PROSPECTUS
Assistant Vice President of Career Development
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Assistant Vice President of Career Development (AVP) oversees the cultivation of a robust career ecosystem at Quinnipiac University, which follows a hybrid organizational structure, reflecting the skillsets and expertise of staff based various schools/college and professional specialties, as well as shared tools and networks across QU. Working with the school-based career staff and other members of QU’s Career Development Council, the AVP provides leadership, coordination, and strategic direction to Quinnipiac’s comprehensive career education, internship, employment, and post-graduate opportunities programs. Reporting to the Office of the Provost, the AVP is responsible for setting and achieving campus-wide career readiness goals, in conjunction with leading QU’s Career Development Council, providing direct oversight to the new director of employer relations and director of career education positions, and playing a leadership role in supporting experiential and immersive learning opportunities that enhance career readiness across all fields of study.
This new position of Assistant Vice President of Career Development furthers Quinnipiac’s strategic goal of building an institution-wide mindset that prepares graduates for 21st-century careers and citizenship. To advance Quinnipiac’s Strategic Plan as the University of the Future, the AVP will demonstrate an innovative and strategic approach to career development, including a proven record of successful partnership and collaboration with a wide range of both campus and external constituencies, commitment to strategic planning and management, experience fundraising, an understanding of the importance of branding and storytelling in framing and leading a successful program, and the ability to collaborate effectively with staff in a hybrid organizational structure. Successful fulfillment of the position responsibilities will require the AVP to fulfill five key roles, outlined below.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Convener and Cultural Architect
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Convene the Career Development Council and other key administrators and stakeholders around the career preparation vision and architects a growth-mindset culture for career development on campus.
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Work across the schools/college and university offices to unify colleagues around the vision.
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Partner with campus constituencies to raise the profile and impact of Career Development at QU.
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Work with the Department of Cultural and Global Engagement to ensure Career Development is truly inclusive in its approach and programs.
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Develop and implement a comprehensive communications plan and strategy for the school/college-based career development offices (including website, internal and external communications, social media, etc.).
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Continue to expand and enhance efforts to ensure equal access for all students to career related programs, activities, and opportunities regardless of personal background, experience, or socioeconomic status.
Visionary and Explanatory Leader
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Rally and inspire diverse audiences through clear communication about career development priorities, resources, and goals, and toward a comprehensive shared career development vision—including education, advising, and access to internships and experiential education and connections with employers and alumni—across QU’s hybrid career development organizational structure. Develop these concepts as an integral part of the university community.
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Lead collaborative efforts with the new director of career education (to be hired), the Career Development Council and other campus partners to establish, implement, and scale a career education program that is fully integrated into the student academic and co-curricular experience and is a distinctive feature of a Quinnipiac education.
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Provide strategic leadership and coordination to the Career Development Council.
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Supervise and manage of centralized career staff, such as the new positions of director of employer relations and the director of career education, with the opportunity to make hiring decisions.
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Play a leadership role in the development of centralized support for experiential/immersive learning programs at QU that enhance career readiness.
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Collaboratively develop plans to ensure that career development’s physical location and spaces are best situated to support the goals and objectives of the programs.
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Expand and highlight global focus and international reach of career services.
Career Data and Career Success Narrator
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Lead collaborate efforts with the new director of career education (to be hired), the Career Development Council and other campus partners to establish, implement, and scale a career education program that is fully integrated into the student academic and co-curricular experience and is a distinctive feature of a Quinnipiac education.
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Oversee effective assessment of career development programs and outcomes.
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Ensure that adequate data, success narratives, and report structures are in place so that Quinnipiac can effectively share the story of career success internally and externally.
External Presence
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Serve as primary ambassador for Career Development at QU to generate buy-in and cultivate strong relationships and external constituencies (employers, alumni, parents, etc.) as well as internal constituencies (e.g., students, faculty, staff, etc.).
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Represent Quinnipiac to corporate partners in the state, the Northeast region, and to the nation.
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Actively participate in regional and national professional organizations related to college and university career work.
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With the director of employer relations, grow the employer relations program to expand the number of internship and employment opportunities for students, including the diversity of industries and geographic locations, and ensure they are prepared to succeed in the search and hiring process.
Resource Gatherer
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Builds and sustains revenue and funding to support a vision that provides every Quinnipiac student with high quality career readiness.
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Working with the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, develop a fundraising plan and play a direct and active role in executing it (e.g., direct contact with donors, and other potential external funding sources).
ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES
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Commitment to students and maintaining an inviting, inclusive, and equitable office ethos and environment.
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Ability to effectively engage and communicate with a broad range of constituencies in a variety of settings on and off campus.
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Ability to work collaboratively with partners across a wide spectrum of internal and external functions.
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Effective team builder and group leader.
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Knowledge of and experience in fundraising.
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Understanding of marketing, branding, and public relations.
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Outstanding communication skills: must be an excellent writer and public speaker/presenter.
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Must have supervisory, management, and relationship-building skills.
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Demonstrated strategic planning, management, and visioning skills.
