Position Profile:
Vice-President (Administration)

The University

Trent is one of the youngest universities in Canada, with an established reputation for academic excellence. Formally created as an independent university with full degree-granting powers by the Ontario Legislature in 1963, the University specializes in high-quality liberal undergraduate education where the emphasis is on the individual student. In addition, Trent has a strong research profile and several interdisciplinary graduate programs.

Now in its thirty-fifth teaching year, the University has achieved its desired size of 5000 undergraduates. In addition, there are 143 graduate students in the five fields in which graduate studies are currently offered.

The University has 223 full-time and 109 part-time faculty, and 284 full-time and 99 part-time staff. The 1996-97 operating budget is $37 million, with an additional $15 million of activity in ancillary and capital budgets and trusts. Funding of research at Trent amounts to $3.5 million.

A distinguishing feature of Trent University is its college system. Four of the colleges are located on the Symons campus, which is situated on the banks of the Otonabee River at the northern city limits of Peterborough, Ontario; two other colleges are located in historic buildings in residential areas of downtown Peterborough. The 580-hectare Symons campus is set in the forest and gently rolling hills of the Kawartha lakes region. The buildings have won international awards and acclaim, and the combination of architecture and surroundings creates a setting of startling beauty.


Trent's Mission

Trent University aspires to be Canada's outstanding small university known for its commitment to liberal undergraduate education in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences and to the centrality of the individual student. Within a collegial setting, the University offers undergraduate and graduate programs, both traditional and interdisciplinary, which seek to advance learning through the creative interaction of teaching and research of the highest quality.


Trent's Goals

• To create a teaching, learning, research and living environment fundamentally committed to the promotion of free inquiry and expression.
  
  
• To offer a distinctive, excellent and continually evolving teaching program that responds to the needs of an increasingly diverse full- and part-time student body.
  
  
• To provide educational programs which encourage students to think critically, creatively, constructively and to communicate their ideas effectively, as well as instilling a curiosity that engenders lifelong learning.
  
  
• To sustain and enhance opportunities for research and scholarly activity of the highest standard.
  
  
• To recognize and take advantage of Trent's relatively small size, flexibility and experience to foster continually opportunities for creative interaction between academic departments and programs, teaching and research, colleges and academic activities and among our faculty, staff and students.
  
  
• To develop, in the pursuit of the advancement of learning, mutually beneficial partnerships and linkages with universities, colleges, schools and other public and private sector institutions and organizations, including our alumni.
  
  
• To encourage intellectual and cultural sensibility, adaptability, leadership, mutual respect, an ethical conscience, global (or international) perspectives and environmental sensitivity among all members of the Trent community.
  

Institutional Objectives

• Recruit and retain students from within and beyond Canada who will benefit from Trent's programs and who will contribute to University life.
  
  
• Provide an appropriate range and sequence of undergraduate courses and programs in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and interdisciplinary fields to ensure a truly liberal education rooted in a strong institutional commitment to undergraduate teaching.
  
  
• Develop new opportunities for small group teaching and individualized learning.
  
  
• Create and sustain a range of interdisciplinary graduate programs that will reinforce the goal of liberal education, have linkages with our undergraduate departments and programs and provide all faculty with graduate teaching and research opportunities.
  
  
• Employ and retain excellent faculty who contribute actively to the advancement of learning through teaching, research, service and professional development.
  
  
• Employ and retain excellent academic and administrative support staff and ensure adequate opportunities for their professional development.
  
  
• Create and sustain an environment (intellectual, physical, fiscal and social) that advances learning through quality teaching and research while encouraging respect, tolerance and sensitivity.
  

The Position

The Vice-President (Administration) has responsibility for all aspects of the University's financial, human resources and physical plant operations, and related policy development. The Vice-President (Administration) reports to the President of Trent University and, as a member of the senior administration, will be involved in university policy development in areas not covered by this portfolio. Also reporting directly to the President are the Vice-President (Academic) and Provost; Vice-President (Advancement); University Secretary; and Human Rights Advisor.

