Illinois Tech seeks a vice provost for research from its current faculty ranks to steward its research mission and to lead the pursuit of its ambitious research development goals, enhancing Illinois Tech鈥檚 reputation as an institution that cultivates cross-disciplinary and relevance-inspired research to address the nation鈥檚 and the world鈥檚 most critical challenges.
The vice provost for research will play a critical role as the university continues to develop and cultivate areas of strategic focus that draw on our historic strengths and where our expertise crosses colleges and disciplinary boundaries to hold great promise for the future. The vice provost for research will collaboratively guide the development of these activities in partnership and collaboration with the provost and deans; lead critical investments in research infrastructure; develop and support effective and sustainable pathways for research translation; and increase the exposure of faculty research outputs while strengthening research policy, practices, and compliance.
As the university鈥檚 chief research officer鈥攁nd working in close partnership with the provost, deans and department chairs鈥攖he vice provost for research will champion a culture and climate that incentivizes sponsored research and advances scholarly and creative activity across disciplines, bolstering the work of Illinois Tech鈥檚 outstanding faculty and supporting their success.
Illinois Tech seeks an individual with an outstanding record of research and scholarship, alongside the ability to grow a robust research enterprise. Reporting to the provost, the vice provost for research will be a strategic leader, effective manager, and energetic community builder with an entrepreneurial spirit and a tireless commitment to collaboration.
Internal applications (including a cover letter addressing the expectations and professional qualities for this role and a comprehensive CV as a single PDF document) should be submitted to provost@iit.edu no later than 4 p.m. on October 14, 2024. A small search committee has been formed to evaluate applications, interview select candidates, and provide recommendations to the provost, who will make the final decision.
Expectations
Champion Illinois Tech鈥檚 Growing Research Mission
The vice provost for research will lead Illinois Tech鈥檚 goal of sustaining a more robust research enterprise and support university-wide efforts to grow sponsored research funding. As chief research officer, the vice provost for research will collaboratively contribute to a culture that advances research, scholarship, and creative activity across colleges and incentivizes extramural research鈥攁ll in collaboration with other academic leaders. The vice provost for research will celebrate, communicate, and disseminate the new knowledge and creative output generated at Illinois Tech both across the university and beyond, from fundamental discovery to applied and translational research.
Strengthen Research Infrastructure and Build Research Capacity
The vice provost for research will continue Illinois Tech鈥檚 efforts to establish a research culture that that prioritizes and enables scholarly achievement and impact while ensuring compliance with all applicable university policies, federal and non-federal regulations, and sponsor requirements. Achieving this goal will require enhancing the university鈥檚 agility and responsiveness of support for faculty investigators across the seven colleges as well as centers and institutes; deploying functional services in ways that realize both efficiency and excellence in pre- and post-award support; developing and supporting effective and sustainable pathways for research translation; and strengthening the framework of research policies, practices, and ethical research conduct. The vice provost for research will collaborate with other university leaders (such as the vice provost for faculty affairs) to ensure the development of early career faculty toward success in the scholarly research domain and the support of more senior faculty in developing and executing larger research visions that are cross-disciplinary in nature.
Cultivate and Support Strategic Collaborations and Partnerships
The vice provost for research will lead efforts to expand existing collaborations and to develop new partnerships with government agencies, industries, foundations, nonprofit agencies, and/or other universities and institutions to extend Illinois Tech鈥檚 reach and to maximize its impact. This work will require close partnership with the corporate engagement arm of the university. The vice provost will also ensure that these partnerships and collaborations provide fruitful avenues for transferring research technology development to practice in a broad spectrum of ways.
Support Effective Management of Research Administration Operations
The vice provost for research will simultaneously prioritize the needs of faculty, staff, and students in the research domain while ensuring robust compliance as well. A spirit of customer service balanced with ensuring alignment of activities with the funding agency, university policies, federal and non-federal regulations, and sponsor requirements as well as applicable laws will be reflected in the Office of Research administrative operations overseen by the vice provost for research.
Professional Qualities
Collaborative Leadership: Support the needs of a diverse faculty constituency through the ability to communicate effectively to a broad range of constituencies; the ability to identify and develop cross-disciplinary teams and to build support for a shared vision; to develop a sustainable leadership structure within the Office of Research that can support the breadth of expectations
Ability to Support and Grow a Research Enterprise: A strong track record as a researcher, including robust and diverse funding and scholarly records; a knowledge of national and international funding trends, evolving cross-disciplinary challenges and opportunities; the ability to conceptualize and develop large-scale, cross-disciplinary research initiatives in response to funding opportunities
Administrative Acumen: An understanding of the higher ed landscape, particularly in the research domain; experience with strategic planning, resource management, and team building
Research Administration Capability: An understanding and appreciation of research administration and compliance; knowledge and appreciation of federal non-federal funding environments and federal research regulations, guidelines, processes, and grant/contract administration; an understanding of pre- and post-award processes and an ability to identify ways to streamline and improve these critical domains