The Vice Chancellor of Experiential Education is responsible for developing and executing comprehensive strategies that enhance and expand experiential learning opportunities across Northeastern University. This role plays a crucial part in aligning these strategies with the university's broader mission and goals, ensuring the continuous strengthening of experiential learning across all colleges and campuses. As a key leader within the Office of the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor will oversee the delivery of career services and experiential learning programs, while also fostering partnerships with industries and employers that support students' academic and professional aspirations.
The Vice Chancellor will lead a multifaceted team dedicated to integrating experiential learning resources and programs with career services, ensuring seamless coordination between academic initiatives and the needs of the job market. The Experiential Education unit will consist of four primary teams: the Central Co-op Team, responsible for maintaining and innovating Northeastern's renowned Cooperative Education (Co-op) program; the Experiential Network (XN) Team, which facilitates project-based learning opportunities; the Career Design and Employer Engagement Team, focused on aligning student career development with employer partnerships; and the Experiential Partnership Development Team, tasked with forging new alliances with external partners to create cutting-edge learning opportunities.
This role is pivotal in maintaining Northeastern's reputation as a global leader in experiential learning by ensuring the highest standards of excellence in its co-op and other experiential education programs. The Vice Chancellor will oversee the strategic integration and collaboration of these teams, providing the vision and leadership necessary to enhance the student learning journey, from recruitment to graduation and beyond. The position is charged with driving both the individual and collective success of these units while continually evolving the university's approach to experiential learning in response to emerging trends in education and the labor market.
In addition to overseeing day-to-day operations, the Vice Chancellor will also be responsible for designing and implementing new platforms that expand access to experiential learning, promoting continuous innovation, and improving the experiential learning journey for all learners. This includes aligning experiential learning programs with regional stakeholders, advancing the delivery of these programs across Northeastern's global campus network, and ensuring a cohesive student experience throughout.
Collaboration is key to this role, and the Vice Chancellor will work closely with key internal stakeholders, including senior academic leadership, faculty, and administration, to ensure that experiential learning programs remain deeply integrated into the university's curriculum. They will also engage with external partners, including industry leaders, employers, and community organizations, to ensure that experiential learning opportunities remain relevant, responsive, and informed by the latest industry practices, workforce needs, and global trends.
Through strategic leadership and collaboration, the Vice Chancellor will represent Northeastern as a trailblazer in experiential education, continuously driving innovation and ensuring that the university remains at the forefront of experiential learning practices and initiatives.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Strong ability to drive innovation, optimize processes, and lead transformative initiatives
Significant abilities leading within a progressive, student- and career-centered educational environment, or in the partnership development space, with a particular emphasis on emerging trends in experiential learning.
Expertise in identifying and leveraging cutting-edge experiential learning opportunities is highly desirable, along with the ability to generate insights that advance the university's mission.
Capable of leading mission-critical projects while working collaboratively across university divisions to mediate issues and implement solutions swiftly and effectively.
In-depth knowledge of industry trends, particularly in aligning workplace experiences with academic programs to propel students toward successful, accelerated career paths.
Tech-savvy and proficient in modern platforms and delivery systems, with fluency in tools such as Salesforce, Symplicity, Banner, Grad Leaders, Handshake, and others
Thorough understanding of labor market dynamics and how they influence the design of experiential learning opportunities. Knowledge and skills required for this position are normally acquired through a master's degree from an accredited institution and bring 5-7 years of proven leadership experience in dynamic, high-impact roles with a track record of leadership and working effectively with students, colleges, and external stakeholders in higher education
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES:
Leadership
Build and lead a high-performing team. Provide guidance, mentorship, support, and oversight. Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement to drive excellence.
Develop and cultivate an experiential ecosystem that, in collaboration with colleges, enables the entire experiential student journey from ideation to execution to ongoing support and prepares the students to pursue and achieve their professional goals beyond Northeastern.
Collaboration and Engagement with Colleges & Campuses
Act as the experiential education steward, subject matter expert, and liaison with the entire community for the Office of the Chancellor regarding all things related to student experiential learning.
Work towards building a coherent, comprehensive, cohesive, co-operative, and experiential education ecosystem that serves the needs and interests of the entire university and our employer partners.
Work with academic programs to better understand needs and opportunities for relevant experiential pathways.
Engagement and Outreach
Promote and advance the value statement of experiential education with students & parents, staff and faculty, alumni, employer partners, and other key external stakeholders.
Lead a proactive outreach effort with employers and organizations (domestic and globally) to increase partnerships, offer emergent and relevant experiential opportunities, and establish Northeastern University as a key talent broker to access in-demand rising professionals from our academic programs.
Data Reporting
Establish comprehensive, integrated, and distributed reporting strategy across units to ensure data collection is actionable, informative, and aimed at continuous improvement.
Develop and execute surveys that keep the pulse on both student and employer experiences and lead to action.
Utilize industry and university data insights, trends, and forecasts to inform strategy and take action.
Assess learner success, persistence, and satisfaction data to improve support resources and guide program planning for a better student/employer experience.
Position Type
Student Services
Additional Information
Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.
Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.
Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
To learn more about Northeastern University's commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.
Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in worldwide experiential learning, urban engagement, and interdisciplinary research that meets global and societal needs. Our broad mix of experience-based education programs?our signature cooperative education program, as well as student research, service learning, and global learning?build the connections that enable students to transform their lives. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools.