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Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Position Profile 2021

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Page 1: Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

Vice Chancellor for

University Advancement

Position Profile 2021

Page 2: Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

City University of New York Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

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VICE CHANCELLOR

FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT “CUNY is an educational Ellis Island that provides a gateway to high-quality, affordable education and upward economic mobility to New Yorkers of all backgrounds.”

Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Ph.D. CUNY Chancellor

THE SEARCH The City University of New York (CUNY) seeks an experienced, collaborative, and ambitious advancement professional to serve as the next Vice Chancellor for University Advancement. Originally founded as the Free Academy of the City of New York in 1847 and growing over the next century to become City University of New York in 1961, it is today the largest urban public university in the United States serving more than 260,000 degree-seeking students and awarding 55,000 degrees annually. Additionally, the University has 185,000 registrations in adult and continuing education programs. As the chief development officer for CUNY, the Vice Chancellor will further define a vision and culture of philanthropy that supports key institutional strategic priorities, will leverage the iconic history of the CUNY system, will attract new sources of funding, and will create and steward lifelong relationships between CUNY and its friends. Reporting to the Chancellor of The City University of New York, Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, and serving as a member of the University senior management team, the Vice Chancellor will direct, design, and implement strategies that maximize personal engagement and produce increasing levels of support for the entirety of CUNY. The Vice Chancellor will work closely with CUNY administrative and academic leadership, staff and key volunteers to create a strong and consistent message about CUNY to its constituencies, assist in efforts to enhance institutional image and public awareness, and strengthen internal and external relationships and partnerships to benefit the University system. S/he will conduct a strategic assessment of existing philanthropic strengths and opportunities, and design a roadmap for long-term growth and success in development, particularly as CUNY contemplates a University-wide campaign. With responsibility for eight full and part-time staff, the Vice Chancellor will set clear and achievable goals, implement accountability measures, ensure collaboration and coordination across the enterprise, and mentor, train, lead and inspire staff to meet and exceed expectations. In addition to serving as the principal strategist for CUNY on all development matters, s/he will also set a personal example of frontline fundraising success for the entire development team; carry a portfolio of prospects and donors; and work with the Chancellor, college presidents, provosts, deans, and others to cultivate and steward transformational gifts to CUNY. The Vice Chancellor will be an active and visible member in the extraordinary CUNY community.

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City University of New York Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

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This is an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic and accomplished individual to build and advance a comprehensive, high-level development program, capable of meeting CUNY’s objectives and enhancing its resources and reputation, including the key role it plays in higher education as a beacon of college accessibility for New York’s youth. With at least 10 years of leadership experience in successful development operations or in similarly complex programs (preferably in higher education with an emphasis on diverse student populations), the ideal candidate will have a comprehensive knowledge of all major development functions; substantial experience in campaign planning and execution; personal success in donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship at the major and principal gift levels; and experience working with or in a supporting foundation. The next Vice Chancellor should possess a demonstrated ability to create effective fundraising and engagement strategies tied to a broader institutional vision and educational objectives. The Vice Chancellor must be able to create a results-oriented work environment that promotes collaboration and builds relationships with donors that inspire them to make The City University of New York one of their highest priorities. As important, the Vice Chancellor will carry that same ideal, internally, by building strong relationships with development staff throughout the system as well as with faculty, staff, and students. This individual must possess a deep appreciation and passion for the mission, goals and culture of CUNY. A bachelor’s degree is required; an advanced degree is preferred.

CUNY has retained Jack Gorman, of the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, to conduct the search. Confidential inquiries, nominations and applications may be directed to the search firm as indicated at the end of this document.

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City University of New York Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

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DIVERSITY – THE HEART AND HISTORY OF CUNY

The City University of New York has long been recognized as one of the most diverse University systems in the nation. As its first Latino Chancellor, Dr. Matos Rodríguez is passionately committed to the University's unwavering sense of duty to serving students, its insistence on academic rigor, and its support of world-class faculty, guiding its work to foster and promote an ever more diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. This pluralistic community is fundamental to the exchange of ideas and knowledge, scholarly discourse, and the engagement of the University's constituencies.

