Position Profile
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs
Carthage College Kenosha, Wisconsin
A Call to Leadership
Since the 1980s, Carthage has achieved vigorous growth fueled by a deep trust in the transformative power of an excellent liberal arts education combined with astute management of financial, physical, and human resources. A valued community partner, the College has achieved this growth while working in harmony with its neighbors.
Now, Carthage looks forward to building on its accomplishments and to furthering its mission: Seeking Truth, Building Strength, Inspiring Service — Together. Under the dynamic and visionary leadership of President Gregory Woodward, the College is building toward becoming a leader in collegiate education. Academic distinction, comprehensive student support, strategic initiatives, fiscal strength, and strong enrollment reinforce Carthage’s reputation as a highly respected academic institution.
To further its goals, the College now seeks an effective and collaborative leader to help shape our future. The Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs works closely with faculty, staff, and students to realize the teaching mission of the College. The Provost guides the College’s programs in education, business, fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies, and carries responsibility for the allocation of all academic resources at the College.
As the chief academic officer, the Provost reports to the President and serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet. Further oversight responsibilities include the Division of Graduate and Professional Studies, the Office of the Registrar, a robust faculty development program, an engaged post- doctoral fellows program, and curricular support programs: Writing Across the Curriculum, Tutoring Center, Writing Center, Career Center, and the Technology Fellows Program. 2
CARTHAGE AT A GLANCE
Founded in 1847, Carthage is a four-year private college of the liberal arts and sciences, affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Abraham Lincoln was an early Carthage trustee. The College has enjoyed several homes during its 164-year history, graduating its first class from the Kenosha, Wisconsin, campus in 1965.
Situated midway between Chicago and Milwaukee, the picturesque Carthage campus rests on a 80-acre arboretum on the Lake Michigan shore. Walkways, offices, classrooms, and residence halls across the campus offer sublime views of the lake and lush stands of mature trees.
The College has invested $130 million in campus development during the last decade, only 20 percent of which was funded by incremental long-term debt. Investments include a new library, recreation center, athletic arena, residence halls, and student union.
Home to 2,500 full-time and 900 part-time students, the College awards the Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in more than 45 subject areas, and the Master of Education degree. The Carthage faculty comprises nearly 150 teacher/scholars, many holding degrees from the most prestigious universities in the world.
Average class size is 17 students. Student-to-faculty ratio is 14:1. Carthage accepts approximately 70 percent of 7,000 applicants each year. Average high school GPA of the entering class is 3.31. Average midrange ACT is 22 to 27.
Carthage fields 24 intercollegiate athletic teams (12 men’s, 12 women’s) in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), among the most competitive in the country. 3
A DISTINCTIVE COLLEGE
Carthage is among Tier 1 of National Liberal Arts Colleges as ranked by U.S.News & World Report (2014) and among the “Best Colleges in the Midwest” as ranked by the Princeton Review (2013). Its students earn Fulbright, DAAD, and other prestigious scholarships with increasing regularity.
Distinctive accolades garnered by the College include:
• Carthage ranks among the top 17 percent of colleges and universities nationwide in academic gains made by students, as measured by the Collegiate Learning Assessment.
• e Th Carthage Microgravity Team has won six consecutive years of recognition from NASA’s competitive SEED program, enabling Carthage students to conduct joint experiments with NASA staff.
• Carthage alumni earn one of the highest mid-career median salaries among graduates from Wisconsin colleges and universities, according to a 2011-12 report by PayScale Inc.
Bolstered by its self-perpetuating board of trustees, Carthage maintains excellent relations with the surrounding community.
Our inspiring student body is characterized by intelligence, seriousness of purpose, diversity of interests, and a strong desire to make meaningful contributions to their communities and to the world.
The faculty of accomplished teacher/scholars is dedicated to the ideals of a holistic liberal arts education.
A smoothly functioning administrative team is committed to advancing the mission of Carthage in a collaborative and cooperative environment.
A strong and inclusive strategic plan is in place that is mission-centered, with support for that mission at all levels of the College.
The College is in a strong financial position, characterized by 24 continuous years of balanced budgets and operating surpluses that have been reinvested in the campus, faculty, program development, and endowment. 4
ACADEMIC DISTINCTION
Informed by a commitment to the great works, the heart of a Carthage education is the core curriculum. From a rigorous center of core courses in the liberal arts, the Carthage curriculum radiates outward to encompass courses and majors ranging from traditional fields in the liberal arts, sciences and languages, to more vocationally oriented disciplines such as business, education, or social work. Capitalizing on its enviable student- teacher ratio and its committed teaching faculty, Carthage is becoming a national leader in undergraduate research in the sciences and, increasingly, in the humanities.
HERITAGE COURSES form the core of the Carthage education. At a time when others have abandoned serious engagement with core curriculum and enduring classics, Carthage asks all students to complete a semester course in Global Heritage and a two-semester seminar in Western Heritage. Focused on enduring classics of Western Civilization from Homer and Plato through the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, to Darwin and DuBois, these seminars represent the foundation of the Carthage experience.
J-TERM (January Term) is a special month long period of study when Carthage students explore subjects outside their majors or minors, discover new interests, and test their creativity through classes held both on campus and around the world.
The CARTHAGE SYMPOSIUM, in which two faculty members representing differing intellectual disciplines team-teach a single course, promotes examination of issues from different perspectives.
