College President - Orlando

Valencia College Presidential Search

This is what a better tomorrow looks like.

You are invited to join Valencia College for an amazing leadership opportunity to continue the work of innovation and making better tomorrows possible for our students.  Strengthen our long legacy of expanding access, cultivating innovation and creating impact as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of Valencia College.

Valencia College is a large, diverse, multi-campus community college serving Orange and Osceola counties in Central Florida.  As the second largest state college in Florida, Valencia College serves over 75,000 students per year. The College offers more than 120 programs, including two- and four-year degrees, accelerated training and continuing education.

This is the place where we understand the importance of cultivating an environment that fosters collaboration, creativity and a true work/life balance. Valencia College is the inaugural winner of the Aspen Prize for Community Colleges and was recognized as one of “The Great Colleges to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Qualifications and Characteristics 

The successful candidate finds joy in working with and serving students, in leading an open-access institution and in thinking creatively and collaboratively about the challenges our students and our community face. Leading through humor, humility, empathy, listening, integrity and character, our next president will join a team passionate about who, where and why we serve. We seek a partner who cares deeply about what makes Valencia College unique.

The ideal candidate will be an experienced and innovative leader who is intellectually curious, takes informed risks, demonstrates strong execution skills and achieves results. We seek a partner who can lead the College to accomplish our goals, explore innovative strategies and solutions and inspire the community to a collaboratively developed vision for the future that capitalizes on the institution’s history, values and commitment to outstanding education.

In addition to these qualities, the next president of Valencia College will bring many of the following qualifications and characteristics:

• Have a genuine passion for our students, their learning and their success; nurture the College’s learning-centered culture; and invest in forward-thinking initiatives, programs and partnerships to ensure high quality learning opportunities for students.
• Possess educational credentials appropriate for an academic leader, including an earned Doctorate of Philosophy or Doctorate of Education (required).
• Have at least 10 years of experience in higher education senior leadership (required), preferably at a community college or open-access institution. Demonstrate experience working in a large, distributed, multi-location institution.
• Have teaching experience and/or a demonstrated understanding of the learning environment, challenges and opportunities to effectively support faculty and students.
• Demonstrate a commitment to equity. Show experience with leading efforts to increase diversity and ability to build momentum and lead change to create an equity-minded culture among employees and students. Possess deep cultural competence and appreciation for the multi-cultural community of Orange and Osceola counties.
• Demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and a desire to lead the College in integrating sustainability into education, obtaining carbon neutrality, reducing waste, and improving water quality and conservation on our campuses and in our community.
• Have solid financial acumen demonstrated by understanding financial statements and financial forecasting. Be able to navigate the operational and political aspects of College funding. Have successful experiences in fundraising.
• Possess capacity to create infrastructure, organizational structure and support systems to enable effective college operations and to support onsite and online learning.
• Demonstrate leadership of lasting internal change that positively impacts students and the achievement of their educational goals.
• Able to participate in the broad Orange and Osceola community as a visionary leader. Build and foster strong relationships with internal and external partners. Demonstrate a commitment to crafting and nurturing educational pathways for students within the community. Have demonstrated experience working with elected officials at the local, state, and national level.
• Build and sustain a high-performing, diverse, and collaborative leadership team. Demonstrate a commitment to a shared governance model that recognizes the value in all voices and perspectives.
• Be an excellent communicator, both verbally and in writing. Have the ability to inspire others and convey accurate and compelling messages.

For more information on the qualifications, characteristics, as well as the key challenges for the new president to address, please download the Presidential Profile. 

Application Process

The Presidential Search Committee will begin a review of applications in late October 2020 and will continue working until a selection is made. To be considered for the position, applications must be received no later than Thursday, October 22, 2020, at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
 

Candidates are asked to provide a letter of interest, resume/curriculum vitae and the names of five professional references with email addresses and telephone numbers. References will not be contacted without prior written authorization from the candidate. Prospective candidates may review additional details about the search via http://valenciacollege.edu/presidential-search.

Application materials should be sent electronically (Microsoft Word or PDF format) to: ValenciaPresident2020@agbsearch.com.

Candidates are advised that Florida’s public records law is very broad. Applications are public record as soon as they are received, and other documents related to the search and application process are also considered public record subject to limited exceptions.

Please direct nominations and inquiries to: 

Dr. Rod McDavis 
Managing Principal 
AGB Search  
rod.mcdavis@agbsearch.com 
(804) 514-1982 

Dr. Melissa Trotta 
Associate Managing Principal 
AGB Search 
melissa.trotta@agbsearch.com 
(202) 380-8927 

Mr. Fred Moore 
Executive Search Consultant 
AGB Search 
fred.moore@agbsearch.com 
(712) 299-2544 

Dr. Kim Bobby 
Executive Search Consultant 
AGB Search 
kim.bobby@agbsearch.com 
(253) 861-7738 

Valencia College is an equal opportunity institution.  

Valencia College is an equal opportunity institution. We provide equal opportunity for employment and educational services to all individuals as it relates to admission to the College or to programs, any aid, benefit, or service to Students or wages and other terms, conditions or privileges of employment, without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, marital status, sex/gender, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, pregnancy, and any other factor.