Working in collaboration with the Vice-President (Academic) and Provost, the Vice-President (Administration) provides leadership to the administrative operations of the University in support of the academic enterprise. The Directors of Financial Services, Physical Resources, Conferences and Hospitality Services, and the Associate Vice-President (Human Resources) report to the Vice-President (Administration).

The following is an overview of the responsibilities of the Vice-President (Administration). It is not an exclusive description of the position, but is representative of the levels of authority exercised and the variety and complexity of responsibilities that will face an incumbent. The University intentionally retains adequate flexibility to adjust the responsibilities of senior administrators to tap the particular attributes and talents of each individual.

Finance

The Vice-President (Administration) is ultimately responsible for all financial planning, budgeting, policy development, forecasting, management and interaction with the Board relative to the University's financial operations. The Vice-President will also play a financial management role as part of the University's upcoming Development Campaign.

The incumbent is expected to provide financial leadership through effective internal policies and practices that optimize revenue from existing sources and generate additional revenue from entrepreneurial activity consistent with the goals and objectives of Trent University.

The Vice-President (Administration) is the chief administrative liaison with the Audit and Finance and Investment Advisory Committees of the University's Board of Governors. As well, the Vice-President (Administration) serves as a consultant to the Senate Budget Committee.

Human Resources

The Vice-President (Administration) has responsibility for all aspects of human resources policy, employee collective agreements and terms and conditions of employment for exempt staff and related activity. Included here are: employee relations, benefits, pensions, payroll, employment equity, health and safety, and compliance with legislation governing employment standards, occupational health and safety, labour codes, etc.

Negotiation of three collective agreements (with staff, full-time and part-time faculty), possibly including participation at the table during negotiations, is a significant feature of this area of responsibility. The incumbent is responsible for compliance with each of the collective agreements and for ensuring the development of positive and supportive human resources activities and systems.

This portfolio requires direct involvement with pension and benefit carriers and consultants concerning policy, annual reports, individual cases and costing, and leads in the negotiation of benefit contracts.

The Vice-President (Administration) is the chief administrative liaison with the Human Resources Committee and the Negotiations Committee of the Board of Governors and chairs the University Pension Committee.

Physical Plant

Overall responsibility for Physical Plant matters also falls under the Vice-President (Administration) portfolio. The Vice-President is expected to stimulate an entrepreneurial approach to the University's complex and broad interests in this area.

The Director of Physical Resources reports to the Vice-President (Administration) for building and land maintenance, insurance, campus security, the powerhouse mechanical and electrical services and capital renovation/construction. Of growing importance is the Director's responsibility for taking a lead role in facilities renewal, infrastructure enhancement, and land and resource development for purposes of revenue generation. The entrepreneurship of the Director and Vice-President will be essential in this area.

The Vice-President (Administration) serves as administrative liaison with the Board's Property Committee.

Other Operations

Responsibility for supporting the continuing evolution and management of Trent's ancillary operations (Bookstore, Campus Store, Conferences and Hospitality Services, and Print Shop) is directly or indirectly with the Vice-President (Administration).

The Vice-President (Administration) works closely with the Vice-President (Academic) on policy and development matters affecting ancillary operations in the Student Services area.

External Liaison

The incumbent represents Trent University on the Committee of Senior Administrative Officers of the Universities of Ontario, the Canadian Association of University Business Officers, and other standing or ad hoc provincial or national committees which are established from time to time. It is also expected that the Vice-President will develop a series of personal contacts with staff at the Ministry of Education and Training, the Council of Ontario Universities and such other bodies as may be appropriate.

The successful candidate will need to develop a good working relationship with all of the University's major professional consultants (lawyers, actuaries, auditors, trustees, investment managers, benefits consultants, benefits carriers, insurance agents, bank managers, etc.).