The very fabric of CUNY is a rich mosaic of cultural diversity with over 77% of its students coming from Asian, Black, and Hispanic descent and 44% representing first-generation college attendees. The University has also seen 26 MacArthur ‘Genius’ winners, 13 Nobel laureates, and 151 Fulbright scholars. Perhaps what is most critical to the heart of CUNY’s students is what they represent to the heart of New York City and New York State. 85% of CUNY graduates live and work in New York City and, for the state, create more than $33.2 billion in added value annually. Since 1966, graduates have earned twice their income level had they only earned a high school diploma.

CUNY today has 7 community colleges, 11 senior colleges and 7 graduate/professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 260,000 undergraduate and graduate students — as well as nearly 200,000 registrations in adult and continuing education programs — and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. The impact of CUNY is profound, with the New York Times citing “CUNY propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all eight Ivy League campuses, plus Duke, M.I.T., Stanford and Chicago combined.”

Given CUNY's long history of proactive support for diversity and inclusion, it is uniquely positioned to build upon that strong foundation and serve as a national leader and model, exemplifying the benefits that accrue when diversity and inclusion are integral components of an institution's educational philosophy and core mission.

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City University of New York Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

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VICE CHANCELLOR FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT As CUNY nears its 175th anniversary and after experiencing unparalleled growth in the past half century, there is still work to be done to better harness the uniqueness of the University as it relates to fundraising. As noted previously, CUNY’s storied history began with one college that grew into a separate second college, followed by the emergence of 25 colleges and campuses. As each college was established so, too, was a distinct development operation with a centralized approach to fundraising for the entire University only emerging in the past 15 years. Therefore, the new Vice Chancellor must engage with stakeholders, both internally and externally, to answer the essential question of how to best leverage the success of each college unit by leveraging the remarkable history, vision, and goals of the University writ large. In 2015, the University concluded its remarkably successful $3.0 billion Invest in CUNY campaign which enhanced student support and scholarships, endowed professorships and enabled faculty recruitment, innovative programs, and University-wide initiatives. The primary legacy of that campaign was the elevation of annual philanthropy to CUNY colleges which now includes more than 50,000 gifts and $250 million, five times the annual support received prior to the campaign. One of the critical lessons reinforced from that campaign was understanding the need to build out centralized University advancement resources to fully support the fundraising activities of each campus and to align those activities with the overall vision of the University. But more needs to be done. The Vice Chancellor for University Advancement will have an opportunity to examine, define, and scale the advancement organization in accord with the needs and expectations of the Chancellor, the leaders of the member colleges of CUNY, and to then amplify a consistent message of how all entities must partner for success. This will mean a continued investment and expansion of the University advancement organization as well as securing transformational gifts for University initiatives. It will be vital for the next Vice Chancellor to have a proven track record of working closely with internal stakeholders to educate them on philanthropic best practices, and showing them the benefit of having a strong centralized advancement operation. This will require developing and implementing a wide-reaching fundraising program for current and future funding needs of CUNY in alignment with strategic priorities. In conjunction with campuses, develop benchmarks and standards of practice across CUNY supporting a somewhat coordinated approach to institutional advancement. This individual must also have experience in scaling up advancement teams and be an agent of change capable of advocating for and implementing new approaches. Perhaps as important as any skill, talent or set of experiences is the absolute requirement to have passion and a deeply held commitment to the legacy of CUNY as a place where every New Yorker is given the opportunity to make CUNY their academic home. As one CUNY community member offered, “This is truly an outstanding place, serving this city for more than 170 years. There are entire

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communities across the world that have been built and rebuilt by our graduates. The new Vice Chancellor must tell this story…how we are 25 campuses but one University.” ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILTIES FOR THE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

• Assess the fundraising potential of CUNY; serve as architect and builder of a multi-year fundraising and engagement strategy that ensures sustainable long-term growth in philanthropic contributions and alumni commitment to CUNY and its 25 campuses.

