Assistant Dean for Advancement

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How to Apply

See a full position and candidate specification on our website at https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/about/Leadership-Searches.html .

If you wish to nominate someone to serve as the next Assistant Dean for Advancement or have questions about the position, please email [email protected] .

LSA will only consider application materials submitted through the Michigan Careers website. Use the Apply Now button at the top of the posting for this position to complete your application.

Upload a resume and letter of interest as a single document.

Job Summary

The Assistant Dean for Advancement for the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) at the University of Michigan (U-M) will lead a large team that is responsible for planning and executing a comprehensive fundraising strategy to optimize support for the college. The Assistant Dean will serve as LSAs chief advancement officer and report directly to the Dean of LSA. This is an exciting opportunity for a senior advancement professional with strong management experience and frontline fundraising skills. The Assistant Dean will collaborate with LSAs new Dean to develop college fundraising priorities, to help guide the Deans Advisory Council (DAC), and to lead on strategy for the current capital campaign. This individual must be highly strategic, with the ability to provide the vision and leadership for the energetic, creative, and highly engaged LSA advancement team culture.

The Assistant Dean will manage a large and complex operation with multi-faceted constituencies and programs. This leader is responsible for an operational budget exceeding $6 million, as well as a large and experienced staff. In consultation with the Dean and the LSA Chief Financial Officer, the Assistant Dean will establish and adhere to annual operating budgets and ensure that development and fundraising programs are operating in a fiscally prudent and productive way. This position will oversee and support the advancement teams role in enhancing LSA's institutional image and visibility. The Assistant Dean will be an active participant in the Deans Office senior leadership, working closely with the Dean, Associate Deans, Department Chairs and Directors, faculty, and senior administration to identify funding priorities. The Assistant Dean will manage a portfolio of principal gift prospects and donors and will set an example of frontline fundraising success to lead, mentor, and inspire the advancement team. This individual will be responsible for directing the planning and implementation of long- and short-term strategies to secure gifts from individuals and organizations and will establish measurable goals to increase fundraising with results that are both aspirational and achievable.

The Assistant Dean will be an active and visible member of the network that includes U-M and LSA key donors, volunteers, and supporters who are located regionally, nationally, and internationally. The Assistant Dean will collaborate with the Vice President for Development and staff in the Office of University Development, as well as with colleagues and peers in U-M's other schools and colleges, to shape campus-wide strategic efforts and donor engagement that will advance LSA priorities within the U-M fundraising landscape.

In recent years, the Assistant Dean for Advancement has had oversight of the college marketing and communications functions working in close partnership with an executive director. As the college communications needs evolve, this organizational structure may be adjusted. Candidates will need to be flexible regarding this reporting line and area of responsibility.

This position works from our Ann Arbor campus, with travel, as necessary.

Who We Are

LSA is the largest and one of the oldest of the university's 19 schools and colleges, with more than 100 degree programs in over 75 academic departments and programs. Learn more about LSA at https://lsa.umich.edu . We strive to employ a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the diverse people of Michigan, fulfill our mission, vision, and values, and sustain the excellence of LSA.

Why Work at LSA?

We are so proud that the University of Michigan offerscomprehensive benefits (https://hr.umich.edu/benefits-wellness) to support your wellness as you plan for a stable and secure future. To enhance a career filled with purpose and opportunity, other benefits include:

• Generous time off programs.

• Our retirement plan provides two-for-one matching contributions.

• Comprehensive options for health, dental, vision, life, disability, and other insurance.

• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses.

• Tuition support, including the ability to take undergraduate courses in LSA at no cost.

• Meeting-free days andcommunication norms (https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-happened-when-the-deans-office-stopped-sending-emails-after-hours/) that help you to "unplug" from work.

• Access to deals, discounts, and attractions; seeUniquely Michigan (https://hr.umich.edu/benefits-wellness/work-life/uniquely-michigan) for details.

While you will primarily work from our central campus in Ann Arbor, LSA offers flexible work options. To support work-life balance, LSA has an email policy that limits non-essential emails to weekday business hours. We invite you to take a look at LSAsmission, vision, and values (https://lsa.umich.edu/strategicvision) .

Why Work at Michigan?

University of Michigan (U-M) is one of the most distinguished public universities in the nation, a leader in higher education attracting top students and faculty from all over the world. U-M vision is to be the defining public institution, redefining the power of higher education in service to humanity. The College of Literature, Science, and The Arts (LSA) is the largest of U-M 19 schools and colleges.

Over its 175-year history, LSA has been a world leader in research and delivering an extraordinary liberal arts and sciences education. Along the way, LSA has invented approaches that have changed higher education and the world. As one of the worlds great liberal arts colleges, LSA pushes the boundaries of what is understood about the human experience and the natural world, and fosters the next generation of rigorous and empathetic thinkers, creators, and contributors to the state of Michigan, the nation, and the world.

