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Kenyon College

Provost

Kenyon College, a top-ranked liberal arts college distinguished for academic and scholarly excellence, close relationships among students and professors, and a strong sense of place, seeks a bold, adroit, and engaged leader to serve as its next Provost and advance its distinguished academic and scholarly mission. Leading and serving the faculty in its stewardship of the Kenyon education, the Provost reports to the President of the College and serves as a key member of her cabinet.

Kenyon’s new chief academic officer will join the College at a pivotal moment. Across higher education, institutions are adjusting to external forces that are placing pressure on colleges and universities, including Kenyon. Kenyon leadership and trustees, however, recognize this moment as an opportunity and are aligning resources and strategy to capitalize on it, taking a proactive approach to enhance programs and offerings, adopt new strategies to recruit and enroll students, right‑size the budget for long‑term financial sustainability, explore new revenue opportunities, and continue to grow the endowment. At this inflection‑point, the next Provost will contribute vision, conviction, creativity, and resourcefulness in framing and implementing decisions that will shape the College going forward.

The Office of the Provost oversees all aspects of Kenyon’s academic mission, including faculty, curriculum, research, and academic advising. The Provost, the Associate Provosts, and the office’s administrative staff constitute the office and support the work of committees that function within Kenyon’s shared governance structure.

The Provost’s portfolio will include responsibility for the following areas:

• Academic Advising and Support
• Brown Family Environmental Center and Kenyon Farm
• Career Development Office
• Center for Global Engagement
• Center for the Study of American Democracy
• Office of Sponsored Research & Strategic Initiatives
• Institutional Research Library and Special Collections
• Registrar

As a trusted partner to the President and a champion of the faculty, Kenyon’s next Provost will contribute broadly to the College’s success. They will be a collaborative leader who is committed to working with colleagues to ensure a vibrant future for the entire Kenyon community. In stewarding the College’s academic mission, the Provost will seek a strategic balance between tradition and innovation and will keep in focus both the interests of the faculty and the interests of the College.

Kenyon College seeks as its next Provost an innovative and collaborative leader who will effectively manage an extensive administrative enterprise; promote and embody scholarly and teaching excellence; inspire, lead, and champion the faculty; collaborate effectively with other senior leaders; and represent Kenyon, its academic programs, and its educational mission to internal and external constituencies. The Provost will be someone who can hold a genuine tension: trusted by faculty so as to move alongside them, and strong enough to lead them through the decisions that face the College.

Success in the Provost role requires several core attributes:

• The ability to engage the College community in advancing Kenyon’s academic mission
• The capacity to identify the right opportunities for Kenyon’s academic programs to remain distinctive and compelling
• Passion and judgment in articulating the College’s values and in ensuring that the curriculum achieves these values in a dynamic and compelling way
• Strategic skills to shape and execute a compelling vision for Kenyon
• Change‑leadership skills to identify, refine, launch, and implement the right initiatives
• Tactical skills and emotional intelligence to manage day‑to‑day operations
• An institutional perspective that promotes the long‑term goals of the College

The Provost will bring the breadth of perspective needed to frame Kenyon’s opportunities and challenges in both Kenyon‑specific and national contexts to enhance understanding of the forces that are driving change.

The successful candidate will bring a majority of the following qualities to the role:

• Intelligence and integrity of the first order
• A strong track record of innovation as an educator, scholar, and administrator
• Deep commitment to teaching and research excellence
• An appreciation for and commitment to the value of a liberal arts education
• Demonstrated experience advancing an inclusive and equitable academic community
• The ability to provide engaged leadership for all elements of the Kenyon community
• Demonstrated management, planning, and financial skills
• Creative, global, and interdisciplinary thinking
• Outstanding listening and communication skills

The Provost serves at the pleasure of the President. Independent of their appointment as Provost, they will have an underlying appointment as a tenured member of the College’s faculty. Candidates must therefore possess the academic credentials required for appointment as a tenured full professor, including a terminal degree in their field and a record of teaching, scholarship, and service commensurate with such an appointment.

The full position description can be viewed here.

Kenyon College has retained Opus Partners to support this recruitment. Craig Smith, Senior Partner, and Abigail Maynard, Managing Associate, are leading the search. Confidential inquiries and nominations should be sent to Abigail Maynard at Abigail.maynard@opuspartners.net.

Kenyon College is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome applications from all qualified individuals. It is the College's policy to evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical and/or mental disability, age, religion, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by institutional policy or state, local, or federal law. Kenyon College has a strong commitment to an inclusive environment that welcomes all voices and perspectives.