• Create a clear and compelling communication plan which will play effectively to all audiences by working collaboratively and transparently with each college and the University’s communications and marketing office.

• Understand and capitalize on the gains made during the last campaign. In preparation for the next campaign, evaluate philanthropic capacity of all constituencies, identify areas for growth, strategically augment development staff and resources, and craft fundraising strategies to raise sights and involvement of volunteers and donors at all levels.

• Partner with the Chancellor, University Provost, Deans, senior staff, faculty, and key volunteers, utilizing their time and talents to increasingly engage, cultivate and solicit major donors and prospects.

• Guide and support the Chancellor in his role as a key fundraiser, serving as a coach, mentor and co-strategist on cultivating and soliciting principal gifts. Similarly guide and support academic, administrative and volunteer leadership across all development activities.

• Ensure that the Chancellor, University Provost, Deans, senior administrators, faculty and key volunteers throughout the University advancement system are effectively and professionally staffed with regard to development activities; provide focus for their efforts so that their time spent is productive, meaningful, and personally rewarding.

• Work closely with the Chancellor and University Provost to systematically engage Presidents/Deans and faculty and college fundraising staff in the fundraising process. In coordination with college advancement leaders, provide Presidents/Deans with the resources necessary to leverage the strength of their most successful alumni and donors in supporting the needs and aspirations of their colleges. Assist faculty in becoming a part of the donor identification and cultivation process.

Lead CUNY’s development staff, promoting a culture of excellence, collaboration, and professional growth

• Promote excellence through well-defined and measurable goals; inspire and motivate staff through the free flow of information, placing staff members’ work within the context of CUNY’s strategic priorities and mission.

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• Actively mentor and train a high-quality fundraising staff that is prepared to meet the ongoing challenges of broadening and diversifying CUNY’s philanthropic revenue. Assess current staff capacity and staffing structure, and recruit/reassign staff as necessary.

• Foster an environment that rewards performance, builds confidence, encourages interaction and teamwork, and promotes diversity; recognize and celebrate current achievements and set clear expectations for future success.

• Oversee all personnel activities for the office, including the recruitment, hiring, training, and retention of staff, as well as defining the job responsibilities and conducting performance reviews for each staff member.

Advancement Program Management

• Provide leadership for a strategic, cohesive, and systematic development program consistent with CUNY’s mission and core values. Establish priorities, objectives and best practices for a comprehensive program across the areas of annual, major, and planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, research and stewardship, and donor relations.

• Emphasize the identification and cultivation of a major donor pipeline, providing a strategic framework that deepens relationships with current donors while launching systematic initiatives to identify and target others capable of making major financial contributions.

• Personally manage a select portfolio of major gift prospects and donors, and ensure that timely steps are taken toward solicitation.

• Recognize and meet the challenge of a profoundly diverse alumni base and its impact on the City of New York and beyond.

• Ensure that CUNY Advancement collaborates and coordinates with colleagues across all campuses, especially in the engagement and management of prospects.

• Ensure that all systems and processes, from data capture to gift acceptances and processing, maximize available intelligence via reporting and also follow sound stewardship, budgetary, legal and accountability practices.

This position requires strong leadership, exceptional judgment, superb communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with many internal and external constituencies. The Vice Chancellor will bring many of the following professional qualities and experiences:

• A deep appreciation for the history, mission, achievements and aspirations of The City University of New York, and the ability to articulate its uniqueness and relevance. A passion for education, the pursuit of knowledge, and the discipline of academic research.

• At least ten years of progressively responsible fundraising and managerial experience in development, preferably within higher education. Demonstrated ability to plan, manage and execute a comprehensive and successful campaign.

