Academic Innovation, Planning and Partnerships

Responsibilities

The Vice President for Academic Innovation, Planning, and Partnerships is an operating officer for the SIU System, which has two campuses, SIU Carbondale and SIU Edwardsville.  This position works closely with the Chancellors and Provosts of the universities on academic matters and advises the President on strategic directions for the system and its campuses, in part by helping the campuses shape academic priorities and critical academic initiatives.  The Vice President is also the System’s primary representative regarding academic programs and policies of the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) and assists the Academic Matters Committee (AMC) of the SIU Board of Trustees on setting the agenda for committee meetings.  Additional detail regarding these responsibilities follows:

1. Academic Programs and Related Matters. The Vice President works collaboratively with the campus Chancellors and Provosts to ensure there is an appropriate level of interaction from the System office on academic programs and related matters.  The Vice President ensures the President, SIU Board of Trustees and the IBHE are informed and involved as needed on such matters.  This includes the review, gathering or preparing of reports or materials on matters such as student performance, diversity, program reviews, requests for reasonable and moderate extensions and off-campus program locations and proposals for the abolition and reallocation of educational units, curricula and degrees. The Vice President also serves as the point person for matters that come from IBHE.
2. Illinois Board of Higher Education. The Vice President maintains a detailed understanding of IBHE policies and guidelines and their effect on and application to the components of the SIU System and closely follows their development and implementation so that the campuses can explore how such policies and guidelines affect their operations.  In addition, the Vice President has regular contact with the IBHE's academic officers on behalf of both the campuses and the System as a whole.
3. Academic Leadership. Besides providing general and specific support as directed, the Vice President provides leadership and advises the President on all academic policy matters and activities that require the President’s knowledge and approval, including those that must go to the SIU Board of Trustees and the IBHE. The Vice President is also responsible for the preparation of a number of regular and special reports to the President, the Board of Trustees, the AMC, and the IBHE.
4. Planning. The Vice President assists the President on the System’s strategic planning, ensuring the participation of the campuses to define goals and objectives that have immediate and long-term impacts on their operations. This position also assists with academic planning within the University, including both institutional and disciplinary accreditations, with particular attention to the Higher Learning Commission, and the preparation of requests for state and federal earmarks (in cooperation with the System’s Executive Director of Governmental Relations). At all levels, the Vice President documents the campuses’ achievement of their objectives in light of the benchmarks they set for themselves.
5. Intercampus Initiatives. The Vice President shall explore opportunities for collaboration in the:
   1. quest for efficiencies and strengths in academic programs shared across the system, such as cooperative degrees;
   2. development of collaborative research projects on more than one campus, especially in the appropriate centers and institutes; and
   3. recruitment and retention of international students, which can be effected centrally without sacrificing the distinct characteristics of each campus.
6. Partnerships. The Vice President facilitates economic development and community engagement to promote outreach, collaboration, and impact across the System. This work requires the identification of new projects of mutual campus interest with partners in business, industry, social service agencies, professional associations, counties, and municipalities. The Vice President will collaborate with the campuses to leverage federal and state-sponsored opportunities to undertake these projects and promote the working relationships that the campuses already have with hospital systems, industry advisory boards, and corporate sponsors. In this work, the Vice President will support the campuses as they seek to maintain these valuable partners in the public and private sectors.