KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 1
Senior Director of Advancement, College of Business Administration
Kent State University Kent, Ohio
www.kent.edu
Send Nominations or Cover Letter and Resume to:
Zena Lum
Search Director
617-262-1102
The Opportunity:
Kent State University is ranked among the nation’s
Top 74 public high-research universities by the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. With eight campuses spanning
Northeast Ohio, a College of Podiatric Medicine, a
Regional Academic Center, and academic sites in
major capitals such as New York City, Geneva and
Florence, Kent State is Northeast Ohio’s leading
public university and a major educational,
economic and cultural resource far beyond the
region it has served since 1910. The university is the largest producer of college graduates in Northeast Ohio
and has a worldwide alumni body exceeding 222,000. Kent State also has been selected as one of this year’s
“Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education – the seventh time the university has
been selected for this honor in the past eight years.
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 2
The College of Business Administration (COBA) at Kent State University offers some of the best
undergraduate, graduate, executive, research and outreach programs in business not only in Ohio, but also
in the nation and around the globe. Striving for
excellence in all that it does, the college’s
commitment shows in the strength of its programs
and partnerships with the business community.
The College of Business Administration is ranked
as a “Best Business College” for undergraduate
and MBA programs by U.S. News and World
Report, a “Best Business School” by The Princeton
Review, a top-tier ranked program for executive
education in North America by CEO Magazine, and
has one of only 23 accounting programs endorsed
by the Institute for Management Accountants. The Financial Engineer ranks its MA in Economics 66th and its
MS in Accounting 84th in the U.S. COBA attracts more than 4,300 business majors representing 50 countries
around the globe. Its programs range from bachelors through doctoral education, and the College is one of
only three public business schools in Ohio with a comprehensive Ph.D. program.
Kent State University is in the planning phase of a major comprehensive campaign and COBA is leading the
charge. The college’s plans for a new building have been unveiled and a campaign of $60 million is in the
planning phases. The college is seeking an experienced leader to take COBA’s building and endowment
campaign from launch to completion.
This is an ideal opportunity for a strategic development manager interested in making history, undertaking
the university’s first capital project to be funded largely through private philanthropy. The successful
candidate must bring a demonstrated track record working successfully with prominent administrative,
academic and volunteer leadership. In partnership
with a dynamic and visionary Dean, and leading a
young, ambitious team, s/he will represent COBA’s
priorities to secure major and principal gifts that
further its mission to create knowledge and educate
undergraduate, masters and doctoral students by
providing opportunities to learn and develop skills,
applying knowledge to business problems through
traditional and experiential learning. COBA adds
value to the region and the world beyond its campuses through engagement in rigorous and relevant research
and teaching.
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 3
Position Overview – Senior Director of Advancement,
College of Business Administration
Kent State University is seeking an experienced professional with exceptional fundraising abilities to serve
as its Senior Director of Advancement for the College of Business Administration. This individual has dual
reporting lines to the Executive Director of Advancement and the Dean of the College. Charged with
directing the development and implementation of a comprehensive major and leadership gifts fundraising
program for the college, the Senior Director will manage his/her own portfolio of prospects and donors, as
well as oversee a team of fundraisers.
Duties/Essential Functions:
Duties/essential functions may include, but not be limited to, the following:
Plan, oversee, and coordinate the development and implementation of cultivation strategies for
generating private financial support for the college
Manage professional advancement staff within COBA; provide leadership in setting annual
fundraising goals, objectives, and strategies
Serve as liaison between the college and Institutional Advancement leadership regarding prospect
activity
Lead comprehensive campaign initiatives for targeted projects within COBA
Identify, cultivate, and solicit prospects for major and leadership gifts
Work with the Dean and academic leadership to coordinate and manage the college’s volunteer
advisory boards. Serve on various campus and community committees, task forces, councils, etc.
