LTIP exceeded the benchmark for three, five, and ten years, and was approximately 9% net annualized for those periods.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY’S DEI JOURNEY

The University of Rochester values diversity and is committed to maintaining a campus environment that is welcoming and respectful to all. The University has a strong legacy of advocacy around diversity, equity, and social justice. Suffragette leader Susan B. Anthony lived for many years in Rochester, and programs and a center bearing her name are housed at the University to support social justice and equality. The Frederick Douglass Institute of African and African-American Studies is named for the abolitionist leader who lived and worked for 25 years in the City of Rochester. The Institute created the Department of Black Studies in 2022. The last three years have seen intensified efforts to cultivate a campus climate that is welcoming and inclusive to all, culminating in the establishment of the Institutional Office of Equity and Inclusion, as well as a revision of the Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment.

ABOUT THE ROLE OF VICE PRESIDENT, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Vice President for Equity & Inclusion (Vice President) is the University’s Chief Diversity Officer. With strong support of the University’s Board and senior leadership, the Vice President will help synthesize and integrate the University’s many effective efforts into a comprehensive strategy for enhancing diversity, equity, access, and inclusion (DEI) across all aspects of the University’s mission. In 2022, the planning began for a University-wide strategic plan to be shared with the community in 2023. The incoming Vice President will contribute to the University-wide plan while ensuring alignment in developing the DEI strategic plan. The Vice President has the responsibility to promote diversity broadly defined; to ensure equity across the institution; to foster a culture of respect and inclusion for all faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the community; and to advocate for the role that diversity and equity initiatives play in achieving institutional excellence.

In addition to creating the University’s overarching diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, the Vice President will lead the Institutional Office of Equity & Inclusion and will be responsible for appropriate staffing and supervision for all strategic diversity initiatives and organizational issues related to the development of this office. As currently structured, the Office of Equity and Inclusion comprises two distinct but related units, each led by direct reports to the Vice President. One unit focuses on compliance including affirmative action, Title VII, Title IX, and related matters; the other unit focuses on equity and inclusion, including recruitment, retention, development, and climate for faculty, staff, and students with functions that include training, reporting, programming and conferences, fundraising, and accountability. The incoming Vice President will have the authority to restructure the office in any way that effectively supports the University’s DEI goals and needs. The current operating budget for the Institutional Office of Equity & Inclusion is $4.5M.

In addition to overseeing these key functions, the Vice President will work collaboratively with diversity professionals in all of the academic units and administrative areas to advance the University’s strategic diversity and inclusion goals. In addition, the Vice President will foster opportunities for deeper collaboration across departments in furthering the University’s DEI goals. The Vice President will work closely and collaboratively with the Office of Human Resources; the Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Inclusion and Culture Development in the Medical Center; and the University’s community engagement, global outreach, and other established University diversity-related organizations and programs.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Develop and implement a University-wide DEI plan: Working closely with the President, deans and other senior leaders, diversity professionals across divisions, and key campus constituencies, the Vice President will lead in creating and implementing a University-wide diversity strategic plan that includes recruitment, training, communication, policy, and metrics. The Vice President will work with campus diversity leaders to ensure integration of this strategy with principled compliance with federally-mandated civil rights and anti-discrimination and equity laws. The Vice President will identify and pursue opportunities to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment and engage the campus in living the University’s Vision and Values Statement.

Serve as the University’s senior thought-leader on broad-based DEI matters: The Vice President will serve as a core member of the President’s leadership team, addressing the strategic issues that come before that group, providing vision and advice to the President on diversity and social justice matters, communication strategies, allocation of resources, and crisis management. The Vice President will chair the established University Diversity and Equity Council. The Vice President will also represent campus priorities, values, and projects to peer institutions and beyond in national and international venues dedicated to addressing higher education’s role in social justice, anti-racism, anti-discrimination, restoration, reconciliation, and accessibility efforts. The Vice President will work with others across campus to support the many ongoing efforts to promote campus-community engagement.

