Vice President for Finance and Business/Chief Financial Officer

Earlham College, a distinguished liberal arts college in
Richmond, Indiana, seeks applications and nominations for the
position of Vice President of Finance and Business/Chief Financial
Officer. The College seeks a superb financial administrator who
embraces working collegially and transparently with the College
community. The new VP must be an experienced leader who is
strategic, creative, patient, and resilient. The Vice President's
portfolio will include finance, facilities, human resources,
investments, technology and public safety. The Vice President
will join a new, forward-thinking, energetic president and a
revitalized senior team. S/he must be an outstanding communicator
who appreciates the liberal arts and Quaker values and is
comfortable working in a strong shared governance environment. The
new vice president, in partnership with the president, the Board of
Trustees, other senior colleagues and the Earlham community, will
help lead the College in establishing long-term financial
equilibrium.
Earlham College was founded in 1847 and is the second oldest
Quaker College in the world. Earlham educates students to live and
work effectively together with others; to value lifelong learning;
to appreciate cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity; and to
become engaged global citizens. Respect for persons, integrity, a
commitment to peace and justice, simplicity, and community
decision-making shape Earlham's community. Earlham has more than 40
undergraduate majors and minors and a MAT program. Earlham has an operating budget of $50M, an endowment of $420M,
1.2 million gross square feet of space, 800 acres of land and
long-term debt of only $84M. in the last five years, the
College has invested $80 million in new and renovated facilities.
The College's FY 2018 tuition and fees will be $45,750, and room
and board will be $9,920. Net tuition and fees are far lower than
the published price given a high tuition discount rate.
Over the last several years, net tuition revenue has remained
relatively constant and enrollment has declined while expenses have
been increasing at about 3% a year. This has resulted in operating
deficits which have been financed through additional endowment
draws and debt. Despite the operating deficits, Earlham has an A
stable bond rating from Standard & Poor's.
THE POSITION
The vice president for finance and business/chief financial
officer serves as the chief steward of the financial, physical and
human resources of the College. Reporting directly to the
president, the vice president staffs the Property and Finance, and
Audit and Investment committees of the Board and works closely with
the president's cabinet. The VP also works-via shared
governance-with the on-campus Budget and Welfare Committees and
with all campus constituencies.
The vice president is responsible for providing the leadership,
vision and analytical framework necessary to develop and oversee
prudent fiscal strategies that assure the implementation of the
board-approved financial plan. The vice president will need to do
the following to move the College's agenda forward:

Work with College leadership and board to create and execute a
plan to achieve financial sustainability
Develop a transparent, inclusive, multi-year, non-incremental
budgeting process
Clearly and effectively communicate financial information in a
way that inspires trust
Embrace collaborative decision-making
Be creative in facilitating the growth of revenues
Provide leadership to the business affairs division

The vice president is expected to engage in a collegial and
transparent way with all areas of the College to strengthen the
overall effectiveness of the College's financial operations, to
facilitate the growth of revenue, to strategically use all
available financial resources from both restricted and unrestricted
funds, and to improve the dissemination and use of financial
information by all budget heads.
QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate will be an outstanding communicator, a
good listener, with strong and effective interpersonal skills that
engender trust and cultivate collaboration. S/he will be an
exceptional financial and administrative leader with superior
analytical and management skills as well as being a creative
strategic thinker and an expert modeler and scenario builder. S/he
will understand the higher education landscape and the challenges
that higher education is currently facing, including an
understanding of the sustainability issues. The successful
candidate will be comfortable growing out of the current deficit
rather than retrenching and will be comfortable presenting
alternatives to the community and working collaboratively to make
decisions. S/he will want to attend campus events and be involved
in the Earlham community. The new VP will inspire trust, have
unquestioned integrity and a sense of humor.
The new vice president will be well versed in higher education
finance and knowledgeable about the critical areas in the
portfolio. S/he will have at least ten years of progressively
increasing experience managing a large staff with diverse
responsibilities. The new VP will have worked in organizations that
have multiple revenue streams and will be adept in projecting
revenues and assessing the risks associated with them. A bachelor's
degree is required and a master's or other advanced degree is
preferred. Experience in higher education, non-profits and
mission-driven organizations is highly desirable. For additional
information about the College, please go here. For additional information about
the position, please go to the prospectus.
PROCEDURE FOR CANDIDACY
Nominations and applications are invited for this position.
Review of applications will begin immediately and candidate
material received by October 12, 2017 will be assured full
consideration although recruitment will continue until an
appointment is announced. Applications (including a cover letter,
resume, and the names and contact information of four references)
must be uploaded to:
This search is supported by Haley Associates Higher Education
Executive Search and Consulting and by Lapovsky Consulting.
Confidential inquiries and questions concerning this search may be
directed to Lucie Lapovsky at or
or Katherine Haley at
or .

Earlham is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity
Employer.
Earlham College continues to build a community that reflects
the gender and racial diversity of the society at large, and,
therefore, we are particularly interested in inviting and
encouraging applications from African Americans, other ethnic
minorities, and women. Earlham also is eager to solicit
applications from members of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers). Category: Finance , Keywords: VP Finance