Perform public relations activities at various functions
Perform related duties as assigned
Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field; five years’ experience in development with two to three years’
experience supervising professional staff; demonstrated success closing gifts of 6+ figures;
experience with comprehensive campaign planning and implementation
Preferred Qualifications:
Master’s Degree; 7+figure fundraising successes a plus; experience in schools of business or related
academic division; demonstrated success working effectively with high-level volunteer leaders,
university administrators, board members, staff, alumni, and corporate executives
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 4
Knowledge Of:
Experience and understanding of higher education, institutional processes to include managing and
reporting fundraising activities*
Functional knowledge of institutional fundraising processes from individuals *
Must possess a broad institutional perspective, and have excellent management and planning skills,
as well as a proactive style of leadership that encourages teamwork and interaction *
Skill In:
Interpersonal communication, written and verbal communications; including public relations skills *
Organizing information and projects and adhering to deadlines *
Utilizing Microsoft Office Suite and other applicable software *
Experience with Salesforce and Luminate would be a plus *
Ability:
To fundraise; including the ability to research, cultivate and manage donor relations *
To provide leadership and direction *
To multi-task while managing multiple projects and assignments *
To prepare proposals and reports *
Assessments: Asterisk (*) indicates knowledge, skills, abilities which require assessments.
Kent State University is committed to the creation and nurturing of a diverse community of individuals through
inclusive excellence. Diversity involves recognizing the value of differences and the inclusion of all members of
the community including those that experience discrimination or under representation. This is a core value of
the organization as we strive for a culturally diverse student body, faculty and staff that reflect the
multicultural nature of Ohio, the nation, and our world.
Office of Institutional Advancement Overview
The purpose of Institutional Advancement is to promote awareness among Kent State University
benefactors of the impact their contributions make to the growth and future success of the university. The
Office’s goal is to acknowledge contributions to Kent State through conscientious management, and by
nurturing lasting relationships between the university and those who support it with their time, money, and
effort.
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In recent years, Kent State University has been
widely recognized as one of the world’s finest
public research universities and as an institution
that is helping Northeast Ohio compete and
succeed. But with state support of the university
providing less than 20 percent of its budget,
private philanthropy is the key to ongoing growth.
Donor contributions during this critical time help
lay the foundation and create resources for the
next 100 years of excellence in education and
research. With strong improvements in alumni
engagement and annual giving, the Division of Institutional Advancement this winter moved into a new
home that brought all advancement staff under one roof for the first time in the university’s history. This
new facility will set the stage for new levels of fundraising and alumni engagement throughout the next
decade.
Historically, Kent State has completed two major comprehensive campaigns: The Campaign for Kent State
University and more recently The Centennial Campaign. The latter raised $265 million, exceeding its goal of
$250 million, and funded the endowment, capital projects and current-operating funds, with particular
emphasis on student scholarships. The Centennial Campaign concluded on June 30, 2012.
The Foundations of Excellence is a current
interim capital initiative with major naming
opportunities for several new buildings
either recently opened or currently under
construction made possible through bond
financing. Among these new facilities are
the Center for the Visual Arts, the Center for
Architecture and Environmental Design, the
Aeronautics and Technology Building, and
the Integrated Sciences Building. Naming
gifts are expected to pave the way for a
new comprehensive campaign that is
currently in the quiet planning phase. COBA’s planned new building, which was not part of the bond-
financed Foundations of Excellence, will be a prominent campus centerpiece, and one of the few bricks-and-
mortar initiatives expected to be included in the upcoming campaign.
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As the Office of Institutional Advancement organizes around
the anticipated comprehensive campaign, fundraising
revenue targets have held steady in recent years. In Fiscal
Year 2015, overall university totals for new commitments
were $29,793,230 of which $1,821,910 was directed to the
College of Business Administration. Kent State University’s
endowment has an estimated value of $118 million and
COBA’s endowment is estimated at $15 million; the next
campaign will include a focus on increasing the endowment.
