Vice President, People and Culture

TITLE: Vice President, People and Culture

STATUS: Full-time, exempt

REPORTS TO: President

Reporting to the President, the Vice President of People and Culture (VPPC) will serve as the senior administrator responsible for advancing a people-centered culture aligned with the University's mission, values, and strategic priorities. The VPPC embodies experience with the critical synergies among human resources, justice, equity, and inclusion, compliance, risk management, and organizational effectiveness essential for fostering a thriving people and relationship-centered culture.

In addition, the VPPC will partner closely with the Chief Operating Officer on progress toward strategic priorities and systems enhancements, and with the Vice President of Finance and Administration on institutional budget priorities.

As the VPPC at Dominican, this position will be instrumental in cultivating a culture of belonging, accountability, engagement, and organizational effectiveness for our employees. The successful candidate will be critical in advancing our culture as a Catholic, Hispanic-Serving Institution and continuing to drive progress on our equity and inclusion goals outlined in our strategic plan. Priorities in the first two years include:
1) evaluate the organizational structure for the unit and identify systems that can be streamlined to increase efficiency;
2) revise our faculty and staff handbooks in partnership with the Provost, COO, and other senior leaders and governance representatives;
3) work with an external consultant to complete a compensation analysis across the institution; and
4) in partnership with the CFO, evaluate potential changes to our employee benefits packages based on market trends.

The People and Culture unit currently has six staff members. The current direct reports of the VPPC include three Human Resources professionals and the Chief Diversity Officer (who currently oversees Title IX).

Dominican University is a Catholic, comprehensive teaching university located in River Forest, a suburb of Chicago, with an additional campus in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, Dominican University offers associate, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees. It is highly regarded for its academic rigor, thoughtful accompaniment of students, intentional affordability, and values-based, relationship-centered learning environment.

Dominican currently enrolls over 3,800 students, including 2,690 undergraduates and 1,114 graduate students. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of undergraduate students identify as Latinx, 5% as Black or African American, and 3% as Asian. Underrepresented minority students comprise 77% of undergraduate enrollment and 38% of graduate enrollment. Over 90 percent of undergraduates receive some form of financial aid. Nearly half of all undergraduates are first-generation college students;

over half are federal Pell Grant recipients, reflecting their families’ income levels; and 58% are eligible for low-income MAP grants from the State of Illinois.

Recognized since 2011 as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Department of Education, Dominican is committed to expanding and enhancing educational opportunities for Latinx students and all students from historically underrepresented groups. For more information, visit www.dom.edu.

Develop visionary, strategic goals for the unit to support the ongoing development of a climate and culture agenda that supports Dominican employees and advances the institution's mission and strategic priorities. This will include:

• Establish robust campus communication channels to…