Vice President for Academic Affairs

Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, seeks a collaborative, student-centered leader to serve as the College's next Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA). Serving as the Chief Academic Officer, this role focuses on expanding educational access, driving educational excellence, fostering partnerships with external stakeholders, and ensuring student success and completion. The Vice President plays a crucial role in leading and developing academic programs, supporting faculty, and aligning the College's academic offerings with the needs of both transfer and workforce-seeking students.

The purpose of this position is to provide leadership in the areas of teaching, learning, and academic and workforce program development. This is accomplished by:

• Providing visionary leadership to promote teaching and learning excellence across the college.
• Developing and implementing strategies to enhance the quality and relevance of academic programs.
• Fostering a culture of innovation, creativity, and continuous improvement in teaching and learning.
• Ensuring alignment of academic programs with the College's dual transfer and workforce development missions.
• Collaborating with the Institutional Effectiveness (IE) team to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and utilize data to drive decision-making.
• Providing leadership development opportunities for direct reports and support their professional growth.
• Fostering partnerships with industry to ensure academic and workforce programs meet current local/regional community needs.
• Supporting the development of articulation agreements to facilitate seamless transfer pathways for students.
• Championing assessment strategies and use data to drive program improvement and student success.
• Supporting accreditation efforts, including specialized accreditation, and ensure compliance with relevant standards.
• Developing processes to measure the effectiveness of education in meeting local and regional workforce needs.
• Overseeing key academic support areas such as the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), Library, and eLearning.
• Cultivating partnerships with business, industry, external organizations, and other key stakeholders to align academic and workforce programs with local and regional needs.
• Serving as a liaison with Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) to strengthen dual enrollment programs and ensure academic alignment.
• Engaging in relevant external committees and groups to advocate for the College's academic priorities.
• Developing and managing budgets that support the College strategic priorities as they pertain to Academic Affairs.

This is a full-time, exempt staff position.

Candidates should submit only a cover letter and résumé/CV to RPA Inc. at HarfordCCVPAA@rpainc.org. For a confidential discussion or to make a nomination, please contact Kira Heath, Search Manager, or Isaac Karaffa, Vice President and Senior Consultant, RPA Inc., at the email address above. The review of applications will begin on April 8, 2026, and first-round interviews will commence thereafter.

Employees of Harford Community College, including instructors for online and virtual courses, must be residents of Maryland or the contiguous states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia or the District of Columbia; non-residents are expected to relocate to meet this requirement.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States, as the College does not offer Visa sponsorship for this position

Required Education:

• Doctorate in academic discipline including but not limited to Higher Education Administration, Community College Leadership, or a Law Degree

Required Experience:

• Doctorate in academic discipline including but not limited to Higher Education Administration, Community College Leadership, or a Law Degree
• At least seven years of experience in the higher education field
• A minimum of five years of full-time teaching experience

Required Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Ability to engage and build relationships with colleagues from across the College as well as external stakeholders
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent listening skills
• Ability to demonstrate a positive attitude and sense of humor