"President"

President

Mars Hill University

Mars Hill University (MHU), a private, liberal arts institution founded in 1856, invites nominations and applications for the appointment of President. Sitting at an elevation of 2,330 feet on a 194-acre campus, the University is located in the town of Mars Hill, NC in one of the most beautiful regions of the Eastern United States, the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. The University is approximately 20 minutes north of Asheville, NC and 45 minutes southwest of Johnson City, TN. Nearby Asheville has the sophisticated attractions of a major metropolis and is known for its quality arts, crafts, and music offerings. Additionally, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Linville Falls and Cavern, Biltmore House and Gardens, and the Blue Ridge Parkway are within easy driving distance.

Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award bachelor's and master's degrees, MHU offers numerous baccalaureate degrees, as well as master's degrees in criminal justice, teaching, education, and management. The MHU faculty and staff are dedicated to the development and enrichment of the approximately 1100 students served. The University employs over 200 full-time and part-time individuals. As of fall 2025, the student body included approximately 970 undergraduate students and 130 Adult and Graduate Studies (AGS) students. The student body is made up of approximately 48% female students and 52% male students. MHU is a diverse community: approximately 34% of traditional students identified as persons of color. Approximately 62% of students are from North Carolina, 39% are first-generation college students, 99% receive financial aid, and approximately 70% participate in athletics.

For more information about Mars Hill University, please visit: www.mhu.edu.

The President serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the University with responsibility for ensuring the success of MHU's mission, academic integrity, fiscal stability and sustainability, enrollment management, fundraising efforts, personnel development, and physical plant management. In doing so, the President works closely with the Board of Trustees in developing, communicating, and executing a strategy consistent with the overall mission and vision of MHU. As such, the President serves a university community where people care as if they are family…an academic community rooted in the Christian faith where all are welcome, and one that challenges and equips students, faculty, and staff to pursue intellectual, spiritual, and personal growth through education and personal development.

The successful candidate will exhibit a passion and enthusiasm for, and commitment to, the mission, vision, and values of MHU, with the ability to cast a vision for the University. He/she will espouse and model leadership principles based on integrity, honesty, trust, transparency, sincerity, inclusiveness, collaboration, humility, servant leadership, approachability, accessibility, and compassion. With exceptional people skills and interpersonal abilities, this visionary, strategic, and creative thinker will understand the changing higher education landscape, inspire others, engender trust, and build and maintain close relationships. Good business management skills with a strong financial acumen; experience working with a board; experience working with athletics; and the ability to be an effective fundraiser are also necessary. A genuine desire to be engaged with the campus, community, city, state and surrounding region activities is needed. Appropriate academic credentials are required along with a strong preference for a terminal degree; however, interested individuals with outstanding success in business or a professional career, outside of academics, are encouraged to apply.

To make a nomination, provide a referral, or for additional information, please use the contact information below. While applications and nominations will be accepted until a successful candidate has been appointed, interested individuals are encouraged to submit their materials as soon as possible for full consideration. The preferred start date will be at the beginning of the 2026 – 27 academic year.

To apply, please submit a resume and/or vita, and cover letter, to:

MHUPresident@buffkinbaker.com

Ken Carrick, Partner

980-296-5401

Janny DeLoache, Associate Partner

704-377-7828

*In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), MHU provides reasonable accommodation to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the organization or would change the essential functions of the job. MHU is committed to hiring faculty and staff who fully support MHU's mission. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply. In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race color, national origin, age, disability, religion, sex, familial status, sexual orientation, and reprisal*