Search Posting

OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, a nationally-ranked private co-educational residential liberal arts college of approximately 1850 students located in Delaware, Ohio, 20 minutes north of Columbus, invites nominations and applications for the position of Vice President for University Relations.

This is an especially attractive position, given the strength of the institution and in light of how much President Rock Jones—in close collaboration with the faculty, staff and trustees—has accomplished since he arrived on campus in July, 2008. Specifically, the faculty and the board of trustees have overwhelmingly endorsed a new strategic plan and the framework for a new curricular initiative and have developed a new facilities master plan. With the arrival of the new vice president, Ohio Wesleyan will finalize the details of and then move forward on its next fundraising campaign.

The alumni and the board have been unusually generous in terms of their resources, their time and their talents. OWU has had significant fundraising success, including a record setting year in 2007-2008 with more than $35 million in gifts and pledges which included three commitments totaling more than $6 million each. In 2006, a former board chair and her husband, both alumni of OWU, committed $3.9 million to augment the size of the development staff in support of increasing planned giving for OWU and in anticipation of a campaign. Subsequently other donors contributed an additional $1.1 for university relations efforts. Because of such gifts and in light of its last successful campaign, the University is confident that it can achieve an ambitious goal in its next campaign.

The search is on a fast track. OWU hopes its new vice president—who will be responsible for development and alumni relations—will this fall join the University’s talented senior team whose members pride themselves on their close working relationships and who think institutionally rather than merely functionally and strategically not just tactically.

Ohio Wesleyan is especially interested in candidates who have demonstrated success in fundraising and in managing a complex operation.  More details about the position and about Ohio Wesleyan can be found in the institutional profile at vpursearch.owu.edu.

The Search Process

Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until a new Vice President for University of Relations is appointed. Submissions received by July 15, 2009 will be assured full consideration.

Applications should include a cover letter that takes into account this institutional profile, a résumé or curriculum vitae, and an annotated list of five references (noting the relationship to the candidate and including an email address, a phone number, and an address). Nominations and expressions of interest will be treated in confidence. Applications and nominations (preferably in MS Word) should be sent to: OhioWesleyanVP@academic-search.com.

Ohio Wesleyan University is being assisted by:

Dr. Susan Resneck Pierce, Senior Consultant
Academic Search, Inc.
srp@academic-search.com

Ohio Wesleyan University is strongly committed to diversity within its community and encourages all interested applicants, including women and minorities, to apply.