Vice Provost, Academic Affairs

Webster University•Saint Louis, MO

About The Position

The Vice Provost is a senior academic executive with institution-wide responsibility for academic programs, student pathways and success, academic administration, enrollment partnership, and global academic innovation. Reporting directly to the Provost, the Vice Provost leads complex academic portfolios and institution-wide initiatives, establishes priorities and accountability, and exercises delegated authority on behalf of the Provost, including serving as the Provost’s primary designee when unavailable. As a senior advisor to the Provost, the Vice Provost partners with Deans, faculty, shared governance, Strategic Enrollment Management, and institutional leaders to advance academic strategy, new-student recruitment and enrollment growth, student success, institutional effectiveness, and innovation. The Vice Provost serves as the primary Academic Affairs executive liaison to Strategic Enrollment Management, aligning academic programs, enrollment priorities, market demand, student pathways, and institutional capacity. The role calls for executive-level strategic thinking, academic and organizational leadership, change leadership, data-informed decision-making, agility, executive communication, cross-functional influence, and sound judgment in Webster’s global, multi-campus environment. Areas of executive responsibility include academic programs and general education; the Registrar and academic records; transfer pathways and articulation; commencement; student success, academic advising, and academic support; the Academic Affairs partnership with Strategic Enrollment Management; global education and planning; study abroad and WINS; online learning; and faculty development and academic innovation.

Requirements

Master’s degree required.
12–15+ years of progressively responsible higher-education leadership experience, including substantial senior-level leadership.
Demonstrated experience leading multiple academic functions, complex portfolios, and institution-wide initiatives.
Demonstrated success partnering with Deans, faculty, shared governance, and senior institutional leaders.
Demonstrated experience partnering with Enrollment Management, Admissions, or related functions to support student recruitment, enrollment growth, academic program demand, and student success.
Experience across academic programs, student success, academic administration, and organizational change.
Demonstrated experience assessing organizational or academic operations and translating findings into strategic and operational improvements.
Demonstrated experience using academic, enrollment, operational, market, and financial data to support institutional decision-making and resource allocation.
Demonstrated ability to lead effectively in a changing higher-education environment, reassessing priorities, addressing barriers, and adjusting strategies when institutional or market conditions warrant.
Executive and academic leadership: ability to lead complex portfolios, establish accountability, develop leaders, and exercise sound executive judgment.
Strategy, enrollment partnership, and institutional effectiveness: ability to translate institutional priorities into measurable academic and student-success outcomes and build partnerships between Academic Affairs and Strategic Enrollment Management.
Academic governance and partnership: ability to engage Deans, faculty, shared governance, Enrollment Management, and institutional partners in complex academic and institutional environments.
Organizational and change leadership: ability to assess organizational effectiveness, lead change, develop leaders, align resources, and strengthen institutional capacity and continuity.
Financial and data-informed decision-making: ability to use academic, enrollment, student-success, operational, market, and financial data to inform strategy, resource allocation, and executive decisions.
Agility and strategic judgment: ability to anticipate challenges and opportunities, reassess assumptions, and adjust strategies and priorities as institutional needs and external conditions evolve.
Executive communication and influence: ability to communicate at the executive level, build alignment across organizational boundaries, and influence outcomes through collaboration, credibility, and sound judgment.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a global, multi-campus, online, or similarly complex higher-education environment.

Responsibilities

Provide executive leadership for academic programs, general education, academic pathways, advising, academic support, retention, and degree completion.
Align academic offerings and pathways with student needs, recruitment opportunities, enrollment demand, market conditions, academic quality, and institutional priorities.
Serve as the senior Academic Affairs liaison and strategic partner to Strategic Enrollment Management, strengthening coordination across enrollment management, Deans, academic programs, faculty, and other stakeholders.
Partner with Strategic Enrollment Management to support new-student recruitment, conversion, and enrollment growth through academic engagement in recruitment initiatives, prospective-student experiences, program promotion, and enrollment priorities.
Use enrollment trends, market demand, student-interest data, and academic performance information to identify opportunities for program growth, student pipelines, transfer pathways, and academic portfolio alignment.
Engage Deans and academic leaders in shared accountability for enrollment outcomes, including academic participation in recruitment, conversion, and yield strategies.
Advance transfer, articulation, academic policy, and student-success strategies that improve access, progression, retention, and degree completion.
Establish measurable outcomes and accountability across assigned areas.
Provide executive oversight of the Registrar, academic records, registration, graduation, commencement, and related academic administrative functions.
Ensure consistent application of academic policies and effective practices across schools, colleges, locations, and instructional modalities.
Use academic, enrollment, student-success, operational, and financial data to strengthen institutional effectiveness, resource allocation, and decision-making.
Assess assigned academic and administrative functions and recommend changes to organizational structures, processes, resources, technology, and practices when necessary.
Advance operational effectiveness, accountability, and continuous improvement across assigned portfolios.
Provide strategic leadership for global education, study abroad, online learning, faculty development, and academic innovation.
Strengthen academic quality and consistency across Webster’s global, multi-campus, and multimodal environment.
Advance innovative approaches to teaching, learning, faculty development, academic delivery, and student engagement.
Identify opportunities to use online, global, and innovative academic offerings to support student access, enrollment opportunities, and institutional growth.
Partner with academic leaders to ensure faculty development and academic innovation support institutional priorities, student needs, and evolving educational and market expectations.
Serve as senior advisor to the Provost and as the Provost’s primary designee when assigned or unavailable.
Serve as the primary Academic Affairs executive liaison to Strategic Enrollment Management, sustaining coordination between academic and enrollment strategies, priorities, initiatives, and performance.
Partner with Enrollment Management and academic leadership to identify and address barriers to recruitment and enrollment growth and ensure programs, faculty engagement, resources, and student pathways support institutional enrollment objectives.
Lead complex, cross-functional academic initiatives and translate institutional priorities into measurable outcomes.
Assess institutional and academic conditions, identify emerging opportunities and risks, and adjust priorities, strategies, and resources as conditions change.
Establish accountability and performance expectations across assigned portfolios.
Develop senior leaders and strengthen organizational capacity, succession readiness, and operational continuity.
Build effective partnerships with Deans, faculty, shared governance, executive leadership, and institutional partners.
Provide the Provost with strategic analysis, recommendations, and executive-level insight regarding academic performance, student success, enrollment alignment, organizational effectiveness, and institutional priorities.