Position Announcement
Provost and Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston seeks a provost who will further academic excellence at a multifaceted public research university in a great American city. With a distinguished faculty devoted equally to scholarly pursuits, to teaching, and to service, and with students remarkable for their rich array of ethnic backgrounds and shared commitment to achievement, UMass Boston proudly speaks of itself as “the research university with a teaching soul.” As the only public university in greater Boston, it is committed to keeping first-rate education within reach of its student population, and to actively engaging its local, national, and international constituents through academic programs, research centers, and public service projects.
The University Today
UMass Boston has over 14,000 students and a full-time-equivalent faculty of over 650. It offers 81 undergraduate majors
and 59 graduate programs, including 15 at the doctoral level. It includes seven colleges and graduate schools, focusing
on the liberal arts, science and mathematics, management, education, nursing and health sciences, public and community
service, and policy studies, and it also sponsors numerous research institutes and centers providing policy formulation,
evaluation, and advice to government agencies, public schools, nonprofits, and the business sector. Its development efforts
and research funding have dramatically increased in recent years.
The University Tomorrow
The new provost will play a central role in realizing UMass Boston’s plans for the future, which include growth in both
undergraduate and graduate education and extensive new construction on its enviably located Boston Harbor campus,
beginning with an integrated sciences complex, a general-purpose academic building, and a home for the new Edward M.
Kennedy Institute for the Study of the U.S. Senate. The university will continue to strengthen five interdisciplinary research
clusters that address urban health and public policy; developmental sciences; science and math education and learning
research; computational sciences, analysis, and modeling; and transnational, cultural, and community studies.
Qualifications and Experience
In addition to a demonstrated capacity for nourishing and extending excellence in research, teaching, and service,
particularly in an urban environment, the new provost will have:
• an earned doctorate or equivalent, and a record of teaching and scholarship that would justify appointment as a tenured
full professor in an academic department;
• a thorough understanding of both undergraduate and graduate education, and experience in strategic planning,
evaluation of academic programs, learning outcomes assessment, accreditation issues, developing interdisciplinary
programs, applying new technologies, and attracting support for academic and research enterprises;
• a record of successful administrative leadership, including strategic fiscal planning, management, and assessment,
especially in a dynamic resource environment;
• the ability to establish and cultivate collaborative relationships among the diverse constituencies that make up the fabric
of the University of Massachusetts Boston and the many communities it serves;
• sound judgment, keen diplomatic and communication skills, and an imaginative eagerness for the future.
Nominations, applications, and all inquiries should be directed, in confidence, to:
Donna Cramer, Isaacson, Miller
3771@imsearch.com
334 Boylston Street, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02116
Electronic submission of nominations, applications, and inquiries is strongly encouraged.
Additional information about UMass Boston can be found at www.umb.edu.
Information about the University of Massachusetts system can be found at www.massachusetts.edu.