Vice President, University Services
University of Minnesota
Vice President of University Services
Minneapolis, Minnesota
THE SEARCH
The University of Minnesota (the University or UMN), the state’s land-grant university and one of the most prestigious public research universities in the nation, seeks a collaborative, proactive, and strategic leader to serve as the Vice President of University Services (the Vice President or VP). University Services creates and sustains the physical environment and service culture, supporting and advancing the teaching, research, and service mission of the University of Minnesota and its multiple campuses. The people of University Services work behind the scenes to help make the University work each and every day by shoveling snow, serving food, heating buildings, renovating facilities, housing students, and planning for the future of our campuses.
The Vice President reports to the Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations and leads an approximately 3,700-person team, including 2,000 students, and is comprised of six units: Facilities Management; Planning, Space, and Real Estate; Capital Project Management; Sustainability; Auxiliary Services; and a shared management services team to support the division. This important role spans UMN’s five campuses and is responsible for the stewardship of 28,00 acres of land, 950 buildings totaling over 32 million square feet of space, $1.7 billion in capital project work, and operating budgets of $433 million. They will also work with multiple union bargaining units, including ADSCME Clerical and Tech, Teamsters, 1M1B, and Trades. The VP is a key member of the Senior Vice President’s leadership team and a trusted and reliable partner to the President, Board of Regents, all four campus Chancellors, and other senior leaders on all issues related to University Services. As a leader of a core business unit within the institution, this role has the incredible capacity to create meaningful long-term impact on UMN’s campuses and beyond.
This role requires a strong, system wide presence. The VP will ensure substantive decisions are made from a system perspective. They must be a visionary leader who understands the challenges of process and change management. The VP must have superior leadership skills in motivating and driving results and the ability to apply best practices to ensure continuous improvement of services focused on customer service, cost-effectiveness, and accountability in alignment with the University’s strategic plans. The VP supports the organization by providing leadership on how to approach both legacy (long-term and unlikely to change) and progressive (changing rapidly due to market conditions) services and programs. To meet the needs of the present the VP must be nimble and have experience in leading through change with an eye toward the next pressing issue. The VP must have experience running a diverse business unit in which extensive coordination and alignment, sometimes with competing interests, regularly occurs.
All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed in confidence electronically below. Please include CV/resume and a two-to-three-page letter of interest responding to the opportunities and challenges outlined above.
Rebecca Kennedy is leading this search with Angelo Alexander and Gigi Mensah
https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/university-minnesota/vice-president-university-services