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• Demonstrated ability and experience building upon an existing development program, including individual and institutional philanthropy, in such a way that the increased philanthropic revenue becomes transformative for an organization. Success in increasing the effectiveness of a development program and staff through established objectives and performance standards.

• Proven management skills in establishing a team and goal-oriented environment that empowers staff through active communication and delegation, builds confidence, promotes diversity of thought, and celebrates achievements.

• Demonstrated success in personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding gifts of seven figures or more from individuals, foundations, and corporations.

• The political savvy to navigate a complex academic community; the desire and ability to build bridges and strong collaborative relationships with all members across the University and a diverse body of alumni and constituents.

• The credibility, maturity and sound judgment required to effectively engage and leverage CUNY and its leadership and volunteers in the cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of key prospects and donors.

• Exemplary interpersonal and listening skills; strong personal integrity, charisma and work ethic coupled with a sense of humor and perspective.

• Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, intercultural understanding, institutional excellence, and global engagement.

• A sharp eye for operational efficiency and the best use of resources, including a demonstrated understanding of budgets and the ability to manage them.

• An understanding of and appreciation for the use of technology in building an extended University community.

• The personal flexibility to travel and work evenings or weekends as required.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.

To Apply

Jack Gorman from the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller is leading this search with Pam Malumphy and Ryan Cheung. All applications, inquiries, and nominations will be held in the strictest confidence. For more information, to make a nomination, or to apply for this position, please visit:

www.imsearch.com/8099

CUNY encourages people with disabilities, minorities, veterans and women to apply. At CUNY, Italian Americans are also included among our protected groups. Applicants and employees will not be discriminated against on the basis of any legally protected category including sexual orientation

or gender identity. EEO/AA/Vet/Disability Employer.

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City University of New York Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

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APPENDIX DR. FÉLIX V. MATOS RODRÍGUEZ, CHANCELLOR OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

Chancellor Matos Rodríguez’s distinguished career spans both academia and the public sector: He is a scholar, teacher, administrator, and former Cabinet secretary for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Dr. Matos Rodríguez is a dedicated champion of accessibility, inclusion and excellence in higher education. He built a diverse team of tested leaders to serve on his cabinet, and as administrators. During his first year in office, he appointed pioneering leaders such as Dr. S. David Wu, as president of Baruch College, who became the first Asian-American to serve as a college president at CUNY starting in July 2020. In keeping with his ambition to grow access for traditionally underrepresented firms to CUNY, he unveiled a comprehensive plan to bolster business opportunities for firms owned by women, minorities and service-disabled veterans. Responding to the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Dr. Matos Rodríguez oversaw within a week the transition of nearly all of CUNY’s 50,000 course sections to distance education. To ensure the success of CUNY students who lacked the resources to participate in distance modalities, the University quickly purchased thousands of laptops and tablets, and paused classes on most campuses to safely distribute the devices to those who needed them. In April 2020, the University announced the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund to provide urgent support to students facing financial hardship amid the pandemic. Launched with $3.25 million in initial donations, the fund has provided grants of $500 each to thousands of CUNY students, including undocumented students who were excluded from financial relief by the federal government. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, Dr. Matos Rodríguez was president of CUNY’s Queens College from 2014 to 2019 and of CUNY’s Eugenio María de Hostos Community College in the Bronx from 2009 to 2014, making him one of a select few U.S. educators who has led both a baccalaureate and a community college.

While at Queens College, Matos Rodríguez introduced “QC in 4,” an initiative that helps students complete their bachelor’s degrees within four years; he significantly increased the college’s endowment; and he created accelerated graduate programs that allow students to save time and money as they work toward master’s degrees. At Hostos, Matos Rodríguez and his leadership team were responsible for dramatically improving the college’s retention and graduation rates and doubling its fundraising. These accomplishments made Hostos one of the finalists for the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence in 2014.

