Texas State University - Associate Vice President for Student Success

Texas State University seeks a visionary, experienced, student-centered, collaborative and strategic leader to serve as the inaugural Associate Vice President for Student Success. This role will report directly to the vice president for student success – Dr. Cynthia Hernandez – and serve as a trusted advisor and member of the vice president for student success senior leadership team.

Texas State employs more than 7,000 faculty, staff and students, and offers 99 bachelor’s, 92 master’s and specialists and 14 doctoral degree programs to its more than 38,000 students. Texas State is located in central Texas, an area that is experiencing robust growth and opportunity. Texas State’s San Marcos Campus is in the southern portion of the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and its Round Rock Campus is in the northern portion. With 2.2 million residents, the Austin MSA is the 28th largest and fastest growing MSA in the U.S. The Austin MSA is expected to pass 3 million in 2030 and 4.3 million in 2045.

As Texas State continues to grow in national prominence and accelerates progress toward becoming a Research 1 institution, a top university priority is student success. In spring of 2022, Texas State University embarked on a noble campaign to increase first year retention rates of undergraduate students. In fall 2022, the rate improved from 77% to 80%, a tremendous achievement. The Presidential Commission on Student Success has developed bold recommendations to increase first year retention in full-time, first-time college students to 85% by 2025 along with associated goals for increased graduation rates.

The inaugural associate vice president for student success will work university-wide with academic colleges and administrative units to maximize equity-minded undergraduate student success in support of the university goals of improved retention, graduation and time-to-degree rates. This new position will build consensus among on and off campus partners, including administrators, faculty, staff and students, to shape and lead the implementation of a shared vision for student success for a diverse student population. Texas State’s student success initiatives focus on developing and implementing procedures that promote curricular and co-curricular engagement and integrative learning, so the associate vice president will create a collaborative student success strategy that guides the university toward both virtual and physical student success spaces and will develop relationships with faculty to effectively engage them in student success efforts.

The new associate vice president will be a highly collaborative, innovative and strategic thinker who can cultivate and develop support across the university for initiatives that promote holistic student success by centering the student experience. The associate vice president will have a strong professional record in the field of student success including participation in national level professional organizations related to student success; deep knowledge of student success peer-reviewed literature and current best practices, especially as related to equity-minded student academic support; and a strong record of data-driven decision-making. The next associate vice president will also have highly developed communication skills and experience maximizing intentional collaborations with university partners in academic and non-academic areas. A master’s degree is required, a doctorate is preferred.

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as two separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in the profile. WittKieffer is assisting Texas State University in this search. For fullest consideration, application materials should be received by September 5.

Application materials should be submitted using WittKieffer’s candidate portal using the buttons below. Nominations and inquiries can be directed to: Jen Meyers Pickard, Ph.D., and Cathryn Davis at TXSTAVPSS@wittkieffer.com.

Texas State University is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, committed to providing a welcoming educational and working environment for all. The university seeks candidates with experience working in environments with a diversity of people and ideas, a spirit of inclusiveness, a global perspective, and a commitment to community-building.