Position Specification

Mount Holyoke College

Download the Position Specification (PDF)

Founded in 1837 by chemist and revolutionary educator Mary Lyon, Mount Holyoke College is a highly selective, nondenominational, research liberal arts college for women. The first of the Seven Sisters, the College is recognized worldwide for its leadership in the liberal arts and women’s education as well as the strongly international character of its curriculum and student body.

Mount Holyoke College’s mission is to educate a diverse, residential community of women at the highest level of academic excellence and to foster the alliance of liberal arts education with purposeful engagement in the world. The College’s distinctions include an extraordinarily strong and diverse faculty of teacher/scholars, a uniquely international student population, a supportive alumnae body, an open and consultative culture, a stunning campus, and a legacy of educating women who excel.

The College is located in South Hadley, Massachusetts, approximately 90 miles west of Boston and 150 miles north of New York City. The campus is situated in the culturally vibrant Connecticut River valley of western Massachusetts and is part of Five Colleges, Inc., a consortium comprising Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Today, as one of the nation’s finest research liberal arts colleges, Mount Holyoke College:

  • Has an enrollment of 2,200 students representing 48 states and nearly 70 countries;
  • Is one of the most diverse institutions in the nation, with 22 percent of the students identifying as African American, Latina, Asian American, Native American, or multicultural, and 18 percent from countries outside the United States;
  • Maintains a 10-to-1 student-faculty ratio, with 65 percent of MHC classes having fewer than 20 students;
  • Has a faculty composed of outstanding scholars from all over the world who speak more than 50 languages; 56 percent of the junior faculty (assistant professors) are people of color;
  • Offers 49 departmental and interdisciplinary majors and the option to design a major;
  • Sends 60 percent of its alumnae to graduate schools within five years of graduating;
  • Ranks consistently among the top liberal arts college recipients for National Science Foundation grants; and
  • Ranked seventh in the number of producers of Fulbright grants for U.S. students at four-year institutions in 2007-2008; among the other grants awarded to MHC students are Cambridge University Churchill Fellowships and Barry M. Goldwater scholarships.

Joanne V. Creighton became president of Mount Holyoke College in 1996. Under her leadership, Mount Holyoke’s reputation as one of the premier liberal arts colleges in the nation continues to flourish. President Creighton is leading the College through its second long-term strategic plan, as well as a comprehensive capital campaign. Launched publicly in the fall of 2006, the goal of the campaign for Mount Holyoke is to raise $300 million. The campaign is scheduled to end December 31, 2011. Key priorities include increasing the endowment and yearly support for the College’s Annual Fund. As of December 31, 2008, $172 million had been raised.

The College has an operating budget in excess of $100 million. Its endowment reached an all-time high of $656 million in June 2008, dropping as a result of the recent financial crisis to $503 million at year-end 2008. Under the joint auspices of a contracted investment office at Cambridge Associates LLC and a largely alumnae-staffed Investment Committee, the endowment performed in the top 5% of approximately 400 U.S. colleges and universities over the last five years of bull markets. Equally notably, the endowment's performance was in the top quartile versus those same peers over the last nine months, a strong bear market. Approximately 70 percent of MHC’s student body receives financial aid.

Mount Holyoke College’s Board of Trustees consists of 31 Board members, including the College President; most of its members are alumnae of the College. The Board has a strong relationship with senior staff based on solid communication and trust. The Board deeply respects faculty governance and interacts regularly with Mount Holyoke’s many constituencies.

Position Summary

Working in close consultation with the Board of Trustees, the faculty, and a wide range of internal and external constituencies, the President of Mount Holyoke College provides academic and administrative leadership and direction for the College. The President is expected to foster and build upon the existing strengths of the College and provide the strategic leadership to chart and guide its future course. The President is expected to advance the human, intellectual, and financial resources of the College with integrity, transparency, and a sense of purpose.