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Understanding a wide range of uses and openness to exploring new applications for technology.
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Budget development and management.
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Innovator and creative problem solver.
QUALIFICATIONS
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An advanced degree is required (Master’s or higher).
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7-10 years management experience in a leadership role. Experience leading a career development function in higher education strongly preferred.
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Proven knowledge of the role of career development in the university setting including advising, employer relations, and relevant software and technology applications.
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Ability to promote Quinnipiac to employers/internship providers and actively cultivate career/internship opportunities for QU students and alumni.
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Demonstrated experience in fundraising, marketing/public relations, and communications.
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Tangible experience as an innovative leader.
SALARY
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Competitive and commensurate with experience.
ABOUT QUINNIPIAC
Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 7,000 full-time undergraduate and 3,000 graduate and part-time students in 100 degree programs through its Schools of Business, Communications, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Law, Medicine, Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report's America's "Best Colleges" issue. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review's "The Best 380 Colleges." Quinnipiac has been named a "Great College to Work For" as determined by a comprehensive industry survey. For more information, please visit www.qu.edu.
An education at Quinnipiac embodies the University's commitment to preparing graduates for 21st century careers and citizenship, creating an inclusive, excellence-driven community, nurturing and positively impacting internal, local and global communities and fostering lifelong connections and success. The University believes in educating a diverse student body to become valued and contributing members of their communities through vital and purposeful educational programs. Students engage with real-world issues through practice and considering different perspectives. The University's innovative curriculum further prepares undergraduate and graduate students to understand their roles and responsibilities as members of the Quinnipiac community as well as the larger national and global communities.
ABOUT THE REGION
Quinnipiac’s southern New England location offers the charm and tradition of the region, with easy access to the culture and lifestyle of some of America‘s most interesting and vibrant cities. You can live the New England lifestyle by exploring the many local hiking and biking trails, visiting nearby seaside towns or apple picking at a local orchard. For a change of pace, we are located only 15 minutes from New Haven, where you will find a city bursting with energy and culture. New Haven combines the colonial tradition of New England with the modern innovations of a major city. Or jump on a train headed to New York City or Boston, which are both under two hours away.
Institutional Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
At Quinnipiac, our mission is to create a diverse and inclusive community where every member is acknowledged, respected and has the necessary resources to thrive, both individually and together. We incorporate inclusive excellence in everything we do to create a globally engaged, culturally rich and highly collaborative campus.
Statement of Inclusive Values
At Quinnipiac University, we believe excellence is inclusive and built upon equity, so all groups feel welcome to fully participate in and contribute to our mission.
Achieving this level of excellence requires creating a sense of belonging for all individuals—especially historically marginalized members of society—by affirming the worth, dignity, legitimacy and equality of everyone in the Quinnipiac community and beyond, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, national origin, political viewpoints, veteran status or socio-economic background.
Our university-wide culture is not built on any single program, initiative or action. Rather, it blossoms when guided by heartfelt care for the well-being of fellow community members.
This is what inclusive excellence looks like at Quinnipiac:
We bring our “whole selves” to our work and study, which means we bring our hearts as well as our minds.
We stand for the quest for knowledge, encourage vigorous exchange of ideas, and foster honest, courageous conversations about sometimes uncomfortable subjects.
We aim to always think and act with kindness to create a safe, respectful environment for these dialogues, with particular sensitivity to fellow community members’ individual or collective experiences.
Reasoned, academic and rigorous debate requires us to hear viewpoints with which we may disagree. However, those disagreements must not question the worth, dignity, legitimacy and equality of our fellow community members.
We affirm our belief in the ideals of inclusive excellence as a way to continue nurturing Quinnipiac as a university full of people who care deeply about each other and the communities around us.
LEADERSHIP
Debra J. Liebowitz, PhD, Provost
Debra Liebowitz is an innovative leader with an impactful record of creating partnerships and launching initiatives that enable university growth, promote diversity, strengthen shared governance, and immersive learning opportunities. She oversees all academic programs at Quinnipiac, the university’s nine schools, and all other academic units and centers. She is also a professor of political science at Quinnipiac.
Liebowitz most recently served as provost and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University, where she led three schools with approximately 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Liebowitz joined Drew in 2000 as an assistant professor teaching international politics and gender studies. She assumed positions of increasing responsibility, including director of the women and gender studies program, and associate dean for curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts and associate provost, before her appointment as provost in 2017. Liebowitz earned the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Center for Civic Engagement’s Faculty Leadership Award while at Drew. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Human Rights.
She holds degrees in political science — an undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Rutgers University.
APPLICATIONS & DEADLINES
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, current resume, and three references saved as one document, either Word or a PDF. The file name should start with your first name and then last name, such as, “John Doe - Quinnipiac Application.” This should be emailed to search@careerleadershipcollective.com with the email subject of “Application for Quinnipiac AVP of Career Services.”
To be considered, interested applicants should submit the requested materials no later than Friday, August 26 by 11:59pm EST.
This job description and prospectus has been designed to indicate the general nature, working conditions and level of work performed by employees within this job. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, working conditions and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.
