Dean of Hendricks Chapel

Dean of Hendricks Chapel

Job #: 042719

Location: Syracuse, NY

Pay Range: $220,000 - $264,000

Hours:

Standard University business hours

8:30am - 5:00pm (academic year)
8:00am - 4:30pm (summer)

Hours may vary based on operational needs.

Job Type: Full Time

Job Description:

Syracuse University invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for a visionary, collaborative, and inclusive leader to guide religious and spiritual life at the university and to serve as the eighth dean of Hendricks Chapel.

Reporting to the chancellor, the dean of Hendricks Chapel serves as the principal leader of religious and spiritual life at Syracuse University. The dean nurtures and safeguards the spiritual well-being of the campus community, strengthening connection and relationship-building across all faith traditions while advancing the universitys commitment to a welcoming environment.

Hendricks Chapel is firmly woven into the daily life of the university, serving students, faculty, and staff across a broad spectrum of identities and beliefs. The university seeks a dean who can build upon this strong foundation - extending the chapels reach, influence, and impact; deepening its engagement with the full campus community; and shaping an aspirational and forward-looking vision for the chapel and its leadership team. The dean provides strategic guidance for chapel staff in programming, community engagement, and the arts; oversees the Chaplains Council; and offers administrative support to all affiliated religious organizations. The chapel leads an acclaimed suite of music programs anchored by the nationally recognized Hendricks Chapel Choir and hosts a robust calendar of major university ceremonies and signature events.

The dean collaborates extensively across the university with students, faculty, staff, and administrators, while also engaging meaningfully with the greater Syracuse community. Beyond supporting the chaplains, the dean plays a vital role in fostering students religious, spiritual, and ethical development. As complex issues emerge-whether globally or on campus-the dean is uniquely positioned to convene multiple perspectives and help the community find common ground.

The dean leads a team of approximately 13 administrative staff, 15 chaplaincies, and 25 affiliated religious groups and manages an operating budget of roughly $1.6 million. Some travel is required for donor cultivation, professional conferences, and university representation.

Education and Experience:

Professional and Academic Credentials:

• Ordination or equivalent professional standing within a recognized faith tradition.
• A theological degree (seminary degree required; advanced degree preferred).
• Significant professional experience in ministry, chaplaincy, spiritual leadership, or religious life roles, ideally with exposure to higher education settings; experience connecting religious and spiritual life to the academic mission of a research university is a distinct asset.

Skills and Knowledge:

The next dean of Hendricks Chapel should be a spiritually grounded, relational, visionary, and entrepreneurial leader with the following qualities and experiences:

Integrity, Humility, Empathy, and Pastoral Strength:

• A grounded personal spiritual identity and practice.
• Humility and self-awareness, with the ability to center the chapels mission rather than personal visibility.
• Genuine enjoyment of university life and deep care for students.
• Empathy as a defining leadership characteristic.
• Enthusiasm for the full scope of the role, with the stamina and energy to sustain deep engagement across a demanding calendar of pastoral, programmatic, ceremonial, and administrative responsibilities.

Leadership, Vision, and Strategic Capacity:

• A capacity to articulate an inspiring vision for spiritual, religious, and interfaith life at a modern research university.
• Experience developing, refining, and implementing strategic plans.
• The creativity and imagination to build innovative programs-global, interfaith, communal, wellness, and artistic-that meet students evolving needs.
• The ability to navigate ambiguity, guide transition, and lead through organizational change.

A Deeply Relational Presence with Exceptional Communication Skills:

• Outstanding listening skills-calm, patient, open, and attentive.
• The ability to be a steady and trusted voice in moments of crisis, protest, conflict, grief, or uncertainty.
• A demonstrated record of building trust across diverse communities, including students, chaplains, faculty, staff, senior administrators, and alumni.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills across multiple audiences.

Operational and Organizational Leadership:

• Experience managing a complex organization with multiple funding streams, a diverse team, and varied stakeholder groups.
• Ability to set clear policies, ensure accountability, and support operational excellence.
• Experience guiding or supervising religious professionals, chaplains, faculty, or staff.
• Comfort using metrics, assessment, and data to inform decision-making.

Commitment to Inclusion and to Interfaith Engagement:

• Demonstrated experience leading or supporting interfaith initiatives and engaging people with a wide breadth of religious, spiritual, and ethical backgrounds and traditions-including those who claim no tradition.
• Multicultural fluency, cultural humility, and the ability to foster belonging for all.
• A record of creating environments where students feel supported in exploring spirituality, faith, doubt, and meaning.

Fundraising and Resource Development:

• Demonstrated success raising philanthropic support, cultivating major donors, and stewarding relationships over time.
• Comfort operating in financially constrained environments, including experience being strategic, entrepreneurial, and resource-savvy.
• The ability to expand donor engagement around major priorities such as global programs, chaplaincy sustainability, student emergency funds, and capital improvements.
• Experience partnering with an advisory board or governing body in advancement efforts.

Responsibilities:

The next dean of Hendricks Chapel steps into a role shaped by extraordinary momentum, deep student engagement, and a campus-wide recognition of the chapel as a unifying center of spiritual, religious, and communal life. At the same time, the university is entering a period of leadership transition, rising expectations for transparency, accountability, and innovation, and a dynamic resource environment that calls for entrepreneurial and strategic thinking. The new dean will be asked to honor Hendricks historic mission while expanding its reach, strengthening its infrastructure, and guiding a highly committed community into a new decade marked by the chapels approaching 100th anniversary in 2030.