The agenda for Mount Holyoke’s eighteenth President includes the following:

  • Enhance and promote Mount Holyoke’s vision for a distinctive academic and cultural undergraduate experience and reaffirm the College’s place as a leader among top-tier liberal arts colleges;
  • Continue to promote Mount Holyoke’s core strengths in the liberal arts while exploring entrepreneurial opportunities and creative initiatives that further the College’s objectives;
  • Build and strengthen Mount Holyoke’s endowment and raise funds to support key initiatives;
  • Foster and support diversity initiatives by continuing to build a community that is racially, regionally, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse and inclusive;
  • Continue to build, develop, support and retain a strong faculty while working closely with faculty leadership to develop and leverage resources in support of a distinctive academic curriculum;
  • Oversee the College’s finances with the goal of responsibly stewarding assets, diversifying and improving revenue streams, and controlling costs to enhance stability and sustainability;
  • Maintain Mount Holyoke’s commitment to comprehensive financial aid programs that support, broaden, and encourage diversity, access, and inclusiveness in all campus activities;
  • Support and strengthen the College’s leadership in promoting sustainability within a global context; and,
  • Cultivate Mount Holyoke’s relationship with the Five College Consortium and explore innovative and cost effective approaches to creating synergies.

Candidate Specification: Key Selection Criteria

Ideal Experience

The successful candidate will have strong academic credentials and a track record of increasing responsibility and successful leadership in a world-class organization that values teaching and research. Specifically, the candidate’s base of experience should ideally include:

  • A passion for and commitment to academic excellence and rigor;
  • A deep appreciation for the value of women’s education;
  • A distinguished and broad record of accomplishment with a combination of scholarship, leadership and consensus-building;
  • A commitment to diversity, access, and inclusivity;
  • The ability to think strategically about international connections and global education.
  • A proven ability to recruit, develop, support and retain highly effective, diverse, and mission-driven individuals to the faculty and staff;
  • A demonstrated ability to manage significant budgets and build financial resources, to maintain and improve infrastructure, and to invest resources strategically and with an innovative but practical mindset;
  • Proven strategic leadership and organizational management skills in a highly collaborative, team-oriented environment; and,
  • Versatility in communicating with a broad range of constituents.

Critical Competencies for Success

Strategic vision and inspiration: In an organization composed of dedicated and involved students, faculty and staff, unite all constituents in support of Mount Holyoke College’s mission by:

  • Providing the intellectual leadership and integrity to foster institutional confidence and engagement;
  • Creating a compelling, intellectually exciting, and financially viable strategy based on a deep understanding of the College’s distinctive culture and values; and,
  • Articulating Mount Holyoke’s aspirations in a way that inspires commitment, pride, and action.

Organizational leadership: In an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing global market for liberal arts education for women, exert a purposeful and defining leadership presence that supports the advancement of the institution’s capabilities, assets, and reputation by:

  • Fostering academic distinction and rigor while maintaining an appreciation for the school’s traditions and strengths;
  • Enhancing the College’s distinctive identity by fostering programmatic and curricular innovations that build recognition and appeal to potential students, faculty and staff;
  • Serving as Mount Holyoke’s most public spokesperson, and communicating the College’s distinctive strengths and relevance in ways that all constituencies value and understand;
  • Promoting Mount Holyoke’s visibility by entering the public dialogue on matters of national and international importance; and,
  • Strengthening relationships with alumnae and other donors and leading ambitious efforts to support the College’s fund-raising goals.

Engagement and community building: In a College characterized by a strong sense of active involvement and consensus-based decision-making, seek opportunities to create a sense of community and shared purpose among students, faculty, staff, and alumnae by:

  • Driving excellence and continual improvement by listening actively and communicating honestly with a diverse set of constituents;
  • Maintaining a dynamic and visible presence on campus and in the broader community; and,
  • Engaging with energy, substance, and joy in the full community that is Mount Holyoke.