SEARCH FOR ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

BATES COLLEGE Lewiston, Maine

Since 1855, has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts. Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. With ardor and devotion— Amore ac Studio—we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times. – Bates College Mission Statement

THE SEARCH

Bates College, one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, seeks an experienced and strategic leader to serve as Assistant Vice President of Human Resources and Environmental Health and Safety (AVP-HR). The AVP-HR is the chief human resources officer and responsible for establishing and activating a human resource strategy that advances the institutional priorities and strategic direction of the college. Bates seeks an engaged leader with a deep interest in the college’s commitment to equity and inclusion and in developing institutional strategies, implementing initiatives, improving institutional culture, and building organizational capacities related to people and work environment. They will be responsible for the design and operation of human resources systems that support the employment and service of faculty, staff, managers, retirees and student employees, while also leading the development and administration of personnel policies, procedures, programs, and services that advance the mission of the college. The AVP-HR will provide functional leadership and oversight for the following areas: staff employment; classification and compensation; benefits administration; wellness programming; performance management; employee safety; staff development; employee relations; and compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Reporting to the Vice President for Finance and Administration/Treasurer, the AVP-HR will be a visible leader on campus and work closely with Bates senior leadership on strategic human resources issues impacting the college and its people. This position will provide campus-wide leadership in operationalizing the college’s commitment to the diversification of the staff, and the creation and perpetuation of equitable and inclusive work environments, collaborating

regularly with the Office of Equity and Inclusion in supporting affirmative and appropriate trainings and interventions. A substantial portion of this position will be devoted to partnering with administrators, staff, and faculty across campus as a collaborative institutional leader of programs, policy and process development and implementation, and participation on campus- wide committees. In addition, the next AVP-HR will provide oversight, direction, and support to the college’s environmental health and safety program as a critical piece of the overall employee experience.

Bates has retained the services 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.

Bates College

Bates College was built by people who put their ideals into action and in whose hands the liberal arts served as a dynamic force for the public good. With their progressive call in 1855 to admit African Americans and to educate men and women together, the founders of Bates affirmed that all human potential deserves to be developed. This radical, founding moment manifested a durable instinct for the fellowship of learning that continues to guide Bates’ commitment to intensive and unfettered humanistic inquiry.

Today, Bates continues to be guided by the principles of its founders as it embraces the intellectual, economic, social, and technological challenges facing higher education in the 21st century. The values of rigorous thinking, inclusion and diversity, environmental and civic responsibility, and egalitarianism are reflected in the academic, co-curricular, and social lives of Bates students. They are affirmed by a faculty and staff that supports initiative and original thinking across a demanding, varied, and innovative curriculum.

Faculty

The College’s 210 faculty provide the foundation for a Bates education and are engaged teachers and active scholars. 100% of tenured faculty possess the highest degree in their field. By facilitating a wide range of faculty-student interactions—both formal and informal—Bates catalyzes deep learning and transformation, as well as life-long connections to the college community.

Bates faculty also play an important role in the governance of the College. In its monthly meetings, the faculty develops the academic program, the curriculum, degree requirements, and faculty evaluation processes. The faculty is governed by division, department, and program chairs, and divides its work among standing and ad hoc committees of faculty from across the ranks and disciplines.

Staff

Approximately 750 staff members are integral to the work of the college. As one of the top employers in the state, Bates recruits its staff nationally, regionally, and locally. Bates’s staff

consists of diverse individuals with a broad range of professional and personal experience.

Students

The student body consists of about 2,000 students, of whom 1,750 are on campus each semester. They bring strong academic credentials from a wide variety of backgrounds. In the class of 2023, 28 percent are students of color, eight percent of students are non-U.S. citizens, and 12 percent are first generation to college. The new entering class is 50% from public schools, and 61% from outside New England. The admit rate for the class of 2023 was 12%.

The college also provides more than $36 million in need-based institutional grant aid each year, and it meets 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial need. Typically, between 40 and 45 percent of enrolled students receive financial aid, often in the form of work-study.

