1 Search for Vice Provost for Graduate and International Education

Search for Vice Provost for Graduate and International Education, Graduate School Dean and Chief International Officer The University of Alabama at Birmingham (“UAB”) is seeking a strategic leader and strong institutional citizen to build upon successes at the intersection of two areas that transcend all of the “pillars” of UAB’s strategic plan Forging the Future: graduate and international education. The next Vice Provost for Graduate and International Education will lead both the Graduate School and the Office of Global Engagement, which have the potential for unprecedented growth, exceeding the remarkable success achieved during UAB’s first 50 years. UAB has already established itself as a major research university that strives to be a great place to work. It is ranked 16th in the nation among public universities and 32nd overall in federally funded research expenditures. In June 2019, for the second year in a row, UAB was ranked as the top young university in the United States, and No. 12 worldwide, in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings’ 2019 Young University Rankings. Earlier in 2021, S&P Global Ratings, the independent data source for credit ratings, revised its outlook to “positive” from “stable” for UAB, citing increases in enrollment and employment, the new strategic plan, and UAB’s ability to safely navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Forbes named UAB the #1 best large employer in the country and #4 for diversity – higher than any other educational institution. Research expenditures at UAB totaled more than $600 million last year as students and faculty worked in a variety of fields with research supported by major federal agencies as well as state, local, and industry sponsors. UAB is distinguished by a collaborative and innovative culture, enhanced by its contiguous campus encompassing its school of medicine and hospitals as well as a comprehensive collection of colleges and schools educating graduate and undergraduate students. This positions the University to be a leader in addressing the most challenging problems of our time, as evidenced by UAB’s extensive work in addressing the pandemic through translational research and the publication of important findings about treatments for COVID-19. UAB has provided both medical and public health leadership to the State of Alabama throughout the pandemic. Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost, the Vice Provost will oversee graduate and international education teams whose work spans across the entire university and is vital to furthering UAB’s research, education, and outreach missions. Working closely with leadership across colleges, schools, departments, and programs, the Vice Provost will lead and encourage the creation and development of interdisciplinary graduate degrees, bringing together groups across a large and diverse campus in the pursuit of developing educational opportunities that enhance research and best serve UAB students in their professional development and educational goals. The Vice Provost will also provide strategic leadership around all aspects of international education and steward the university’s partnership 1 with INTO UAB – an organization that, for five years, has provided pathways programs and English- language training to students so they can gain admission to the university’s programs. UAB has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this recruitment. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be submitted in confidence to the search firm as indicated at the end of this document. University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB is home to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Optometry, Public Health, Health Professions, Engineering, Business, and Education. In addition, the Graduate School and the Honors College are organized to provide the special resources necessary for students in those schools to be successful. The UAB Libraries are integrated academic and health science libraries, reflective of UAB’s unique role as both a major research and teaching institution and as an academic medical center. President Ray Watts, MD, became UAB’s seventh president in 2013. Prior to being named President, Dr. Watts had been Senior Vice President and Dean of the School of Medicine, and the John N. Whitaker Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology in the UAB School of Medicine. Provost Pamela Benoit, PhD, became Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost at UAB in 2017. She joined UAB from Ohio University, where she served as Executive Vice President and Provost for eight years. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System is an academic health system based in Birmingham with facilities and affiliations throughout the State of Alabama. The centerpiece of the system is UAB Hospital, which is today one of the four largest academic medical centers in the United States. The hospital is also the third-largest public hospital in the nation, providing patients with a complete range of primary and specialty care services. As a university hospital, UAB Hospital is a major center for clinical research and home to some of the top medical programs in America, according to U.S. News & World Report. UAB Hospital is listed on Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2019 list of 100 Great Hospitals in America. The University of Alabama System consists of three doctoral research universities: The University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville. The System is governed by the Board of Trustees. Each of the component institutions has a unique mission that is consistent with the broader mission of the System. The System’s Chief Executive Officer is Finis St. John, IV, who served for 17 years on the Board of Trustees before becoming Chancellor in 2019. The Role The new Vice Provost for Graduate and International Education will build on the momentum and human resources already in place and work with the other senior leaders at the University. The Vice Provost is a member of the senior academic leadership team at UAB, participating in the Provost’s leadership group and the Deans Council. They will report directly to the Senior Vice President and Provost, UAB’s chief academic officer. The Vice Provost will be designated as the University’s Chief International Officer and as the Dean of the Graduate School. As Dean of the Graduate School, the Vice Provost will have primary responsibility for management of all human resources, financial, educational, research, student, alumni and other external relations, development, and community matters at and related to the Graduate School and will serve as the chief 2 representative and spokesperson of the School. With graduate programs dispersed across every school and college on campus, the graduate school is strategically positioned to further UAB’s “One University” goal of inspiring and empowering the creation of knowledge that changes the world. The Vice Provost will work with deans, department leadership, and program directors, often helping to connect programs or seeding opportunities for new programs that cross disciplines. This will require a nuanced understanding of the different needs, measures of success, and potential of disparate programs. The Vice Provost should be willing and able to balance their leadership duties within the Graduate School and the Office of Global Engagement with a concurrent obligation as a leader and citizen of the larger University. In addition to partnering with INTO UAB, the Chief International Officer and the Vice Provost will oversee Education Abroad, International Student Support Services, and the UAB Passport Office and will work to increase external awareness about UAB’s global collaborations and continue to build UAB’s global reputation. The Vice Provost should actively embrace the external aspects of the position such as student recruitment, philanthropic support, and external collaborations – local, state, national, and international. To view the organizational chart for this role, please see the Appendix. Education Students. Of course, students are at the heart of UAB, and the activities led by the Vice Provost for Graduate and International Education will be keenly focused on their success. In recent years, UAB has pursued a strategy of targeted graduate program development, which has led to significant enrollment growth. Current enrollment in the Graduate School is approximately 7,500, and enrollment has grown over 6% since fall 2019 notwithstanding many external challenges. During the spring, summer, and fall of 2020, the school awarded over 2,400 master’s degrees and 135 doctoral degrees. UAB’s overall student population is approximately 22,800, which has grown approximately 30% since 2009. In Graduate School enrollment, there has been particular growth in the number of students in the Master of Science in Multidisciplinary Biomedical Science program, which began in fall 2018, growing from 68 students to 141 students. This program is intended for domestic and international students who have some undergraduate STEM field training and wish to increase their knowledge of biomedical sciences, including for purposes of further graduate study in medicine and the biomedical sciences. UAB has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation, and the Graduate School contributes to that important dimension of education with approximately 20% of its students coming from underrepresented

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