With more than 225,000 alumni, the college benefits from one of the largest alumni networks in the world. LSA alumni are intensely proud of their liberal arts education and excited to be involved with their alma mater. They provide very generous support, as demonstrated by LSAs success in the Victors for Michigan campaign that concluded in 2018. LSA surpassed its campaign goal of $400 million, raising over $559 million, which outpaced results of all prior capital campaigns. With an overall fundraising goal of $750 million in its new Look to Michigan campaign, LSAs goal is to cover the unmet financial need for all admitted students while supporting wrap-around student support programs, a culture of student well-being, transformative research, endowed professorships, and innovative teaching.

Responsibilities*

Strategic Leadership

In an organization that is seeking to maximize its fundraising potential, the ideal candidate will work together with the Dean and the leadership team to deliver sustainable and significant increases in philanthropic support. They will do this by:

• Working together with the Dean and the leadership team to identify gift objectives and translate the LSA fundraising goals into a clear, specific set of objectives and measures of success.

• Managing a personal portfolio of major and principal gift prospects and donors while building a robust fundraising program, significantly expanding the LSA constituency of large gift donors.

• Acting as a public-facing leader for the school, deftly engaging with diverse constituencies within and external to LSA to achieve desired outcomes.

• Seeking creative pathways to identify, activate, and engage new prospects beyond affiliation with LSA.

Driving Results

A creative, results-oriented, and data-driven thinker, the successful candidate will deliver sustainable and significant increases in philanthropic support and alumni engagement by:

• Focusing on results, not simply activity, and demonstrating clear ownership of performance outcomes and related ROI.

• Embodying a readiness to set ambitious goals and take intelligent risks while accepting responsibility, leading by example, and translating strategies into measurable actions that deliver results.

• Incorporating best-in-class development processes and operational management that will track progress and ensure accountability.

• Setting continually higher goals for the team that are ambitious but achievable, as well as frequently reviewing and communicating progress toward goals.

• Focusing on opportunities to develop new prospect pools that will enable fundraising targets to be exceeded.

Leading People

As the leader of a talented and dedicated team of professionals across development, alumni relations, data analysis, and support staff, the Assistant Dean:

• Motivates, inspires, and mentors their team with a rigorous understanding of capability and potential, creating uniquely tailored career development plans for employees.

• Fosters energy, enthusiasm, commitment, collaboration, and an environment where people want to excel.

• Demonstrates respect for diversity in people, ideas, and backgrounds.

• Communicates the vision and purpose of the organization with enthusiasm and passion.

• Delegates responsibilities to build team capability and manage workload.

Collaborating and Influencing

The ideal candidate will work collaboratively with senior colleagues at LSA, including LSA faculty and research directors, as well as U-M central advancement team and other senior administrators, to understand, interpret, and promote the unique and pressing needs related to LSA research, programs, and curricula. A relationship builder who will demonstrate resourcefulness, creativity, and respectful persistence in forging new relationships with internal and external stakeholders, the Assistant Dean will invest time in gaining a clear understanding of the LSA priorities and gain credibility by:

• Developing excellent working relationships with faculty and other senior school leaders and working collaboratively with other development colleagues across the U-M community.

• Building and earning trust by working effectively across functions, understanding others motivations and priorities, and energizing others engagement in devising solutions and driving execution; demonstrating a personal style that favors inquiry over advocacy and listening over speaking.

• Leveraging superior interpersonal skills and a significant capacity to engage, inspire, and motivate faculty, staff, volunteers, donors, and prospects, both within LSA and beyond, with the ability to make the appropriate connections among members of these groups.

Required Qualifications*

• Minimum of eight years of progressive leadership of multi-faceted development work in a large and complex organization, preferably in higher education.

• Evidence of inspiring and leading senior managers, frontline fundraisers, communication professionals, as well as other staff and peers.

• Experience with change management and a track record of successfully leading change initiatives in a dynamic environment.

• Success securing principal and transformational gifts, as well as designing and implementing effective fundraising plans; broad-based knowledge of current and next-generation development programs, campaign design and execution, and advancement services.

• Track record of establishing, building, mentoring, and inspiring high-performing teams.

• Experience building a positive organizational culture based on collaboration, mutual respect, gratitude, and professional development.

• Experience serving as the face of an organization.

• Bachelor degree required

Desired Qualifications*

Advanced degree preferred.

Modes of Work

Work arrangements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment.

Additional Information

As one of the worlds great liberal arts colleges, LSA pushes the boundaries of what is understood about the human experience and the natural world, and we foster the next generation of rigorous and empathetic thinkers, creators, and contributors to the state of Michigan, the nation, and the world.

To learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion in LSA, please visit lsa.umich.edu/lsa/dei (https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/dei.html) .

To learn more about LSAs Mission, Vision and Values, please visit lsa.umich.edu/strategicvision .

Mission Statement

The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks. Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled anytime after the minimum posting period has ended.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Job Detail

Job Opening ID

260893

Working Title

Assistant Dean for Advancement

Job Title

Chf Dvlpmnt/Public Rel Ofcr Ld

Work Location

Ann Arbor Campus

Ann Arbor, MI

Modes of Work

Onsite

Full/Part Time

Full-Time

Regular/Temporary

Regular

FLSA Status

Exempt

Organizational Group

College Of Lsa

Department

LSA Dean: Advancement

Posting Begin/End Date

2/28/2025 - 3/31/2025

Career Interest

Development/Institutional Advancement

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