Client Overview
Kent State University is one of the nation's largest university
systems. Its eight campuses provide more than 300 academic
programs to more than 41,000 undergraduate and graduate
students from throughout Ohio and the nation, and from over
100 countries. One of the largest employers in Northeast
Ohio, the university employs more than 5,700 full- and part-
time faculty and staff.
Since its founding as a teacher-training school in 1910, Kent
State has become an engine for economic, cultural and
workforce development in the region and beyond as a
premiere university in Ohio. It has also earned acclaim for applying new knowledge to address the needs of
the communities it serves and society as a whole through a vast array of continuing education courses and
much more.
In December 2015, President Beverly Warren shared her
Strategic Roadmap for a Distinctive Kent State, which
capitalizes on the rising trajectory and momentum of Kent
State University. Realizing that the faculty remains committed
to a distinctive blend of teaching and learning, research and
creative excellence, the university is poised to accelerate its
growth and impact on a national scale. Based on extensive
interaction across its eight-campus system, a new vision,
mission and core values were adopted along with five major university priorities. The Strategic Roadmap also
outlines 16 university-level initiatives that will promote innovation and learning, advance academic program
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 7
and research excellence, drive regional and global impact and strengthen the university’s organizational
stewardship.
The exciting developments on its campuses mirror the exciting
projects underway in the city of Kent and in many communities
served by its Regional Campuses. When the university’s strategic
plans are realized, it will be able to say that Kent State was part of
an investment in the future totaling nearly $700 million; helped
create nearly 1,700 jobs; and improved the quality of life in
Northeast Ohio.
College of Business Administration:
“From new business start-ups to discoveries about the impact of diversity on corporate boards, our pioneering
faculty members are training the next generation of business leaders, while creating new knowledge to help
today’s businesses excel.”
Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D.
Dean
Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International since 1964,
the College of Business Administration is among the less than 1% of business schools worldwide to receive
dual accreditation for business and accounting. The college houses one of the nation’s oldest Executive MBA
programs and its newest master’s program in Business Analytics begins in Fall 2016.
COBA is globally connected through international
partnerships and a wide range of education
abroad offerings; as well as faculty, students and
alumni with ties to more than 100 countries. More
than 200 students from the college studied abroad
in 2015-16, with most receiving study abroad
scholarships from the Fiedler/Borg Warner
Endowment in support of international education.
Enrollment over the last 5 years has continued to
rise, particularly among the nearly 600
international students now enrolled in the college.
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Faculty are attracted from 16 different countries, and COBA is the only college at Kent State with a
dedicated International Programs Office.
The college’s Global Management Center’s partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service has forged a U.S.
Export Assistance Center located in the college to enhance export outreach to Northeast Ohio businesses
and give students global business experience. The Center for Information Systems brings state-of-the-art
technology into the college’s classrooms and supports initiatives such as The TechHelp Service & Repair
Center to provide technology services to the Kent campus. The college is also home to the Center for
Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, which continues to launch student businesses each year into the
Northeast Ohio entrepreneurial ecosystem to grow the region’s economy.
The college’s Career Services Office is the only satellite office of Kent State’s Career Services Center. This
office facilitates several specialized career fairs, an etiquette dining series, internship coordination, mock
interviews, resume critiques, career coaching, and job placement services.
COBA Leadership:
Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Business Administration
Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D., joined Kent State University in January 2013 as dean of the
College of Business Administr ation. She previously served as associate dean at the
University of South Alabama’s Mitchell College of Business and has served on the
faculties of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Western Michigan University,
and as a visiting professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Worms, Germany.
Prior to earning her doctorate in marketing, she worked as the marketing research director of a publishing
company and later for consulting firms in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in new product development and
strategic planning.
Dean Spake’s research interests include services marketing, advertising, and business ethics. Her research
has appeared in numerous publications including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Advertising,
Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, and Journal of
Business Research. She is a member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Business Research,
facilitates a seminar for new associate deans of business for AACSB International and serves on the board of
the Mid-America Business Deans Association.
