Presiden tial Search - Oakton Community College · Local and National Speakers share their...

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Presidential Search

Transcript of Presiden tial Search - Oakton Community College · Local and National Speakers share their...

Page 1: Presiden tial Search - Oakton Community College · Local and National Speakers share their scholarship, experience, and knowledge throughout the year with presentations such as A

PresidentialSearch

Page 2: Presiden tial Search - Oakton Community College · Local and National Speakers share their scholarship, experience, and knowledge throughout the year with presentations such as A

akton’s new president will have an outstanding opportunity to take the helm of one of Illinois’

most exceptional community colleges. Located justnorth of Chicago, the College is passionately dedicatedto student success, academic excellence, and strong community connections.

The College follows a shared governance model. As one of only 200 colleges in the Achieving the DreamNational Reform Network, its leadership, faculty, andstaff live their commitment to student success every dayin the classroom, on campus, and throughout the district.

Each semester Oakton serves more than 23,000 creditand noncredit students. Beyond its two campuses, theCollege develops and delivers customized training forlocal employers and organizations throughout the region, and it offers arts and educational programmingto the wider community.

Operating on a strong financial foundation, Oakton boasts a committed Board of Trustees that provides strong support and direction for the president and a talented leader-ship team that has the experience to share thoughtful advice and counsel. Oakton has a stable employee base thatcombines in-depth institutional memory with innovative ideas and a passion for service.

Poised to move to the next level in its quest for student success, Oakton seeks a president who will maintain andbuild on the College’s national reputation for excellence.

The Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee of

Oakton Community College invite applications and nominations

for the position of president. The president serves as the chief

academic and administrative officer of the College, working under

the general direction of the Board of Trustees.

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The College Founded in 1969, Oakton is one of the leading community colleges in Illinois. Accreditedby the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, the College is recognized by the Illinois Community College Board and is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges, as well as numerous educational organizations.

Governed by a seven-member, locally elected Board of Trustees, Oakton is one of 48 community college districts,all units of local government. The Illinois Community College Board serves in a coordinating capacity and collaborates with the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Oakton offers a supportive environment, where the talent, dedication, and hard work of the faculty, staff, and administrators help ensure students meet the academic and career goals they have set for themselves. More than10,000 students enroll in credit courses each semester, and approximately 13,400 take a wide range of noncreditcourses for career advancement or personal enrichment. During the 2013-2014 academic year, Oakton awarded1,587 degrees and certificates.

Located on the doorstep of one of the world’s most vibrant cities, Community College District 535 includes 16 municipalities with a total population of 435,000. Bordered by Lake Michigan to the east, Chicago offerscountless educational, cultural, and recreational resources. With some of the top-rated universities in the country, internationally recognized museums and performing arts venues, major league sports teams, and easy access totransportation, the city enjoys its reputation as a favored destination for domestic and international visitors.Chicago’s northern suburbs boast some of the finest secondary schools in the country, as well as high-quality public amenities that include award-winning park districts, well-funded libraries, premier health care facilities,and a variety of neighborhoods to suit every taste.

Oakton’s two campuses are located in the City of Des Plaines, about 10 miles northwest of Chicago, and in theVillage of Skokie, which borders Chicago on the north. Nestled in a forest preserve along the Des Plaines River,the 147-acre Des Plaines campus features 65 classrooms and 46 laboratories. The campus also houses the Performing Arts Center, the Koehnline Museum of Art, an early childhood education center, and a fitness center.In 2015, a new LEED-certified, 93,000-square-foot Science and Health Careers Center will open at this site, offering state-of-the-art facilities for courses ranging from nursing and phlebotomy to biology and physics.

The Skokie campus features 31 classrooms; manufacturing, computer, RFID, and science labs; and proximity to Oakton’s nanotechnology laboratory at the nearby Illinois Science + Technology Park. Conveniently located near the thriving downtown retail district, the campus also houses an early childhood education center and theCollege’s Workforce Development and Corporate Training team, which provides customized training and educational programs for area employers.

Students can enroll full time or part time and take classes at one, or both, campuses. Access to essential services,including libraries, cafeterias, computer labs, bookstores, academic advising, and health service offices, is availableat both locations.

To serve its students, Oakton employs 154 full-time faculty, 550 part-time faculty, 375 classified staff and campuspolice members, and 34 administrative staff. The College has four employee unions: full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, classified staff, and public safety staff. Employee groups work collaboratively with the administration andpresident to carry out the core commitments of the College’s mission.

