Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs

Job Title: Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs

Job ID: 32883

Location: LaGuardia Community College

Full/Part Time: Full-Time

Regular/Temporary: Regular

POSITION DETAILS

LaGuardia Community College, located in Long Island City, Queens, serves over 27,000 students per year in pre-college, associate degree, and continuing education programs. Founded in 1971, LaGuardia is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It is a Minority Serving Institution holding designations as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution and is part of the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program. As one of seven community colleges within the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former New York City mayor known for his advocacy on behalf of the underserved.

LaGuardia offers more than sixty associate degree programs across six Fields of Interest: Business & Entrepreneurship; Education & Public Service; Engineering, Science & Technology; Health & Wellness; Languages, Culture & Society; and Visual & Performing Arts. Upon graduation, most students transfer to four-year colleges, typically in CUNY, to complete their baccalaureate degrees. Graduates of career programs such as nursing, cybersecurity, and veterinary technology typically enter the workforce.

In Fall 2025, 29 percent of our degree-seeking students were born outside of the United States, coming to LaGuardia from 135 countries and speaking at least thirty different languages. More than half of our students are the first generation in their families to pursue a college education. They come from all five boroughs, with 68 percent living in Queens. Eighty-nine percent are ethnic minorities, 59 percent are women, and 29 percent are adult learners (age 25 and over). Forty-three percent are Hispanic. Just over one-half of our degree-seeking students attend part-time. Sixty-seven percent of LaGuardia degree-seeking students receive some form of financial aid. Tuition and fees are $5,253 per year for a full-time student. 

LaGuardia’s Adult and Continuing Education Division (ACE) is the largest provider of non-degree workforce training in CUNY and the largest provider of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instruction in New York City. LaGuardia’s vocational training programs prepare students for careers in high-demand sectors of the local economy, including healthcare, IT, and construction. Students earn industry-recognized credentials and, in some programs, college credits that can be applied toward associate degrees. ACE’s Small Business & Entrepreneurship programs, including Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, provide training and technical assistance to small business owners and entrepreneurs from across the region.

The Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer of LaGuardia Community College. Reporting to the President, the Provost provides overall leadership of the College’s academic enterprise, including academic programs, departments, the library, curriculum, instruction, academic support services, and related educational initiatives.

The Provost works closely with Department Chairs and faculty to shape the direction, programs, and policies of LaGuardia’s ten academic departments, including the library, and provides vision and leadership to ensure student success. 

The Provost directs and supports colleagues in the Division of Academic Affairs who are responsible for Student Assessment and Placement, Advising, Remediation, Tutoring and Academic Support, Peer Support Programs, Transfer to Baccalaureate Programs, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Credit for Prior Learning, Dual Enrollment, and Instructional Technology and AI.

The Provost works with faculty and staff to bolster curricular and co-curricular programming to keep them current with a rapidly changing world and ensure that instructional and support services at LaGuardia lead to increased student retention, graduation, transfer, and career and economic mobility. 

Collaborating with the leadership of Enrollment Management, Student Affairs, and other areas of the College, the Provost strives to ensure a welcoming, seamless, and successful experience for degree-seeking students, from onboarding and orientation through graduation and transfer.

The Provost works with senior leaders, including the VP of Adult and Continuing Education, to advance a One College culture that ensures integrated pathways for students at every stage of their educational journeys. This includes strengthening connections between noncredit and credit programs, workforce education and academic programs, career-connected learning, career services, and employer engagement, and developing pathways that enable adult learners to transition into degree programs.

The Provost instills a spirit of teamwork, information-sharing, mutual respect, trust, and transparency in decision-making, while fostering a culture of shared accountability in which faculty and academic leaders are empowered to fulfill their responsibilities, uphold high standards of academic excellence, and contribute meaningfully to the College’s mission and student success. Reporting to the President of the College, the Provost will be responsible for the following: 