Support the University’s preparedness and response to DEI-related crises: Working with the Vice President for Communications, the Vice President will also play a key role in the coordination of campus responses to emerging local, national, or global events that affect the experience of students, faculty, and staff from diverse groups and populations, and stewarding relationships with external academic communities with which the University interacts. The Vice President will work to ensure equity and fairness in partnerships with all local, state, and national organizations.

Lead the Institutional Office of Equity and Inclusion into the next chapter of success: In collaboration with direct reports and other relevant constituents, the Vice President will assess the effectiveness of the current organizational structure and make improvements where needed. The Vice President will hire integral members of staff and ensure the empowerment, professional development, and mentorship of existing staff.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide intellectual leadership and vision for diversity and inclusion initiatives to align them with University priorities;

• Lead the development and execution of a campus-wide strategy to define, cultivate, support, and assess diversity and inclusion as an institutional value and educational priority;

• Demonstrate nimbleness in the implementation phase of campus-wide strategies, and the fortitude to support the accountability for measurable outcomes;

• Promote and monitor progress in the recruitment, retention, success, and advancement of faculty, staff, and students who represent diverse populations and groups traditionally underrepresented at the University;

• Coordinate educational efforts across the campus so that they are reinforced, aligned, and complementary in fostering diversity and a climate of inclusion;

• Lead a team of professionals in the Office of Equity and Inclusion in a collaborative, supportive, and high-performance culture that supports the success of those who work in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion;

• Lead the University Diversity and Equity Council and work directly with units and individuals across campus who are working on diversity, equity, and inclusion at the local level;

• Create synergies and awareness across campus to ensure that diversity and inclusion activities are communicated effectively;

• Draw upon research, scholarship, and information on national and international trends to develop and support innovative programs and policies relevant to campus diversity and inclusion;

• Lead evidence-based assessment efforts to help guide investment of resources in the highest impact activities to foster a diverse and inclusive campus and workplace environment; develop metrics and procedures to track institutional trends and help units increase accountability through qualitative and quantitative assessments of programs, policies, and services;

• Demonstrate sound budgetary planning and oversight in managing resources;

• Prepare reports for presentation to senior leadership and the University community; and

• Represent the University to external organizations and communities on matters of diversity and inclusion.

Preferred candidates will have an advanced degree and at least five years of administrative experience, preferably in higher education. Strong preference for candidates with experience leading DEI initiatives across enterprises. The successful candidate must be able to work collaboratively across a complex academic enterprise that includes healthcare and research, as well as a broad range of constituencies, both on campus and in the larger University community. Documented experience working with students from underrepresented backgrounds in higher education is required. Strong quantitative, analytical, and presentation skills; excellent oral and written communication skills; strong collaborative skills for teamwork and consensus building; demonstrated leadership ability, excellent judgment, and a high level of integrity; and the ability to work independently on concurrent projects under pressure of multiple deadlines.

Nominations and applications are welcomed as soon as possible. Application materials requested include a complete résumé or vita and a letter of candidacy that expands upon the desired skill sets and attributes. All application materials will be considered in full confidence and should be submitted electronically to: URochesterVPEI@storbecksearch.com.

This is a full-time position that will be performed on site in Rochester, NY. Salary commensurate with experience with a generous benefits package.

Contact:

Holly Jackson, Managing Associate or TaJuan Wilson, Managing Associate

Storbeck Search

URochesterVPEI@storbecksearch.com

The University of Rochester is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion to advance the University’s mission to Learn, Discover, Heal, Create – and Make the World Ever Better. In support of our values and those of our society, the University is committed to not discriminating on the basis of age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, military/veteran status, national origin, race, religion/creed, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, or any other status protected by law. This commitment extends to the administration of our policies, admissions, employment, access, and recruitment of candidates from underrepresented populations, veterans, and persons with disabilities consistent with these values and government contractor Affirmative Action obligations.

How To Apply

All applicants must apply online.

EOE Minorities/Females/Protected Veterans/Disabled

Location: Central Administration
Full/Part Time: Full-Time
Opening: Full Time 40 hours Grade 099 President's Office
Schedule: 8 AM-5 PM