Vice President for Campus Life
About The Position
Princeton University seeks an exceptional, visionary, and deeply student-centered leader to serve as its next Vice President for Campus Life (VPCL). This role offers a significant opportunity to shape the lives of students and influence the residential education experience at a major university. As a senior officer and key advisor, the VPCL will shape the experience of over 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The position involves leading a comprehensive portfolio that spans many dimensions of university life affecting students, with campus life being integral to the educational mission. The VPCL will be an educator, institutional leader, community builder, and strategist focused on student development through their university experience.
Requirements
- Exceptional institutional leader of unusual judgment, intellect, humanity, and strategic capacity.
- Sophisticated understanding of the forces shaping the lives of today’s students.
- Compelling point of view about the role a great residential university can play in student development.
- Appreciation for the extraordinary opportunities available to Princeton students.
- Understanding of the complexity of creating a community where students of widely varied backgrounds can thrive.
- Leader of institutional stature and broad perspective.
- Capable of thinking expansively about the future of the student experience.
- Capable of exercising excellent judgment when circumstances demand immediate action.
- Accomplished organizational leader and trusted colleague.
- Steady presence in moments of crisis.
- Visible and authentic member of the University community.
- Understanding of the distinctive dynamics of a decentralized, intellectually rigorous institution.
- Credibility and influence to lead through partnership.
- Abiding interest in students: listening to them, learning from their experiences, understanding their changing context, and keeping their development and well-being at the center of decisions.
- High aspirations combined with the capacity to execute.
- Discernment about where attention and investment can have the greatest impact.
- Willingness to question established approaches when appropriate.
- Capacity for turning ambitious ideas into coherent strategies, strong organizations, and meaningful outcomes.
- Exceptional judgment and steadiness.
- Comfort with complexity.
- Ability to listen carefully, communicate candidly, and act decisively.
- Empathy, perspective, and a deep commitment to Princeton’s educational mission.
- Significant senior leadership experience within higher education.
- Record of increasing responsibility and demonstrated success leading people, organizations, and change in demanding environments.
Nice To Haves
- An advanced degree is strongly preferred.
Responsibilities
- Lead a comprehensive portfolio spanning athletics, health and well-being, undergraduate student life, career development, religious life, diversity and belonging, civic engagement, and the planning and administrative infrastructure that supports the division.
- Connect strategy with the realities of campus life, anticipating emerging needs, and bringing institutional perspective to complex questions.
- Navigate issues that cut across organizational boundaries and affect the community as a whole.
- Bring the student experience directly into consequential institutional conversations and decision-making as a member of Princeton’s senior leadership.
- Lead a substantial organization of more than 650 employees.
- Advance University-wide priorities through a comprehensive view of the student experience.
- Ask how Princeton can best support its students and what it hopes they will become through their experience.
Benefits
- Comprehensive and highly competitive benefits package.
- Extensive array of resources and programs designed to support the physical, mental, and financial well-being of University employees and their families.
- A residence bordering campus is designated for the Vice President of Campus Life during their tenure with the University.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