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Academics at OaktonOakton offers more than 100 degree and certificate programs in 40 subject areas. Students can take classes duringthe day, in the evening, and on the weekend.

Transfer and occupational curricula, together with special programs—from Honors, Great Books, and Women’s andGender Studies to Jewish Studies and a robust STEM emphasis—equip students for lives of work and learning.

Oakton students benefit from technology-enhanced classrooms, small class sizes (an average of 18 students perclass), and individualized attention from faculty. Oakton also offers a growing selection of online and hybrid

courses supported by BrightSpace, D2L’s integrated learning platform.Last year almost 15 percent of credit hours were taken online.

The College partners with a wide variety of other institutions—including four-year colleges and universities, local hospitals, and professional associations—to offer associate’s degrees, seamless transferoptions, and innovative degree pathways. For example, nursing studentsworking toward a bachelor’s degree at Northern Illinois University cantake many of their classes at Oakton, and the College’s paramedic program is offered in partnership with two area hospitals. The Collegehas established relationships with the Northern Illinois Public Safety

Training Academy and has recently collaborated with the Technology and Manufacturing Association of Illinoisto provide college credit for two of TMA’s math and manufacturing training courses.

Continuing Education at Oakton offers an extensive selection of noncredit courses, including community education, ESL and GED, continuing education forhealth professionals, and the Emeritus program for seniors. Noncredit career programs, such as personal fitness trainer and commercial driver’s license certifications,are offered in partnership with independent training institutions.

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Students at OaktonMirroring the diversity of the college district, Oakton students differ in age, background, and educational intent.Approximately 40 percent are the first in their families to attend college, and more than 50 languages are spokenin our students’ homes. Thirty-nine percent of attending students are persons of color, and 51 percent are women.

Forty-six percent receive financial aid, and 79 percent are employed.Twenty-nine percent of Oakton students attend full time. Recent highschool graduates share classrooms with adults returning to school to advance in the workplace or to retrain in new career fields.

Veterans and those actively serving in the armed forces comprise about 2.5 percent of the student population. A student veteran representativeprovides academic counseling and assistance, and designated certifying officials assist with financial aid and benefits.

Support for StudentsUnderstanding that learning takes place outside as well as inside the classroom,Oakton provides a comprehensive range of services designed to help students besuccessful.

Extensive orientation programs help new students make the transition to college,whether they are enrolling after high school graduation or returning after years inthe workforce. In addition to adult student and veterans orientation sessions, theCollege’s jOURney to Success supports new traditional-age students throughout their first semester, incorporating one-day orientation sessions, special workshops, welcome events, and a peer mentor program.

One of the first stops for all students is Advising Services. Academic advisors at both campuses help studentsthroughout their time at Oakton with course selection and degree or certificatecompletion. Counseling Services provides personal counselors to assist studentswho are struggling with challenging issues.

Learning Centers at both campuses offer one-on-one tutoring and workshops,serving more than 3,700 students annually. Oakton’s federally funded TRIOprogram reaches out to first-generation college students with special program-ming. The College’s Access and Disability Resource Center coordinates adaptive equipment, services, and classroom accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Career Services offers a battery of workshops on job search and career-relatedtopics and links to job opportunities on and off campus.

More than 50 student clubs and activities—as well as robust intercollegiate and intramural athletics programs—provide additional opportunities to stayconnected. From Art and Astronomy to the student-run Occurrence newspaper,there is something to nurture everyone’s interests and passions. An active Student Government Association, as well as student-run boards and Oakton’sEmerging Leader Program, help students sharpen their leadership skills andprovide opportunities to engage in shaping life at the College.

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Workforce SolutionsFrom its earliest days, Oakton has partnered with hundreds of businessesand organizations to provide practical education that improves technical,management, and leadership skills. Oakton’s Workforce Developmentand Corporate Training team offers industry-specific customized training, assessment and testing, professional skill development, and leadership training to respond to the learning needs of the business world where change is the only constant.

Our CommunityOakton offers a rich variety of activities outside the classroom, including special community events focusing onpolitics, the arts, music, and social issues.

Entertainment staged in the two performing spaces at the Performing Arts Center gives students the opportunityto hone their crafts using the latest production technology and audiences the pleasure to enjoy an eclectic mixture

of music, drama, comedy, and current events. In 2013, Oakton“flipped the script” with a gender-bending version of the musicalHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. This year’s productions include a staged reading of The Underpants, SteveMartin’s adaptation of a 1910 German farce, and a rareChicagoland appearance by Grammy-nominated classical andjazz guitarist Alex de Grassi.