• Lead faculty and academic personnel matters, including recruitment, appointment, workload, evaluation, tenure and promotion, professional development, succession planning, and the resolution of academic personnel issues in accordance with CUNY policy and collective bargaining agreements;
• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous evaluation of an academic plan that advances LaGuardia’s 2030 Strategic Plan and student-success goals in alignment with CUNY priorities;
•  Encourage and support innovative and high-impact teaching and learning practices across in-person, online, hybrid, and other modalities, and support the use of educational technology, OER, instructional design, artificial intelligence, and emerging approaches to teaching and learning;
• Oversee academic program development, review, assessment, and discontinuance;
• Identify opportunities for new degrees, certificates, credentials, and programs responsive to student interest, transfer opportunities, employer needs, and labor-market demand;
• Lead efforts to strengthen and promote Liberal Arts programs and ensure successful transfer pathways to four-year colleges for students seeking baccalaureate degrees in Liberal Arts disciplines;
• Oversee accreditation and compliance activities and ensure that academic policies, programs, assessment practices, and operations meet CUNY, state, federal, and accrediting requirements;
• Support faculty scholarship, research, creative activity, grants, sponsored programs, and opportunities for external funding;
• Support initiatives that enable faculty and students to participate in research and experiential learning;
• Manage academic resources, personnel, and budgets strategically and transparently; Align resource allocation with academic priorities, student outcomes, enrollment needs, and institutional goals;
• Partner with the President and Cabinet on college-wide planning and decision-making and serve as a senior institutional leader, including representing the President as appropriate and serving as a visible ambassador of LaGuardia, including at events that highlight, celebrate, and amplify student and faculty achievement;
• Build strong relationships with CUNY’s Office of Academic Affairs, other CUNY colleges, government and education agencies, accrediting organizations, community organizations, employers, industry partners, and other external stakeholders to advance the College’s academic mission;
• Ensure that academic policies and practices are developed through effective shared governance, consultation, transparency, and timely communication with faculty, staff, students, and other constituents.
   

QUALIFICATIONS

This position is in CUNY's Executive Compensation Plan. All executive positions require a minimum of a Bachelor's degree and eight years' related experience.

LaGuardia Community College seeks an academic leader who is forward-thinking and has a deep understanding of community colleges and the higher education landscape and trends that impact them.

The Provost should be a leader with the ability to attract, support, and retain outstanding and diverse faculty and staff. They should have experience working with community college students in an urban setting, and with students of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and ages, including those underrepresented in college completion.

The Provost must be able to champion a culture in which faculty achievements are recognized, faculty development is supported, and faculty are held accountable to high professional expectations. This includes support for the development of scholarship, research, and pedagogical innovation.

It will be essential for the Provost to have an approachable and welcoming demeanor that invites conversation and engagement with all campus and community stakeholders and fosters a culture in which all feel valued, respected, and inspired.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• An earned doctorate or other appropriate terminal degree.
• Significant and progressively responsible experience in academic administration, preferably in a community college setting.
• Experience in leadership roles in large, complex, unionized organizations.
• A distinguished record of teaching, service, scholarly achievement, research, and professional accomplishments.
• A demonstrated record of sound fiscal and resource management.
• Successful experience in associate degree program evaluation and development, accreditation, including outcomes assessment.
• Experience working in a multicultural/multiethnic environment with the ability to build bridges and interact successfully with diverse constituent groups to foster a climate of inclusivity.
• An understanding of, commitment to, and respect for shared governance.
• Understanding of the changing landscape of higher education and knowledge of current and emerging best practices in community colleges.
• Experience managing and navigating the tenure and promotion processes.
  Experience serving students from underrepresented communities.
• Ability to recruit and retain a diverse faculty and staff and a demonstrated commitment to their professional growth and development.
• A record of providing support for teaching, research, scholarship, and service.
• Evidence of a respectful, consultative, and accessible leadership style that will energize and inspire the campus community.
• The ability to listen closely, make informed, data-driven decisions firmly, and communicate those decisions clearly and effectively in a timely manner, as well as hold others accountable.
• A high level of integrity, trust, and resourcefulness.
   

CUNY TITLE

Senior Vice President

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

$225,000 - $250,000

Salary commensurate with education and experience.

CUNY's benefits contribute significantly to total compensation, supporting health and wellness, financial well-being, and professional development.  We offer a range of health plans, competitive retirement/pension benefits and savings plans, tuition waivers for CUNY graduate study and generous paid time off.  Our staff also benefits from the extensive academic, arts, and athletic programs on our campuses and the opportunity to participate in a lively, diverse academic community in one of the greatest cities in the world.

HOW TO APPLY

Visit www.cuny.edu, access the employment page, log in or create a new user account, and search for this vacancy using the Job ID or Title.  Select "Apply Now" and provide the requested information. 

Candidates must attach a resume, cover letter, and three professional references (name, title, organization, and contact information).

CLOSING DATE

November 6th, 2026

JOB SEARCH CATEGORY

CUNY Job Posting: Executive

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

CUNY encourages people with disabilities, minorities, veterans and women to apply.  At CUNY, Italian Americans are also included among our protected groups.  Applicants and employees will not be discriminated against on the basis of any legally protected category, including sexual orientation or gender identity. EEO/AA/Vet/Disability Employer.