Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges

The State University of New York (SUNY) system seeks a dynamic, engaging, and visionary leader with proven skills and dedication to serve as its next Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges. Recognized as the largest comprehensive public higher education system in the United States, SUNY’s community colleges ensure open access to high-quality postsecondary education and contribute significantly to the development of an educated citizenry and skilled workforce. SUNY’s next Vice Chancellor will develop and energize the community colleges around a forward-thinking vision for the system and will be deeply committed to the system’s mission to “provide the people of New York educational services of the highest quality with the broadest possible access, fully representative of all segments of the population.” 

The Vice Chancellor will be the senior leader within SUNY System Administration responsible for advancing the success of community colleges, working in close partnership with a range of internal and external stakeholders. SUNY’s community colleges are extraordinary engines of upward mobility, providing pathways to four-year degrees and to immediate workforce and economic opportunity. Through a combination of credit-bearing degree programs and non-credit workforce development programs, SUNY’s 30 community colleges strive to meet the needs of diverse students, community partners, and regional employers. 

Reporting to the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor will serve as a key member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet and a liaison to the SUNY Board of Trustees’ Community Colleges Committee. The Vice Chancellor will support the Chancellor’s key priorities, as well as provide strategic leadership and advocacy for SUNY community colleges. The Vice Chancellor will bring a strong, mission-driven vision for the community colleges and foster a culture of cooperation and continuous improvement across SUNY and within System Administration in support of advancing the Chancellor’s priority pillars. The Vice Chancellor will possess content knowledge of community college trends and experience with cross-sector partnerships to lead the identification, planning, and implementation of best practices at scale. They will also partner with the SUNY Impact Foundation to raise federal, state, philanthropic, and corporate funding to advance community college priorities and programming. 

Candidates must possess an advanced degree and 15+ years of demonstrated experience, with increasing levels of responsibility, in a position within higher education institutions with significant focus on community college initiatives and programs. Confidential inquiries, nominations, referrals, and curricula vitae with letters of interest should be sent electronically below. Electronic submission of application materials is strongly preferred.

Donna Cramer is leading this search with Miguel Santiago and Ryan Smillie.

State University of New York System Administration is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, criminal conviction, or retaliation.