Oakton hosts Play On, a summer playwriting festival that features original one-acts plays written and directed by Midwestern community college students.

Free to the public, the Koehnline Museum of Art boasts an impressive permanent collection of modern and contemporarypainting, sculpture, and graphic art that can be enjoyed at bothcampuses, including works by Chicago artists John Himmelfarb,Winifred Godfrey, Alex Topchevsky, and Richard Hunt. Recentexhibits have included African-American Movie Posters, Clothingand Culture in South Asia, and Egon Weiner: Pillar of Human

Emotions. The Museum collaborates each October with the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Oakton to exhibit works by women artists from around the globe.

The Chicago Authors Series features prominent local authors who visit campus to read and discuss their works.Recent guests have included Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Alex Kotlowitz,author of There are No Children Here.

Each April, the Creating Justice Symposium offers music, workshops, performances, and discussions about therole of the arts in informing, celebrating, and inspiring social justice.

Held every other year, the Women’s and Gender Studies Conference spotlights gender-related issues. In 2013,speakers and presentations focused on Futuristic Feminisms: Visionary Perspectives Across the Disciplines.

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Local and National Speakers share their scholarship, experience, and knowledge throughout the year with presentations such as A Sufi Saint and His Poet: The Cultural Heritage of Ameer Khusrau and Nizamuddin Auliya by Delhi filmmaker and author Yousuf Saeed and The Science Behind Academic Stress and STEM Performance bySian Beilock, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.

Oakton Educational FoundationFounded in 1977, the Oakton Community College Educational Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has benefited thousands of students, faculty, and staff bysupporting compelling College initiatives not met by public funds. With assetstotaling $14 million, the Foundation provides hundreds of student scholarshipsand enhances the learning and working environment with vital programs andequipment.

Foundation Board members, along with the new Alumni Council, participatein a variety of friend-raising and fund-raising activities that strengthen theCollege’s connectedness to the community.

Leading OaktonThe Board of Trustees and the College community seek a president committed to leading collaboratively, tobuilding on the best of the past, and to moving courageously through the challenges of the future. Oakton has thrived as a result of the longevity and stability of the leadership team and the Board of Trustees.

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The AgendaOakton’s new president will be charged with prioritizing objectives in order to meet the three key goals delineated in the College’s 2013-2017 Strategic Plan, Connecting What Matters:

Student Success Oakton will demonstrate its continuing commitment to student success. The College will cultivate and engagein practices that foster the attainment of academic, career, and personal outcomes that are determined and developed through collaboration between the student and the College. Oakton expects extra- and co-curricularactivities and programs to support these efforts. The College will identify specific obstacles to student successand develop innovative, effective strategies to help students overcome these obstacles. Oakton acknowledges thatsuccess is linked not only to students’ goals but also to College, state, and national priorities relating to completion and transfer.

To accomplish this goal, the president will need to:� Lead Oakton’s efforts to champion the success of all students, which includes closing the achievement gaps and improving the success of low-income students and students of color.

� Demonstrate practices to improve student success and to implement new programs.

Academic ExcellenceOakton will deepen its tradition of being recognized for academic excellence. Courses, curricula, and programs—both credit and noncredit—will reflect current and emerging content, creative and effective pedagogy, andlearning environments that support multiple modes of delivery and student engagement. Recognizing thatlearning in classes and courses is central to the student’s experience and success at Oakton, the College will pursue enhanced student success and academic excellence in traditional as well as in emerging learning venues.

To accomplish this goal, the president will need to: � Foster both traditional and inventive approaches to enhance instruction and promote a passion for teaching and learning.

� Advance the high standards characteristic of Oakton and drive effective practices and accountability for accrediting agencies, our students, and the public.

� Cultivate student and employee learning, as well as personal/professional development, and promote effective learning technologies.

Connected CommunitiesOakton values all members of the College community. Oakton will continue to transform its practices to combatall forms of exclusion and bias in curricula, programming, and institutional policies and procedures and to assure that the administration, faculty, staff, and students reflect and value diversity of culture, race, class, genderexpression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and age. Oakton will continue to be responsive to the needs andinterests of community members, area businesses, and organizations for transfer, career and continuing educa-tion and to the programs that support the intellectual and cultural life of the community. The College will fostera culture of employee engagement that includes philanthropy, service, and support for programs and activities.