From 2006 to 2008, Matos Rodríguez served as Puerto Rico’s Cabinet secretary of the Department of Family Services. In this position, he formulated public policy and administered service delivery in such

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programs as Child Support Enforcement, Adoption and Foster Care, and Child and Elderly Protection. He oversaw a $2.3 billion budget and over 11,000 employees. Earlier, he had been Senior Social Welfare and Health Advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico.

A cum laude graduate in Latin American Studies from Yale University, Matos Rodríguez received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He has taught at Yale, Northeastern University, Boston College, the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, City College and Hunter College, and was affiliated with the History department at the CUNY Graduate Center. At Hunter, he also directed the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, one of the largest and most important Latino research centers in the United States. CUNY GOVERNANCE

Founded in 1847, the forerunner of today's City University of New York was governed by the Board of Education of New York City. Members of the Board of Education, chaired by the President of the board, served as ex-officio trustees. For the next four decades, the board members continued to serve as ex-officio trustees of the College of the City of New York and the city's other municipal college, the Normal College of the City of New York.

In 1961, the New York State Legislature established The City University of New York, uniting what had become seven municipal colleges at the time: The City College of New York, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Staten Island Community College, Bronx Community College and Queensborough Community College. In 1979, the CUNY Financing and Governance Act was adopted by the State and the Board of Higher Education officially became The City University of New York Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees: The Board of Trustees is a distinguished group of leaders dedicated to the ongoing success and preeminence of CUNY. The primary responsibilities of the Board of Trustees are to advance CUNY's mission, to provide organizational oversight and to set policy. For a Trustee list and to learn more about these volunteer leaders, visit:

http://www2.cuny.edu/about/trustees/the-board-of-trustees/ The College Presidents: Senior Colleges, Community Colleges, Graduate and Professional Schools : The academic leaders are a critical resource and partners to the Chancellor in advancing CUNY as a leader in higher education. For a comprehensive list and to learn more about these leaders, please visit: http://www2.cuny.edu/about/administration/presidents/

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HISTORY OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

"The experiment is to be tried, whether the children of the people, the children of the whole people, can be educated; and whether an institution of the highest grade, can be successfully controlled by the popular will, not by the privileged few." Dr. Horace Webster

President, Free Academy - 1847 The City College of New York was originally founded as the Free Academy of the City of New York in 1847 by wealthy businessman and president of the Board of Education, Townsend Harris, who would go on to establish diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan. Ratified by a statewide referendum, it was established to provide children of immigrants and the poor access to free higher education based on academic merit alone. City College thus became one of the nation's great democratic experiments, and it remains today one of its great democratic achievements. Even in its early years, the Free Academy showed tolerance for diversity, especially in comparison to the private universities in New York City. In 1930, CCNY admitted women for the first time, but only to graduate programs. In 1951, the entire institution became coeducational. In the years when top-flight private schools were restricted to the children of the Protestant establishment, thousands of brilliant individuals (including Jewish students) attended City College because they had no other option. City's academic excellence and status as a working-class school earned it the titles "Harvard of the Proletariat," "the poor man's Harvard," and "Harvard-on-the-Hudson." Ten CCNY graduates went on to win Nobel Prizes. Like City students today, they were the children of immigrants and the working class, and often the first of their families to go to college. The Baruch School of Business at the City College of New York, named after CCNY alumnus Bernard Baruch, opened on 23rd Street in Manhattan in 1919, and became Baruch College in 1961 with the establishment of The City University of New York - now the largest urban public University system in the United States, and consisting of 25 institutions, including its founding college, City College. The impact of this education is profound with over 1.5 million degrees conferred in the past 50 years. For a complete history of CUNY, please visit: https://www.cuny.edu/about/history/ The University today is a nearly $5 billion operating enterprise with a robust and diverse staff numbering more than 40,000, 25 schools and colleges, and graduates whose work goes to the very core of the City. One example: nearly one-third of the City’s public-school teachers are CUNY graduates.