Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

University of Florida•Gainesville, FL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs serves as the University’s chief academic officer and principal advisor to the President on academic matters. This role involves developing, articulating, and executing a compelling academic vision aligned with the University of Florida's (UF) mission, strategic priorities, and aspirations for national and international leadership. The position requires collaborative work with deans, faculty, academic leaders, students, and staff to establish university-wide academic priorities and translate them into measurable outcomes. A key responsibility is to strengthen UF’s position as a premier public research university and enhance its academic reputation, impact, and competitiveness. This includes identifying emerging opportunities for academic innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional distinction. The Provost is also responsible for recruiting, retaining, developing, and recognizing a world-class faculty committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service, while championing excellence in all academic endeavors. Ensuring that promotion, tenure, evaluation, compensation, and recognition systems support academic excellence and institutional priorities is crucial. Fostering a culture characterized by intellectual vitality, academic freedom, professional respect, transparency, collegiality, and shared responsibility is also a core function. The role involves working with the Board of Trustees, Florida Board of Governors, and other governing bodies on academic matters and regulatory requirements. The successful candidate will be expected to define and execute a compelling next-generation academic strategy for UF, further elevate UF’s standing among leading public research universities, recruit and retain exceptional faculty and academic leaders, strengthen research competitiveness and interdisciplinary collaboration, advance educational innovation and student success, identify strategic opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies, strengthen academic program quality, relevance, and sustainability, build greater alignment among university-wide priorities, college strategies, and resource allocation, foster a culture of academic excellence, innovation, intellectual openness, shared governance, and institutional trust, and advance UF's land-grant mission by strengthening the University's engagement and impact across the state of Florida, while extending its national and global reach.

Requirements

Must have a terminal degree and a strong academic record at the full-professor level, combined with substantial senior academic administrative experience.
The ability to articulate a bold, coherent academic vision and translate that vision into priorities, investments, structures, and measurable results.
The capacity to lead across a large, comprehensive research university with wide-ranging academic disciplines, professional schools, health sciences, research enterprises, and external constituencies.
The intellectual standing and authenticity to earn the respect of faculty while engaging constructively with differing perspectives and maintaining strong standards of academic excellence.
The ability to make difficult choices about people, programs, facilities, and financial resources while protecting academic quality and investing strategically in areas of opportunity.
A demonstrated ability to identify, recruit, develop, retain, and empower exceptional faculty, deans, and academic leaders.
The ability to break down institutional silos and create productive partnerships among colleges, disciplines, research centers, health sciences, students, industry, government, and communities.
Organizational skills to lead significant changes while maintaining institutional stability, engaging stakeholders, communicating clearly, and preserving trust.
A genuine commitment to ensuring that academic excellence translates into exceptional educational experiences and outcomes for students at every level.
The ability to identify emerging opportunities, make strategic investments, and position UF for greater research impact, innovation, entrepreneurship, and national leadership.
An appreciation for the distinctive responsibilities of a public land-grant university and its obligations to students, the state of Florida, and society, including a commitment to connecting the University’s academic and research strengths with the needs of communities across the state.
The judgment to navigate effectively among faculty governance, university administration, trustees, state-level governance, government partners, and external stakeholders while maintaining the integrity of the academic mission.
The ability to communicate a compelling vision, listen deeply, explain difficult decisions, build coalitions, and represent the University with credibility and confidence.
The ability to use evidence, analytics, emerging technologies, and artificial intelligence thoughtfully to improve academic quality, institutional effectiveness, research productivity, and student success.
Advance an outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and professional educational experience.
Significant experience in a research-intensive environment and a demonstrated record of institutional leadership is expected.

Nice To Haves

Experience overseeing academic programs, faculty and staff, budgets, strategic planning, and university-wide initiatives
Demonstrate strong knowledge of shared governance, accreditation, faculty development, student success, and the ability to work effectively with presidents, faculty, deans, trustees, and other stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Serve as the University’s chief academic officer and principal advisor to the President on academic matters.
Develop, articulate, and execute a compelling academic vision aligned with UF’s mission, strategic priorities, and aspirations for national and international leadership.
Work collaboratively with deans, faculty, academic leaders, students, and staff to establish university-wide academic priorities and translate them into measurable outcomes.
Strengthen UF’s position as a premier public research university and enhance its academic reputation, impact, and competitiveness.
Identify emerging opportunities for academic innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional distinction.
Recruit, retain, develop, and recognize a world-class faculty committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service.
Champion excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity, clinical practice, and public service.
Strengthen faculty development, mentoring, leadership development, and career advancement.
Ensure that promotion, tenure, evaluation, compensation, and recognition systems support academic excellence and institutional priorities.
Foster a culture characterized by intellectual vitality, academic freedom, professional respect, transparency, collegiality, and shared responsibility.
Work with the Board of Trustees, Florida Board of Governors, and other governing bodies on academic matters and regulatory requirements.
Define and execute a compelling next-generation academic strategy for UF.
Further elevate UF’s standing among leading public research universities.
Recruit and retain exceptional faculty and academic leaders.
Strengthen research competitiveness and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Advance educational innovation and student success.
Identify strategic opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies.
Strengthen academic program quality, relevance, and sustainability.
Build greater alignment among university-wide priorities, college strategies, and resource allocation.
Foster a culture of academic excellence, innovation, intellectual openness, shared governance, and institutional trust.
Advance UF's land-grant mission by strengthening the University's engagement and impact across the state of Florida, while extending its national and global reach.