To accomplish this goal, the president will need to: � Champion Oakton’s vision of an inclusive and accepting campus climate.� Sustain the commitment to enriching our shared learning and working environment, and to attracting diverse faculty, staff, and students.

� Strengthen ties with area businesses, organizations, and public agencies, and actively promote the role the College plays in lifelong education.

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Desired QualificationsThe successful candidate will be a caring and compassionate leader whose working style evidences wisdom, integrity, and a commitment to building community and fostering civility. The new president must be able todemonstrate an appreciation of and an ability to work in an environment that values interest-based bargainingand shared governance. A strategic thinker and planner, the candidate will require vision, energy, courage tomake progressive decisions, commitment to academic quality, and a willingness to encourage freedom of speechand academic expression. The new president will be an eager public spokesperson capable of developing substantive relationships at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels, and will be knowledgeableabout the major issues facing community college and higher education. The candidate’s application will provideevidence of the following:

� An earned doctorate (Ph.D., J.D., Ed.D., or equivalent), as well as significant experience relevant to the mission of a comprehensive community college. College-level teaching and/or counseling experience is necessary.

� Substantial and current administrative experience in higher education, with experience as a senior-level administrator in a community college.

� An evident, credible commitment to diversity confirmed by leading and supporting the recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students from diverse backgrounds.

� Demonstrated leadership abilities in consensus building and conflict resolution, with an open and collaborative leadership style that actively engages the College community.

� Proficiency with the spoken and written word in order to communicate effectively and persuasively with a wide variety of constituents.

� A collaborative leadership style that engages diverse constituencies in shared decision-making.

� Evidence of engagement with campus and community activities.

� A demonstrated understanding of and engagement with current issues and challenges in higher education in general and community colleges in particular.

� Experience in harnessing the power of educational and information technology.

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Institutional Data Profile 2013Student enrollment for fall 2013 10,016 credit 16,197 noncredit(unduplicated headcount)

Percent student diversity (credit) 39%

District public high school graduates attending Oakton 18%

First-year retention rate 45%

Percent of transfer-seeking students who transfer 50%

Degrees/certificates awarded in 2013-2014 827 degrees 760 certificates

Number of faculty 154 full-time 550 part-time

Percent faculty diversity 20%

Average faculty salariesProfessor: $96,255 Associate Professor: $76,572 Assistant Professor: $61,281

Student/faculty ratio 18:1

Tuition and fees per credit hour$103.25 (in-district) $288.00 (out-of-district) $366.00 (out-of-state)

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Application Procedures

The position will be available July 1, 2015. Application review begins October 20, 2014, and will continue untilthe position is filled. Full consideration date is December 1, 2014.

Candidates should apply online at oaktonps.interviewexchange.com and should attach:

� A cover letter expressing interest in the position and describing how the candidate’s background is a match for

the desired qualifications identified by the College for the next president. � A current résumé. � Contact information (including e-mail addresses) for five professional references.

For more information, please contact: Mr. Duane (Arnie) Oudenhoven, Search Consultant847.917.2281

Confidential inquiries, nominations, and questions regarding the application process should be sent [email protected].

Oakton Community College is committed to the highest standards of professionalism in the search process. Oakton will protect applicant confidentiality in accordance with state law; finalists will be required to participatein a public selection process.

Oakton Community College is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution,committed to employing competent, qualified individuals. No person shall be subject

to discrimination of any kind on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, age, sexual orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service.

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Vision, Mission, and Values

We are the community’s college.

We are dedicated, first, to excellence in teaching and learning.

We challenge our students to experience the hard work and satisfaction of learning that leads to intellectualgrowth and support them academically, emotionally and socially.

We encourage them to entertain and question ideas, think critically, solve problems and engage with other cultures, with one another and with us.

We expect our students to assume responsibility for their own learning, to exercise leadership, and to apply ethicalprinciples in their academic, work and personal lives.

We demand from ourselves and our students tolerance, fairness, responsibility, compassion, and integrity.

We are a community of learners.

We provide education and training for and throughout a lifetime.

We seek to improve and expand the services we offer in support of the people in the communities we serve.

We promote a caring community of staff and faculty members, students, administrators, and trustees who, in keeping with our values, work together to fulfill our mission.

We are a changing community.

We recognize that change is inevitable and that education must be for the future.

We respond to change informed by our values and our responsibility to our students and our communities.

We challenge our students to be capable global citizens, guided by knowledge and ethical principles, who will shape the future.

Ratified by the Board of Trustees on October 20, 1998.