Vice Provost for the Arts

Vice Provost for the Arts

Duke University

Position Description

Duke University seeks a visionary and collaborative leader to be the next vice provost for the arts. Reporting to the provost, the vice provost for the arts will implement and further develop the university’s strategy in the performing and visual arts, working closely and collaboratively with the university’s senior leadership, academic departments and programs, professional organizations, and student groups. This is a full-time position.

Key areas of responsibility

• Arts Leadership: The vice provost will be the senior university leader responsible for the overall direction of the arts, working collaboratively with faculty, administrators, professional staff, students and the local community.
• Academic Engagement: Together with school leadership, the vice provost will advise and help drive the advancement of Duke as a leader in the arts, convening stakeholders, coordinating, and catalyzing new initiatives, serving as a resource across the university supporting academic engagement in the arts in all schools at Duke, financially supporting graduate students as appropriate in the arts, advancing the arts and advising the provost, deans, faculty and other leaders on curricular strategies and faculty development.
• Oversight of Performance Venues: The vice provost will be responsible for the curation of programs and the balancing of pedagogical and community needs across performance venues. Together with the Vice Provost/Vice President of Student Affairs, the vice provost will work with the senior director of venue and production management to ensure the presentation of performing arts and pedagogical uses are matched with the capabilities and attributes of these unique spaces.
• Nasher Museum: The vice provost will work with the museum’s executive director to support and further the mission of the museum.
• Oversight of Arts Organizations: The Director of Duke Arts Presents (the main performing arts presenter at Duke University) will report to the vice provost. The vice provost shares the report of the Center for Documentary Studies with the Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies, and is the liaison for the Provost’s Office with the American Dance Festival.
• Development: The vice provost is responsible for fundraising to support the arts, working closely with University Development to develop priorities and strategies. Where appropriate, the vice provost will also help to articulate the importance of the arts as part of broader philanthropic initiatives. The vice provost will also pursue and oversee community-facing art initiatives that generate revenue, thereby helping to fund the office’s regular programming.
• Communications: The vice provost will lead the development of a comprehensive marketing and communications plan and facilitate communication of arts performances, activities, and opportunities to students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.

In addition to the key areas above, the vice provost for the arts will be an advocate and champion for the arts at Duke, working to deepen the integration of the arts into the educational experience and extending the impact of the arts at Duke – to Durham, the region, and beyond. Among the vice provost’s tasks will be to:

• Build upon the university’s commitment to and investment in the arts to fully incorporate the arts into the Duke culture and experience.
• Work with the administration in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences to strengthen the role of the arts faculty.
• Foster and support creative expression and research, and inspire collaboration with faculty.
• Collaborate with school leadership and faculty in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and other parts of the university to enhance the arts curriculum with courses that address the needs of both arts majors as well as students who are not majoring in the arts including interdisciplinary courses.
• Integrate professional artists visiting the area (e.g., through the American Dance Festival) into the arts experience at Duke.
• Create more extracurricular opportunities for students to engage with the arts.
• Further engage the local and regional community in the arts at Duke.
• Enhance Duke’s reputation in the arts and promote the Arts at Duke to students, the university as a whole, faculty recruits, and the community as well as nationally and internationally.

The Vice Provost for the Arts will help the university achieve its vision for the future of the arts at Duke: The arts at Duke serve as both a vital point of connection amidst the rich diversity of the university community and a creative engine for discovery and the imagining of new worlds of knowledge. Through vibrant arts education and practice, Duke advances intellectual discovery, fosters creative expression and research, and inspires collaboration. Faculty, student and professional artists deepen cultural understanding within the Duke community and illuminate the central role of the arts to student experience and the university’s identity. The university strives to make the arts at Duke inclusive of every member of its community, whether they study in academic programs, engage in student activities, or present or attend professional events and exhibitions.

Candidate criteria

The successful candidate will be an accomplished professional or scholar in the arts, with either a PhD, MFA, or other terminal degree, and 10 or more years experience in either an academic or professional arts setting. The ideal candidate will have the demonstrated ability to manage financial and human resources at a complex institution like Duke. In addition to being a preeminent university citizen, the successful candidate should also possess many of the following professional qualifications and personal qualities:

• A deep understanding of the educational and cultural value of making the arts accessible to a diverse community including students, faculty, staff, and the external community;
• An ability to be an effective advocate for the arts and work productively with administrators, faculty, community leaders, and others to creatively incorporate the arts into the Duke experience, in and out of the classroom;
• Experience or the ability to assess needs, priorities, and resources and make decisions in a fair and transparent manner in order to maintain the trust and respect of the many constituencies engaged in the arts at Duke;
• The ability to serve as a strong advocate for Duke University, the institution’s priorities, and its teaching, research, and service mission;
• The ability to serve as an energetic and conscientious administrator broadly familiar with issues in higher education as they relate to both the undergraduate and graduate student experience, including graduate student financial support in the arts;
• Possess professional contacts that can broaden and deepen Duke’s national and international arts engagement as the vice provost will be a convener, inspiring other members of the community to engage with the arts in new and exciting ways.
• An entrepreneurial approach to thinking about how best to target community arts programming that maximizes public engagement in the arts in a manner that is sustainable.

Process for submitting an application or nomination

The search committee invites confidential candidate nominations (internal and external), comments about the position, and applications via email to <VPAsearch@duke.edu>. Potential candidates should submit a cover letter, vision statement, and current CV by April 15, 2025. Applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. All submissions to the search committee will be considered confidential. The committee will begin reviewing applications and nominations immediately.

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