senior director of advancement, college of …...senior director of advancement, college of business...

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY BACKGROUNDER | 1

Senior Director of Advancement, College of Business Administration

Kent State University Kent, Ohio

www.kent.edu

Send Nominations or Cover Letter and Resume to:

Zena Lum

Search Director

617-262-1102

[email protected]

The Opportunity:

Kent State University is ranked among the nation’s

Top 74 public high-research universities by the

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of

Teaching. With eight campuses spanning

Northeast Ohio, a College of Podiatric Medicine, a

Regional Academic Center, and academic sites in

major capitals such as New York City, Geneva and

Florence, Kent State is Northeast Ohio’s leading

public university and a major educational,

economic and cultural resource far beyond the

region it has served since 1910. The university is the largest producer of college graduates in Northeast Ohio

and has a worldwide alumni body exceeding 222,000. Kent State also has been selected as one of this year’s

“Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education – the seventh time the university has

been selected for this honor in the past eight years.

http://www.kent.edu/

mailto:[email protected]


The College of Business Administration (COBA) at Kent State University offers some of the best

undergraduate, graduate, executive, research and outreach programs in business not only in Ohio, but also

in the nation and around the globe. Striving for

excellence in all that it does, the college’s

commitment shows in the strength of its programs

and partnerships with the business community.

The College of Business Administration is ranked

as a “Best Business College” for undergraduate

and MBA programs by U.S. News and World

Report, a “Best Business School” by The Princeton

Review, a top-tier ranked program for executive

education in North America by CEO Magazine, and

has one of only 23 accounting programs endorsed

by the Institute for Management Accountants. The Financial Engineer ranks its MA in Economics 66th and its

MS in Accounting 84th in the U.S. COBA attracts more than 4,300 business majors representing 50 countries

around the globe. Its programs range from bachelors through doctoral education, and the College is one of

only three public business schools in Ohio with a comprehensive Ph.D. program.

Kent State University is in the planning phase of a major comprehensive campaign and COBA is leading the

charge. The college’s plans for a new building have been unveiled and a campaign of $60 million is in the

planning phases. The college is seeking an experienced leader to take COBA’s building and endowment

campaign from launch to completion.

This is an ideal opportunity for a strategic development manager interested in making history, undertaking

the university’s first capital project to be funded largely through private philanthropy. The successful

candidate must bring a demonstrated track record working successfully with prominent administrative,

academic and volunteer leadership. In partnership

with a dynamic and visionary Dean, and leading a

young, ambitious team, s/he will represent COBA’s

priorities to secure major and principal gifts that

further its mission to create knowledge and educate

undergraduate, masters and doctoral students by

providing opportunities to learn and develop skills,

applying knowledge to business problems through

traditional and experiential learning. COBA adds

value to the region and the world beyond its campuses through engagement in rigorous and relevant research

and teaching.


Position Overview – Senior Director of Advancement,

College of Business Administration

Kent State University is seeking an experienced professional with exceptional fundraising abilities to serve

as its Senior Director of Advancement for the College of Business Administration. This individual has dual

reporting lines to the Executive Director of Advancement and the Dean of the College. Charged with

directing the development and implementation of a comprehensive major and leadership gifts fundraising

program for the college, the Senior Director will manage his/her own portfolio of prospects and donors, as

well as oversee a team of fundraisers.

Duties/Essential Functions:

Duties/essential functions may include, but not be limited to, the following:

Plan, oversee, and coordinate the development and implementation of cultivation strategies for

generating private financial support for the college

Manage professional advancement staff within COBA; provide leadership in setting annual

fundraising goals, objectives, and strategies

Serve as liaison between the college and Institutional Advancement leadership regarding prospect

activity

Lead comprehensive campaign initiatives for targeted projects within COBA

Identify, cultivate, and solicit prospects for major and leadership gifts

Work with the Dean and academic leadership to coordinate and manage the college’s volunteer

advisory boards. Serve on various campus and community committees, task forces, councils, etc.