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Dean Spake holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and a M.A. in Advertising from the University of Alabama; as well as
a B.A. in Communication from the University of South Alabama.
Location
Kent, OH/Northeast Ohio:
Kent, Ohio is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio with a population of 28,904 according to
the 2010 Census and 29,810 in the 2015 estimate. The city is counted as part of the Akron Metropolitan
Statistical Area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area. Historically a
manufacturing center, education is Kent's
largest economic sector with Kent State
University the city's, and one of the region's,
largest employers.
The Northeast Ohio region is a great place to
live and work. It is a place where “Economic
Activity,” “Quality of Life,” and “Affordability,”
come together. The region offers unsurpassed
educational and world-class medical facilities, regional and national centers for the arts, and top-notch
entertainment and professional sports, and is surrounded by an extensive array of scenic parks, situated
within a few miles of beautiful Lake Erie, one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world.
Not only does Northeast Ohio offer superb cultural, educational, recreational, and entertainment amenities,
but it does so at a cost-of-living well below that of other major metropolitan areas across the country.
Residents in Northeast Ohio enjoy affordable housing, easily accessible roads and transportation services,
and an unparalleled quality of life.
To learn more, please visit: www.neoisgreat.com/index.htm
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 10
Background Checks:
Prior to submitting your resume for this position, please read it over for accuracy. LLLS does verify academic
credentials for its candidates, and our clients frequently conduct background checks prior to finalizing an
offer.
To learn more, call
Zena Lum, Search Director at
617-262-1102
or send nominations or cover letter and resume to
All inquiries will be held in confidence.
Setting the Standard in Development Search
420 Boylston Street, Suite 604, Boston, MA 02116
617.262.1102
www.LLLSearches.com
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 11
Appendix
University Leadership:
Dr. Beverly Warren
President
Dr. Beverly Warren became Kent State University's 12th president on July 1, 2014.
Prior to coming to Kent State, Dr. Warren had served as provost and senior vice
president at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) since 2011. She arrived at VCU
in 2000 as a professor and head of the School of Education’s Division of Health,
Physical Education and Recreation, and went on to serve as dean of the School of
Education. Before joining VCU, Dr. Warren held faculty positions at Smith College in
Massachusetts; Auburn University in Alabama; Appalachian State University in North Carolina; and Lander
University in South Carolina.
Dr. Warren is an internationally respected and widely published scholar in the fields of education and
exercise physiology. Her most recent research focused on urban education, including access and success for
urban youth, the preparation on of teachers for urban environments and coordination of education through
P-20 initiatives. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the Research Consortium of
the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She was elected to the Board of
Trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine in 2004 and is a former president of its Southeast
Chapter.
A North Carolina native, Dr. Warren earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro and a Master of Science degree from Southern Illinois University. She holds two
doctorates, an Ed.D. in administration of higher education from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in
exercise physiology from Auburn University.
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 12
Lynn Iams
Executive Director of Advancement, Kent Campus Colleges
Lynn Iams joined Kent State’s Institutional Advancement team in July 2014 after
serving as associate vice president for campaigns and advancement operations at
Portland State University in Oregon. She has also held advancement positions at the
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (executive director of institutional advancement),
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (association vice president of development and
acting vice president of university relations), and her undergraduate alma mater,
Washington & Jefferson College (director of foundation and government relations, executive director of
external relations, and director of alumni relations). She has played a role in the success of both
comprehensive and single priority capital campaigns. Before beginning her career in higher education
advancement, she was president of a regional tourism promotion agency in Southwestern Pennsylvania, was
a leader in the statewide association of convention and visitors bureaus, and chaired a federal commission
on the development of tourism related to America’s industrial heritage. She holds a Master of Public
Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
Organizational Chart
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