Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Clark University seeks a collaborative, innovative, and proven leader to serve as Executive Vice President (EVP) and/or Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Reporting to the president and serving as a key partner to him, the provost, senior colleagues, and trustees, the EVP will provide strategic financial counsel, ensure consistent excellence in execution of the University’s financial affairs, and play a lead role in administrative management to help shape the vision and direction for this highly respected, small, private, liberal arts-based research university.

Founded in 1887, Clark was one of the first all-graduate institutions in the United States. Today the University is a student-centered institution educating approximately 2,200 undergraduate and 1,600 graduate students to be imaginative and contributing citizens of the world and to advance the frontiers of knowledge and understanding through rigorous scholarship and creative effort. This approach to scholarship and inquiry reflects the University’s commitment to “challenge convention and change our world” and to address issues of critical importance to society. It is also reflected by Clark’s many national and international distinctions, including recognition for its diversity and inclusion efforts, innovation, community engagement and impact, as a top green campus, and for having a distinguished geography and international development program. Clark has also been included in the groundbreaking Colleges that Change Lives guide since it was first published in 1996.

Clark is located in Worcester, Massachusetts, a dynamic, diverse city “on the rise.” The second largest city in New England, with a population of roughly 206,000, Worcester is home to nine institutions of higher learning including the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, College of the Holy Cross, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Worcester is increasingly recognized for its growing healthcare and biotechnology communities, for its thriving arts and cultural communities, and as a vibrant food hub with an abundance of new restaurants and craft breweries. In addition, the city is home to the Red Sox minor league baseball team, the WooSox and their new facility, Polar Park. 

With an operating budget of $162 million and a $500 million endowment, Clark’s current financial position is strong. At the same time, the University experienced lower than anticipated enrollments for fall 2024 and has for a few years run modest operating deficits. The University will launch its next comprehensive campaign with a current goal of $250 million in early 2026. As of today, fundraising progress (quiet phase) for this campaign is slightly ahead of schedule. 

A faculty-centered institution with a strong tradition of shared governance, Clark’s roughly 240 full- and 200 part-time faculty are deeply committed to teaching and embrace Clark’s identity as both a small research university and liberal arts college. Full-time faculty are also productive in research, with strong publication records and externally funded research totaling on average between $6-8 million each year. In addition, the University employs a diverse and dedicated cross-section of approximately 500 full- and part-time staff. Clark’s urban campus consists of a core campus of approximately 50 acres plus outlying properties, including a 27-acre arboretum. The physical plant includes just under 2 million square feet of academic buildings, residence halls, and research and athletic facilities.

Strategic alignment and strong management of Clark’s human, financial, and physical resources to support academic priorities and initiatives to enhance the student experience will be the overarching charge for the new EVP. This will require oversight and support of integrated long-range financial, operational, capital and facilities planning, and ensuring the University’s capacity to recruit and retain high caliber faculty and staff. The EVP will also play an important role in supporting the University’s ongoing work to advance a diverse and inclusive campus community and its unwavering commitment to and active engagement with the city of Worcester. 

The EVP will lead careful stewardship and management of all of Clark’s assets, overseeing budgeting and financial planning; business services; all controller and treasury functions; human resources; information technology, enterprise risk assessment and management; compliance, including Title IX; campus safety/police, and legal services; and will work closely with related committees of the board, including the investment committee in overseeing an outsourced investment management firm. The EVP’s full portfolio could change as strategic priorities and organizational structures evolve, and in response to the strengths and interests of the selected candidate. 

The EVP will be a gifted senior leader and manager with broad-gauged financial and administrative skills and extensive experience in several functional areas in the portfolio. The ideal candidate will bring at least ten years of progressively responsible experience and a track record of success leading in comparably complex higher education settings, ideally including a research element. The EVP will be an accessible, resourceful, results-oriented colleague who demonstrates both a keen understanding of the trends and issues facing institutions of higher education and a deep respect and appreciation for the distinctive culture and pace of the academy. Strong oral and written communication skills are essential. An MBA or other relevant advanced degree is strongly preferred.

Dan Rodas is leading this search with Amble Ryan and Rachel Banderob. 

Clark University embraces equal opportunity and affirmative action as core values: the University believes that cultivating an environment that embraces and promotes diversity is fundamental to the success of our students, its employees, and its community. This commitment applies to every aspect of education, services, and employment policies and practices at Clark. Clark’s commitment to diversity informs its efforts in recruitment, hiring, and retention. All positions at Clark share in the responsibility for building a community that values diversity and the uniqueness of others by exhibiting integrity and respect in interacting with all members of the Clark community to create an atmosphere of fairness and belonging. Clark strongly encourages members from historically underrepresented communities, inclusive of all women, to apply.