Perform public relations activities at various functions

Perform related duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field; five years’ experience in development with two to three years’

experience supervising professional staff; demonstrated success closing gifts of 6+ figures;

experience with comprehensive campaign planning and implementation

Preferred Qualifications:

Master’s Degree; 7+figure fundraising successes a plus; experience in schools of business or related

academic division; demonstrated success working effectively with high-level volunteer leaders,

university administrators, board members, staff, alumni, and corporate executives


Knowledge Of:

Experience and understanding of higher education, institutional processes to include managing and

reporting fundraising activities*

Functional knowledge of institutional fundraising processes from individuals *

Must possess a broad institutional perspective, and have excellent management and planning skills,

as well as a proactive style of leadership that encourages teamwork and interaction *

Skill In:

Interpersonal communication, written and verbal communications; including public relations skills *

Organizing information and projects and adhering to deadlines *

Utilizing Microsoft Office Suite and other applicable software *

Experience with Salesforce and Luminate would be a plus *

Ability:

To fundraise; including the ability to research, cultivate and manage donor relations *

To provide leadership and direction *

To multi-task while managing multiple projects and assignments *

To prepare proposals and reports *

Assessments: Asterisk (*) indicates knowledge, skills, abilities which require assessments.

Kent State University is committed to the creation and nurturing of a diverse community of individuals through

inclusive excellence. Diversity involves recognizing the value of differences and the inclusion of all members of

the community including those that experience discrimination or under representation. This is a core value of

the organization as we strive for a culturally diverse student body, faculty and staff that reflect the

multicultural nature of Ohio, the nation, and our world.

Office of Institutional Advancement Overview

The purpose of Institutional Advancement is to promote awareness among Kent State University

benefactors of the impact their contributions make to the growth and future success of the university. The

Office’s goal is to acknowledge contributions to Kent State through conscientious management, and by

nurturing lasting relationships between the university and those who support it with their time, money, and

effort.


In recent years, Kent State University has been

widely recognized as one of the world’s finest

public research universities and as an institution

that is helping Northeast Ohio compete and

succeed. But with state support of the university

providing less than 20 percent of its budget,

private philanthropy is the key to ongoing growth.

Donor contributions during this critical time help

lay the foundation and create resources for the

next 100 years of excellence in education and

research. With strong improvements in alumni

engagement and annual giving, the Division of Institutional Advancement this winter moved into a new

home that brought all advancement staff under one roof for the first time in the university’s history. This

new facility will set the stage for new levels of fundraising and alumni engagement throughout the next

decade.

Historically, Kent State has completed two major comprehensive campaigns: The Campaign for Kent State

University and more recently The Centennial Campaign. The latter raised $265 million, exceeding its goal of

$250 million, and funded the endowment, capital projects and current-operating funds, with particular

emphasis on student scholarships. The Centennial Campaign concluded on June 30, 2012.

The Foundations of Excellence is a current

interim capital initiative with major naming

opportunities for several new buildings

either recently opened or currently under

construction made possible through bond

financing. Among these new facilities are

the Center for the Visual Arts, the Center for

Architecture and Environmental Design, the

Aeronautics and Technology Building, and

the Integrated Sciences Building. Naming

gifts are expected to pave the way for a

new comprehensive campaign that is

currently in the quiet planning phase. COBA’s planned new building, which was not part of the bond-

financed Foundations of Excellence, will be a prominent campus centerpiece, and one of the few bricks-and-

mortar initiatives expected to be included in the upcoming campaign.

https://youtu.be/72kkftD-YjU

https://youtu.be/72kkftD-YjU


As the Office of Institutional Advancement organizes around

the anticipated comprehensive campaign, fundraising

revenue targets have held steady in recent years. In Fiscal

Year 2015, overall university totals for new commitments

were $29,793,230 of which $1,821,910 was directed to the

College of Business Administration. Kent State University’s

endowment has an estimated value of $118 million and

COBA’s endowment is estimated at $15 million; the next

campaign will include a focus on increasing the endowment.