Leadership

Clayton Spencer, President

Clayton Spencer became the eighth president of Bates College on July 1, 2012. Under her leadership, Bates has launched new initiatives in a number of areas, including strengthening campus-wide programming in equity, inclusion, and justice, transforming the college’s approach to preparing students for work and career, and significantly increasing fundraising. Before joining Bates, Spencer served for 15 years as a senior administrative leader at Harvard, most recently as Vice President for Policy, directing policy initiatives for the president. Spencer also served as lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, where she taught courses on federal higher education policy. Before going to Harvard, Spencer was Chief Education Counsel in the United States Senate, serving as staff to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Geoff Swift, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer

Geoff Swift joined the Bates in 2014 to oversee the finance, facilities, dining and human resource functions at the college, including oversight of the annual budget process and the production of annual audited financial reports. He came to Bates after 10 years at where he spent five years as the budget director at the Harvard Business School before moving to Harvard Law School for more than five years as the associate dean for finance and the chief financial officer. In roles outside of higher education, Geoff worked in economic consulting and merchant banking. He earned his B.A. from Amherst College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Location

Bates is located on a beautiful, 109-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, Maine, a small city enjoying an exciting economic and cultural revitalization. With an engaged citizenry, lively arts scene, and historic downtown, this walkable city is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 340 miles north of New York City.

Together, Lewiston and Auburn, Maine form a demographically diverse urban center of about 65,000 people that offers opportunities for cultural enrichment and entertainment as well as meaningful community-engaged learning and leadership. With a rich industrial past, Lewiston/Auburn has seen great transition in the last 30 years and is enjoying a renaissance as it redefines its economic, social, and cultural landscape. Thousands of French Canadian immigrants came to work in textile mills powered by the Androscoggin River in the mid-19th century. More recently, Lewiston has welcomed new residents, including vibrant Somali, Somali Bantu, and Djibouti populations.

THE ROLE OF ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

The AVP-HR is the College’s Chief Human Resource Officer and is responsible for comprehensive and strategic leadership of all aspects of the human resources function for the campus. The AVP-HR leads a team of 11 individuals and oversees a budget of approximately $1.5 million in the areas of: benefits; classification and compensation; employee relations; employment; environmental, health and safety; performance development; staff training; and wellness. This individual will provide supervision and mentorship designed to develop the team, encouraging its operation at the highest levels of performance, efficiency, visibility and integrity. Through leading an effective team of talented individuals in the Human Resources and Environmental Health and Safety departments, the AVP-HR will support a College environment that attracts, supports, and retains a qualified and diverse workforce.

For more information regarding Human Resources at Bates, visit: https://www.bates.edu/hr/

Leadership Opportunities and Challenges

The AVP-HR will lead human resources as a division that enables, empowers, and engages the campus community in creating fulfilling workplace experiences for staff, faculty and students. The AVP-HR will ensure excellent service to administrative and academics units, while also serving as a strategic thought-partner to senior leadership in developing policies and initiatives that contribute to Bates’ strategic goals in recruiting and retaining the best talent in a competitive employment landscape. The successful candidate will be a seasoned professional leader with a track record of moving the needle in complex environments, an affinity and talent for collaboration with a variety of stakeholders, and excellent communication skills.

The primary opportunities and challenges for the AVP-HR will include the following:

Provide leadership to the college on issues of human resources.

As the chief human resources officer of Bates, the AVP-HR will provide strategic consultation and guidance to the senior staff and department managers on human resource and talent management issues. The AVP-HR will serve as an internal resource for policy development and coordination of all official policies within the college as well as in the design of programs and services. They will work collaboratively with departments and unit leaders to develop a

strategic vision and work plans designed to shape and improve the general work environment and culture on campus.

Assess and strengthen the Human Resources team and its functions.

The AVP-HR will tend carefully to strengthening HR fundamentals, energizing HR staff, and continuing to build a network of close and constructive relationships throughout Bates, particularly among campus academic and staff leaders. This person will be expected to articulate and execute a long-term vision for HR, outlining improvements that will allow the department to realize its potential as a strategic and trusted campus partner. The new AVP- HR will continue to develop a highly competent and nimble team, characterized by a deep customer-service orientation, strong morale, and the highest standards of ethics and integrity. An ongoing assessment of the organizational structure, staffing levels, and business processes for all human resource functions and systems, and the ongoing professional development of the staff within the office, will be critical.