Several key opportunities and expectations have emerged for the next dean and are outlined below.

Champion and Advance a New Strategic Vision for Hendricks Chapel

An emerging strategic plan-initially shaped by the seventh Dean of Hendricks Chapel Brian Konkol, the Advisory Board, chaplains, staff, and students-is poised for fresh eyes and any refinement prior to adoption. The new dean will have a meaningful opportunity to exert leadership in shaping, finalizing, and executing this plan. The dean will be expected to:

• Articulate a compelling, contemporary vision for interfaith and religious life on campus.
• Align the chapels vision with university priorities at a moment of institutional transition.
• Build on pioneering work already underway, such as the Global Interfaith Scholars Leadership Project, emerging global initiatives, and expanding interfaith dialogue.

Strengthen and Support Chaplains, Chaplaincies, and Spiritual Communities

• Hendricks Chapels array of chaplaincies is a defining asset, representing a range of models, resources, and levels of engagement. The next dean will be expected to:
• Provide leadership, cohesion, and accountability across a chaplaincy structure with diverse models of funding and engagement.
• Support chaplains and religious life groups in enhancing visibility, programming consistency, and student engagement.
• Address the challenges facing fiscally constrained chaplaincies and explore creative ways to sustain and expand support, including potential donor partnerships or operational redesign.

The dean must be an accessible, trusted partner who can successfully engage a diverse group of chaplains, advocate for their needs, and provide clarity around expectations, policies, and shared priorities.

Elevate Student Engagement, Well-Being, and Belonging

• Students consistently identify Hendricks Chapel as a place of welcome, grounding, and connection. Leaders across campus emphasize that the chapel plays a key role in student retention and the student experience.
• The next dean will:
• Maintain and expand the deep culture of student engagement that has become a hallmark of the chapel.
• Meet students 'where they are,' including strengthening programs across residence life, academic units, athletics, and cultural centers.
• Sustain and grow creative programming-from wellness and service programs to arts and music to interfaith engagement-that draws students into meaningful relationships with each other and with the chapel.
• Maintain a visible, relational presence on campus and be available in moments of celebration, crisis, and complexity.

Steward and Strengthen the Chapels Resources, Budget, and InfrastructureHendricks operates with a complex mix of operating dollars, discretionary/gift funds, chaplaincy arrangements, and donor-supported initiatives. Its eighth dean will face a shifting fiscal landscape and will be expected to:

• Assess the chapels budgetary structure, including staff salaries, chaplaincy support, and reliance on soft or discretionary funds.
• Plan strategically for a dynamic resource environment, bringing entrepreneurial creativity and sound fiscal stewardship to advance the chapels mission.
• Partner effectively with the development office to sustain and grow donor support, including major gifts for strategic initiatives such as global programs, chaplaincy stability, the emergency fund, and the centennial.
• Strengthen the chapels development capacity by establishing consistent fundraising infrastructure and staffing commensurate with its donor relationships and philanthropic potential.
• Direct capital renewal and reimagining of the chapels physical footprint, particularly the lower level, improving functional program space.

Build on Momentum as a Unifying, Visible, and Trusted Campus VoiceHendricks Chapels role as a moral and spiritual center positions the dean as a highly visible figure in campus life. The next dean must:

• Serve as a calm, trusted, and balanced presence in moments of tension, protest, tragedy, and polarization-someone who helps the university community find clarity, perspective, and shared humanity
• Represent the university at major events through invocations, benedictions, and other ceremonial roles.
• Work closely with senior leadership-including a new chancellor and evolving leadership team-to provide counsel, partnership, and spiritual grounding.
• Maintain strong relationships with the Advisory Board, who are deeply invested, engaged, and expect accountability, communication, and the continuation of Hendricks upward trajectory.

Expand Visibility, Communication, and Storytelling-Internally and ExternallyAcross listening sessions, campus and board leaders emphasized the need to better tell the story of Hendricks Chapel. The next dean will be expected to:

• Raise the profile of the chapels 1,500+ annual events, human-interest stories, and student successes.
• Improve communications and outreach to campus audiences that may not yet see themselves in the chapels mission.
• Champion the chapels role in fostering spiritual curiosity, ethical reflection, interfaith understanding, and compassionate citizenship.
• Use data, metrics, and assessment to demonstrate impact, deepen engagement, and support fundraising and resource planning.

Lead with Balance, Empathy, Accessibility, and Institutional SavvyThe next dean will succeed a leader who was widely viewed as both a pastor and partner across the university. There is a strong desire for the next dean to:

• Model deep empathy, humility, and listening.
• Maintain an open-door presence for students, chaplains, faculty, staff, and alumni.
• Navigate organizational complexity with tact and wisdom, building relationships thoughtfully across a period of institutional transition.
• Build trust quickly with constituencies who are both hopeful and anxious to sustain the chapels momentum.

Prepare for and Lead Toward the Chapels Centennial in 2030

• The Chapels 100th anniversary provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to:
• Mobilize donor enthusiasm and philanthropic investment.
• Enhance the building and its infrastructure.
• Strengthen interfaith initiatives and global programs.
• Celebrate Hendricks legacy while launching its next century.

About Syracuse University:

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings, and an undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic heart of New York State, with a global footprint, and over 150 years of history, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience.

The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs offered across the Universitys 13 schools and colleges; over 15,000 undergraduates and over 6,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.syracuse.edu.