Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs
A Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs is the liaison between academic leadership and university administration, prioritizing the best interests of students and faculty while overseeing academic programs, deans, and accreditation. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does a Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs do?
The Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs plays a crucial role as the liaison between academic leadership and university administration, prioritizing the best interests of students and faculty. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, the role provides senior-level oversight for planning, implementing, and assessing educational programs and initiatives.
The position leads school deans, program directors, and faculty, oversees enrollment and retention efforts, and carries accountability for accreditation and institutional effectiveness. It is the senior-most academic leadership role within the higher education administration.
The Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, a role often equivalent to a Provost, is the senior-most academic officer at an institution. Institutional effectiveness is the ongoing assessment of whether programs achieve their goals, and accreditation is the formal review confirming the institution meets its accreditor’s standards.
Who does the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs lead?
Key responsibilities of a Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs
- Serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, collaborating with leadership, faculty, and staff to manage, revise, and create academic policies and programs.
- Provide senior-level oversight for planning, implementing, and assessing educational programs and initiatives.
- Work with school deans to oversee institutional enrollment and retention management efforts.
- Conduct training, evaluation, professional development, and management of school deans, program directors, and faculty, supervising program directors through the deans.
- Create a mentoring environment for school deans and general education faculty, and conduct classroom observations of teaching deans and faculty.
- Represent the institution at academic, community, and professional meetings, and serve on institutional committees.
- Supervise the planning, scheduling, and coordination of academic and administrative support for program reviews, campus visits, and self-studies.
- Coordinate with departments on accreditation, compliance, institutional effectiveness, and daily operations.
- Ensure compliance with accreditation standards and lead preparations for accreditation visits and reports.
What qualifications does the role require?
- Doctoral degree required.
- Minimum of five years of academic leadership experience.
- Proficiency in online and campus-based pedagogies, with the ability to apply adult learning theory for student success.
- Knowledge of institutional accreditation and federal and state regulatory requirements affecting academic operations, plus the ability to interpret academic and administrative policies.
- Strong organizational and prioritization skills, the ability to manage multiple projects and produce reports under strict guidelines, and self-directed analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills with sound discretion and decision-making.
Why is the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs role important?
This role sets and safeguards the academic quality of the entire institution. By leading deans, faculty, accreditation, and academic policy, the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs shapes program quality, regulatory compliance, and the student experience across the university, not just within one department.
Because the position bridges faculty and administration, the strongest candidates pair genuine academic credibility with executive operational discipline. They protect academic standards while keeping the institution accountable to its accreditor and its students.
A hiring note from Excelon
Searches at this level reward candidates who have carried accreditation and led deans, not just held a senior title. Through our higher education practice, we look for academic leaders with a doctoral credential and a track record across accreditation cycles, faculty development, and institutional effectiveness, since this role has to command respect from faculty and administration at the same time.
The role bridges faculty and administration, and the best leaders protect academic standards while keeping the institution accountable.
Related sample job descriptions
Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs: frequently asked questions
What does a Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs do?
A Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs serves as the liaison between academic leadership and university administration. The role oversees academic policies and programs, supervises school deans and program directors, leads accreditation efforts, and supports enrollment and retention, always prioritizing students and faculty.
What qualifications does the role require?
This sample role requires a doctoral degree and a minimum of five years of academic leadership experience, along with knowledge of accreditation and regulatory requirements, online and campus-based pedagogy, and adult learning theory.
How does this role relate to a Provost?
At many institutions the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs is the senior-most academic officer, a role often titled Provost. The position oversees academic programs, deans, faculty, and accreditation on behalf of the administration.
What does academic accreditation oversight involve?
It means ensuring the institution meets the standards of its accreditor and federal and state regulators, leading preparations for accreditation visits, self-studies, and reports, and coordinating institutional effectiveness across departments.
Why is this role important?
This role sets and safeguards the academic quality of the entire institution. By leading deans, faculty, accreditation, and academic policy, the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs shapes program quality, compliance, and the student experience across the university.
Hiring a Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs?
Excelon Associates places provosts, academic affairs executives, and senior higher education leaders at universities and colleges across the United States through our higher education recruitment practice. Retained executive search since 2007, headquartered in Asheville, NC, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL.
More Sample Job Descriptions
Templates you can adapt for your own roles.