Lead workforce development efforts.

In partnership with other HR professionals and colleagues on campus, the AVP-HR will lead program design, implementation, and assessment efforts related to cultivating and retaining a talented workforce. More specifically, Bates seeks an AVP-HR who will take a leadership position in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring that creative and proactive approaches that support increased diversity are pursued in recruitment, hiring, and retention, and that College policies and practices reflect the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It will be important for the AVP-HR to develop strong functional partnerships with senior leaders of Bates to build a shared understanding and responsibility of equity and inclusion best practices across the college. Further, the AVP-HR will be responsible for and work to promote these ideals across campus and within the workplace.

Further develop collaborations and partnerships across campus.

The next AVP-HR will be a highly visible employee advocate who will develop collaborative partnerships at all levels of Bates. This individual will be a strong leader of and for Human Resources, improving its ability to function as an effective, efficient, and trusted resource and advisor. It will be important to foster strong relationships with multiple stakeholders to exchange ideas that promote customer service, education, recognition, and ease of access for all employees of Bates. The AVP-HR will serve as a visible agent of positive innovation and thoughtful leadership, representing HR and fostering strong working relationships across the campus community.

Improve utilization of technology and data to inform decision-making and create a more efficient HR processes.

The AVP-HR must systematically review the office’s capacity for and use of technology to ensure efficient workflows, effective communication, and stronger data management and reporting. The individual will be a champion of data-driven decision making. Realizing the full

potential of technology will help free up staff time to work toward the transition of HR from a transaction-processing operation to a more strategic position at Bates. Additionally, more effective deployment of data and technology will provide stronger information for decision- making processes across the campus, particularly around recruitment, retention, and employee relations matters, involving strong relationships with IT, Accounting, the Dean of the Faculty, and Payroll.

Qualifications

Bates seeks a strategic HR leader who will serve as a coach, mentor and thought leader on campus as they partner with stakeholders in advancing the mission of the College and its people. While no one candidate possesses them all, the successful AVP-HR candidate will bring many of the following professional and personal qualities to this important role:

• Demonstrated success in working collaboratively, efficiently, and enthusiastically within a complex environment of similar size and scale; higher education experience preferred ideally within a residential liberal arts college; • A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible human resources management and leadership experience, with at least five years spent at the senior management or executive level; • Understanding of the mission and values of Bates College with the enthusiasm and ability to communicate their purposes and goals, especially with regard to “the transformative power of our differences”; • Unparalleled personal integrity, credibility, and ethics; strong hands-on work ethic, independence, and willingness to take initiative and follow up; • Significant and demonstrated effectiveness in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace; • Strong listening, interpersonal, communication skills; a presence that earns trust, confidence, and respect through transparency; and the ability to lead by influence and example; • A record of attracting, mentoring, and retaining high-quality talent and building vibrant, empowered teams from ambitious individual contributors; • Demonstrated ability to use data and statistics to solve real-world HR problems; • Experience with and demonstrated success in developing a strategic HR vision; • Strong knowledge of a broad array of human resource functions, including extensive experience in organizational behavior, employee relations, employment law, labor relations, compensation, benefits, talent management and development, and health and wellness; • Experience leading campus-wide training and leadership development initiatives as well as success building out talent management and development processes; • Experience working with enterprise-wide administrative systems and in analyzing business processes; • Organizational and analytic capabilities, including the ability to manage the details of multiple projects simultaneously and to learn and process complex information quickly; • Appropriate HR certifications preferred (e.g. SHRM, SPHR, etc.);

• A bachelor’s degree is required; master’s or other advanced degree in human resource management, business administration or other related discipline is preferred; • Maturity, sense of humor, good judgment, problem-solving skills, and ability to maintain confidentiality.

Applications, Inquiries, and Nominations

Confidential inquiries, nominations, referrals and resumes with cover letters can be sent electronically to:

Marc St.Hilaire or Karen McPhedran Isaacson, Miller 1300 19th Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036 www.imsearch.com/7520

Bates College is committed to enhancing the diversity of the campus community and curriculum. We encourage members of historically underrepresented groups to apply and are committed to hiring individuals who value a diverse and inclusive work environment. Bates is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.