Client Overview

Kent State University is one of the nation's largest university

systems. Its eight campuses provide more than 300 academic

programs to more than 41,000 undergraduate and graduate

students from throughout Ohio and the nation, and from over

100 countries. One of the largest employers in Northeast

Ohio, the university employs more than 5,700 full- and part-

time faculty and staff.

Since its founding as a teacher-training school in 1910, Kent

State has become an engine for economic, cultural and

workforce development in the region and beyond as a

premiere university in Ohio. It has also earned acclaim for applying new knowledge to address the needs of

the communities it serves and society as a whole through a vast array of continuing education courses and

much more.

In December 2015, President Beverly Warren shared her

Strategic Roadmap for a Distinctive Kent State, which

capitalizes on the rising trajectory and momentum of Kent

State University. Realizing that the faculty remains committed

to a distinctive blend of teaching and learning, research and

creative excellence, the university is poised to accelerate its

growth and impact on a national scale. Based on extensive

interaction across its eight-campus system, a new vision,

mission and core values were adopted along with five major university priorities. The Strategic Roadmap also

outlines 16 university-level initiatives that will promote innovation and learning, advance academic program


and research excellence, drive regional and global impact and strengthen the university’s organizational

stewardship.

The exciting developments on its campuses mirror the exciting

projects underway in the city of Kent and in many communities

served by its Regional Campuses. When the university’s strategic

plans are realized, it will be able to say that Kent State was part of

an investment in the future totaling nearly $700 million; helped

create nearly 1,700 jobs; and improved the quality of life in

Northeast Ohio.

College of Business Administration:

“From new business start-ups to discoveries about the impact of diversity on corporate boards, our pioneering

faculty members are training the next generation of business leaders, while creating new knowledge to help

today’s businesses excel.”

Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D.

Dean

Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International since 1964,

the College of Business Administration is among the less than 1% of business schools worldwide to receive

dual accreditation for business and accounting. The college houses one of the nation’s oldest Executive MBA

programs and its newest master’s program in Business Analytics begins in Fall 2016.

COBA is globally connected through international

partnerships and a wide range of education

abroad offerings; as well as faculty, students and

alumni with ties to more than 100 countries. More

than 200 students from the college studied abroad

in 2015-16, with most receiving study abroad

scholarships from the Fiedler/Borg Warner

Endowment in support of international education.

Enrollment over the last 5 years has continued to

rise, particularly among the nearly 600

international students now enrolled in the college.


Faculty are attracted from 16 different countries, and COBA is the only college at Kent State with a

dedicated International Programs Office.

The college’s Global Management Center’s partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service has forged a U.S.

Export Assistance Center located in the college to enhance export outreach to Northeast Ohio businesses

and give students global business experience. The Center for Information Systems brings state-of-the-art

technology into the college’s classrooms and supports initiatives such as The TechHelp Service & Repair

Center to provide technology services to the Kent campus. The college is also home to the Center for

Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, which continues to launch student businesses each year into the

Northeast Ohio entrepreneurial ecosystem to grow the region’s economy.

The college’s Career Services Office is the only satellite office of Kent State’s Career Services Center. This

office facilitates several specialized career fairs, an etiquette dining series, internship coordination, mock

interviews, resume critiques, career coaching, and job placement services.

COBA Leadership:

Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Business Administration

Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D., joined Kent State University in January 2013 as dean of the

College of Business Administr ation. She previously served as associate dean at the

University of South Alabama’s Mitchell College of Business and has served on the

faculties of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Western Michigan University,

and as a visiting professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Worms, Germany.

Prior to earning her doctorate in marketing, she worked as the marketing research director of a publishing

company and later for consulting firms in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in new product development and

strategic planning.

Dean Spake’s research interests include services marketing, advertising, and business ethics. Her research

has appeared in numerous publications including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Advertising,

Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, and Journal of

Business Research. She is a member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Business Research,

facilitates a seminar for new associate deans of business for AACSB International and serves on the board of

the Mid-America Business Deans Association.