The required SENIOR THESIS demonstrates the College’s commitment to foster undergraduate research at the curricular level. The thesis (or project) may take the form of a written thesis, laboratory research, music recital, art exhibit, translation, or other significant and integrative experience appropriate to the student’s major. 5
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT demands the same core curriculum as other majors, drawing many students to learn business principles and public/private sector economic systems. Housed in the Clausen Center for World Business, students have the opportunity to work with large and small businesses nearby, and enjoy classes in three other majors, International Political Economy, Economics, and Political Science. Graduates have been placed at numerous local companies—SC Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Baxter, and Snap-On and internships are also possible.
ADULT EDUCATION has grown significantly at Carthage, both for those pursuing an undergraduate degree and those in its well-regarded joint programs with Loyola University of Chicago. Given the importance of ensuring a high–quality Carthage education for all, the College has developed a year-round series of training and development opportunities for faculty, while launching an assessment protocol to ensure uniform academic quality across all courses. 6
CO-CURRICULAR STRENGTH
Undergraduate Research Carthage is a teaching college with a deeply held commitment to undergraduate research that provides real-world research opportunities to students.
The College is one of only two nationwide to send students for six consecutive years to the Johnson Space Center for the NASA SEED program—Systems Engineering Educational Discovery. In addition, the American Institute of Physics cited Carthage’s Physics Department and Astronomy as among the best in the nation at preparing students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
A hallmark of Carthage since the 1990s, SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) allows students the opportunity to collaborate with faculty mentors on significant research projects. These research experiences have provided a solid foundation for three recent chemistry graduates that were each awarded $100,000 National Science Foundation Graduate School Fellowships.
Founded in 1994, ScienceWorks: Entrepreneurial Studies in the Natural Sciences is the nation’s first undergraduate technology entrepreneurship and career preparation program. ScienceWorks participants obtain internships with regional, national, and international companies; receive grants to work on new product lines; get exclusive licenses to new technologies; attend lectures and national meetings; and meet world business leaders.
The Fine Arts Students in the fine arts also make their marks at Carthage. Members of the Carthage Choir—one of the nation’s oldest a capella touring choirs—come from all academic disciplines. The choir tours regularly across the United States and tours Europe every three years. In 2011, the choir performed at Carnegie Hall.
The Carthage Wind Orchestra is one of the oldest college bands in the United States, founded 140 years ago. Carthage and Kurashiki Sakuyo University in Japan are partners in an exchange program that began in 2001, sharing in-residence study tours. 7
The Theatre Department has been honored at the Regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, a program involving students from colleges across the country. Productions from the past four seasons were selected and performed regionally. In addition, Carthage received five national awards at the Kennedy Center Festival in 2013.
Athletics Carthage student-athletes compete in one of the most rigorous Division III conferences in the country, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). The College offers 24 intercollegiate sports—12 men’s and 12 women’s—and is committed to excellence in each. Carthage consistently is ranked in the top 15 percent of all Division III schools in the Director’s Cup standings measuring the success of an athletic program.
At the same time, Carthage student-athletes excel in the classroom, winning conference, regional, and national All-Academic team honors. Their graduation rate is higher than that of the overall student body.
Carthage is a national leader in the expansion of Division III sports. Due to Carthage initiatives and leadership in the Midwest region, enough men’s collegiate volleyball programs have developed to begin a new conference—the Continental Conference—and cause the NCAA to make it a Division III championship sport. Carthage also was a leader in developing two new lacrosse conferences in the Midwest, for both men and women. 8
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Carthage sits in the middle of the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor; more than 15 million people live within a 150-mile drive. The latest census puts Kenosha at 100,000; the population of Kenosha County is 165,000. Neighboring Racine, Wisconsin, is a city of just under 90,000; Racine County’s population is close to 200,000.
Carthage has forged outstanding relationships with both the City and County of Kenosha. The Carthage Business and Professional Coalition regularly hosts nationally known speakers at lunchtime presentations that attract 150-200 members of the community to campus.
Carthage has divisional Advisory Committees that bring business and civic leaders from throughout the nation to campus twice a year.
Friday Family Fun Nights, open to the community, are highly anticipated events in the Hedberg Library and the N.E. Tarble Athletic and Recreation Center (TARC). Families can enjoy the library, browse the Center for Children’s Literature, or play games or swim in the TARC. Faculty and staff lead youngsters in activities such as “Mad Science Club” (led by the Chemistry Department); “Animals of the World” (in cooperation with the Racine Zoo); or “A Night with David Diaz”, the Caldecott Award-winning illustrator. 9
NOMINATIONS AND INQUIRIES
For best consideration, the Search Committee requests applications by Friday, November 1, 2013. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Candidates should submit: curriculum vitae; letter of interest, including a statement articulating the candidate’s vision for a liberal arts institution in the 21st century; and contact information for three professional references. Electronic submissions are preferred. Confidential nominations of self or others, inquiries, or expressions of interest should be directed to:
Dr. Christine Blaine Co-Chair, Provost Search Committee Chair & Professor of Chemistry
Carthage College www.carthage.edu/provost 2001 Alford Park Drive [email protected] Kenosha,WI 53140 262-551-5872 [email protected]
Dr. Brad Andrews Co-Chair, Provost Search Committee Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Carthage College 2001 Alford Park Drive Kenosha,WI 53140 262-551-5700 [email protected]