Legal Services

The Vice-President (Administration) coordinates the University's use of legal services (labour, insurance, contracts, development, etc.) but does not normally deal with each specific case.

Issue Management

The Vice-President (Administration) is called upon from time to time, as appropriate to the portfolio for which he or she is responsible, to act as the University's spokesperson internally or externally, and with the media. The Vice-President is also called upon to bring management direction to a range of issues and decisions which may at times be high-profile and controversial and to respond quickly and decisively on behalf of the University.

The Candidate Qualifications

The Search Committee recognizes that no candidate for Vice-President (Administration) is likely to meet all the following criteria in equal measure; nevertheless, the following qualifications, experience, and personal qualities are seen to be desirable in, and will be sought in candidates for the position:

• Proven experience in a senior-level finance and/or administrative position combined with an understanding of academic institutions. A generalist's career history, which includes experience in more than one institution and/or with more than one functional responsibility, as well as the management of other department heads would be desirable.

• A personal commitment to university education and scholarship generally and to the mission of Trent University.

• Financial skills consistent with the role of Chief Financial Officer for the University, including knowledge of capital markets, pension fund management, fund accounting and land development; the ability to interpret and communicate financial information in a clear and effective manner.

• Experience in assuming a leadership role in human resources, labour relations and finance; knowledge of, and respect for, a unionized environment.

• Consultative and participatory skills with a capacity for decisive action; the ability to lead and build a team, and to delegate where appropriate.

• Persuasiveness, good negotiating skills, and the ability to handle conflict resolution.

• An approachable style, empathy with student, faculty and staff concerns, and an understanding of the importance of visibility throughout the University and the local community.

• Commitment to encouraging a healthy and productive working environment.

• Highly developed creative skills, with the ability to be innovative and forward-looking; the ability to take risks to bring about change.

• Interest in, and ability to, establish credibility and effective relations with governing bodies.

• Proven planning abilities with a track record in evaluating and implementing courses of action.

• Consistent behaviour and a value system which gives priority to intellectual honesty and personal integrity.

• Academic qualifications, including a university degree from a recognized institution; a post-graduate degree and/or some appropriate professional designation or equivalent would be an asset.

The City

Peterborough, a city of 67,000 with an economic base in manufacturing and tourism, is a ninety-minute drive from Toronto and a three-hour drive from Ottawa. Founded early in the Victorian era, it has retained much of its architectural heritage and small-city charm on quiet tree-shaded streets. Private and public art galleries, a public library, a museum, lively amateur and professional music and dance theatre groups, and a new downtown performing arts facility nourish the community's cultural interests. In sports, the Peterborough Petes are a strong major junior hockey team, while the city's junior and senior lacrosse teams are perennial contenders for the respective national championships. Two excellent 18-hole golf courses flank the city on the east and west and a half-dozen others are located in the area nearby. In and near the city are cross-country ski trails (including several on Trent's 500-acre wildlife sanctuary) and facilities for downhill skiing, swimming, sailing, and canoeing. The city and district also boast a number of restaurants with specialized cuisines, and shops that cater to virtually all interests.

The Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to assume a leadership role in an outstanding Canadian university distinguished for its focus on the individual student.

The terms of the appointment and the compensation of the Vice-President (Administration) are negotiable. The new Vice-President (Academic) is expected to take office July 1, 1998. Trent University is committed to employment equity, welcomes diversity in the workplace and encourages applications from all qualified applicants including women, members of racial minorities, aboriginal peoples, and persons with disabilities. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, this Position Profile is directed to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.

All inquiries regarding this position will be treated in strict confidence and should be directed to either Dr. Janet Wright or Dr. Dan Birch at Janet Wright & Associates Inc., 21 Bedford Road, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2J9, Phone: (416) 923-3008, Fax: (416) 923-8311, E-mail: jwassoc@astral.magic.ca.




Janet Wright & Associates Inc.