Dean Spake holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and a M.A. in Advertising from the University of Alabama; as well as

a B.A. in Communication from the University of South Alabama.

Location

Kent, OH/Northeast Ohio:

Kent, Ohio is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio with a population of 28,904 according to

the 2010 Census and 29,810 in the 2015 estimate. The city is counted as part of the Akron Metropolitan

Statistical Area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area. Historically a

manufacturing center, education is Kent's

largest economic sector with Kent State

University the city's, and one of the region's,

largest employers.

The Northeast Ohio region is a great place to

live and work. It is a place where “Economic

Activity,” “Quality of Life,” and “Affordability,”

come together. The region offers unsurpassed

educational and world-class medical facilities, regional and national centers for the arts, and top-notch

entertainment and professional sports, and is surrounded by an extensive array of scenic parks, situated

within a few miles of beautiful Lake Erie, one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world.

Not only does Northeast Ohio offer superb cultural, educational, recreational, and entertainment amenities,

but it does so at a cost-of-living well below that of other major metropolitan areas across the country.

Residents in Northeast Ohio enjoy affordable housing, easily accessible roads and transportation services,

and an unparalleled quality of life.

To learn more, please visit: www.neoisgreat.com/index.htm

http://www.neoisgreat.com/index.htm


Background Checks:

Prior to submitting your resume for this position, please read it over for accuracy. LLLS does verify academic

credentials for its candidates, and our clients frequently conduct background checks prior to finalizing an

offer.

To learn more, call

Zena Lum, Search Director at

617-262-1102

or send nominations or cover letter and resume to

[email protected].

All inquiries will be held in confidence.

Setting the Standard in Development Search

420 Boylston Street, Suite 604, Boston, MA 02116

617.262.1102

www.LLLSearches.com



http://www.lllsearches.com/


Appendix

University Leadership:

Dr. Beverly Warren

President

Dr. Beverly Warren became Kent State University's 12th president on July 1, 2014.

Prior to coming to Kent State, Dr. Warren had served as provost and senior vice

president at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) since 2011. She arrived at VCU

in 2000 as a professor and head of the School of Education’s Division of Health,

Physical Education and Recreation, and went on to serve as dean of the School of

Education. Before joining VCU, Dr. Warren held faculty positions at Smith College in

Massachusetts; Auburn University in Alabama; Appalachian State University in North Carolina; and Lander

University in South Carolina.

Dr. Warren is an internationally respected and widely published scholar in the fields of education and

exercise physiology. Her most recent research focused on urban education, including access and success for

urban youth, the preparation on of teachers for urban environments and coordination of education through

P-20 initiatives. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the Research Consortium of

the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She was elected to the Board of

Trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine in 2004 and is a former president of its Southeast

Chapter.

A North Carolina native, Dr. Warren earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North

Carolina at Greensboro and a Master of Science degree from Southern Illinois University. She holds two

doctorates, an Ed.D. in administration of higher education from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in

exercise physiology from Auburn University.


Lynn Iams

Executive Director of Advancement, Kent Campus Colleges

Lynn Iams joined Kent State’s Institutional Advancement team in July 2014 after

serving as associate vice president for campaigns and advancement operations at

Portland State University in Oregon. She has also held advancement positions at the

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (executive director of institutional advancement),

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (association vice president of development and

acting vice president of university relations), and her undergraduate alma mater,

Washington & Jefferson College (director of foundation and government relations, executive director of

external relations, and director of alumni relations). She has played a role in the success of both

comprehensive and single priority capital campaigns. Before beginning her career in higher education

advancement, she was president of a regional tourism promotion agency in Southwestern Pennsylvania, was

a leader in the statewide association of convention and visitors bureaus, and chaired a federal commission

on the development of tourism related to America’s industrial heritage. She holds a Master of Public

Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Organizational Chart

senior director of advancement, college of …...senior director of advancement, college of business...

Documents