This Featured Gig installment comes with two firsts. That is my first provost and chief tutorial innovation officer alternative, this one at Alliant College. And that is the primary time that the particular person answering my normal 4 questions is the establishment’s president and CEO, Andy Vaughn.
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Q: What’s the college’s mandate behind this position? How does it assist align with and advance the college’s strategic priorities?
A: Alliant College’s mandate behind this position of provost and chief tutorial innovation officer is a forward-looking initiative, as greater training in the US is about to endure extra vital adjustments than ever in our sector’s 200-plus-year historical past, pushed by developments in laws, regulatory shifts and evolving market calls for.
Alliant’s strategic priorities embody an progressive method to the supply of training and dealing with accreditors to advance innovation in every part that we do. We all know that tutorial high quality might be maintained or improved as we embrace new instruments, new ideas, new applied sciences and new concepts. Innovation is just not all the time technology-centered, and typically it’s really concepts or higher methods of doing one thing. Alliant’s provost will lead in college improvement, accreditation, curriculum, coverage and associated areas. The provost may even align training with rising concepts and improvements, significantly in on-line and hybrid course design and know-how, and join academia with business.
As well as, I used to be nominated and chosen as a federal negotiator in 2025 for the U.S. Division of Schooling RISE Committee, the committee that was charged with taking the laws from the One Large Stunning Invoice [Act] and shifting it into over 16 new greater training laws. Being in Washington, D.C., for a lot of 2025 allowed me to expertise firsthand what adjustments are coming to greater training by way of the legislative and regulatory course of.
It was thrilling to satisfy all the folks behind the adjustments, together with congressional workers members, some elected members of Congress in addition to the Division of Schooling management staff and workers. The best way these adjustments have been facilitated and executed implies that their impression is long-term, not short-term, and universities have to embrace a brand new day of upper training. The provost position on the college is among the most conventional roles in our sector. We definitely embrace and acknowledge that, but on the identical time, we want somebody to have the ability to look ahead and perceive the place greater training goes, not simply the place it’s been.
Q: The place does the position sit throughout the college construction? How will the particular person on this position interact with different models and leaders throughout campus? Is the position in particular person, hybrid or distant eligible?
A: The provost and chief tutorial innovation officer at Alliant College reviews on to the president and CEO and can sit on the manager management staff. This particular person will interact instantly with different govt management staff members, the Board of Trustees, the School Senate, program administrators and the whole Alliant college, together with over 200 full-time core college.
Alliant is headquartered at our 20-acre San Diego campus in Scripps Ranch, the place we have now been because the Fifties, and has seven bodily campus places and a big on-line presence with over 5,000 college students. Alliant is exclusive in that we’re an expert follow, largely graduate-level college the place 90 p.c of our pupil physique is enrolled in packages that result in state licensure. Alliant is among the largest nationwide suppliers of licensed scientific psychologists in the whole United States. About 10 p.c of the nationwide provide of licensed psychologists come from our California College of Skilled Psychology.
Within the state of California, we’re one of many largest suppliers of licensed Ok–12 lecturers and directors, faculty counselors and faculty psychologists. And we just lately launched the Alliant College of Nursing and Well being Sciences, based mostly in Phoenix, the place we have now two nursing pre-licensure packages, and in San Diego an occupational remedy grasp’s diploma licensure program that simply began just a few months in the past. That is an thrilling time to be a provost, however extra importantly, an thrilling time to discover a chief who embraces the educational rigor and excellence that make Alliant an awesome college with high-level pupil outcomes.
This position might be based mostly both on the San Diego campus or Phoenix campus. Sometimes three to 4 days on-site and one or two days per week distant/hybrid.
Q: What would success appear like in a single yr? Three years? Past?
A: Success in yr one means persevering with excessive pupil success charges, together with retention, completion and licensure go charges, and, importantly, establishing skilled relationships and belief with the college, college students, workers and administration of the college. Even within the age of AI and innovation, relationships matter probably the most, and success in yr one is establishing sturdy, bonded relationships with all events concerned within the Alliant group.
Values matter, and the Alliant IMPACT values, which offer a framework for a way we behave and deal with different Alliant group members, are as necessary as a powerful talent set, background and credentials. Values alignment with the Alliant tradition is essential. As well as, creating an progressive imaginative and prescient together with a collaboratively developed and inclusive strategic plan for tutorial affairs will probably be one of the crucial necessary outcomes in that first yr as properly.
Success three years and past is progress in our tutorial packages and reaching the imaginative and prescient and targets throughout the tutorial affairs strategic plan that was developed in yr one. Progress doesn’t simply imply enrollment but additionally means intellectually. Progress additionally means bettering retention, commencement charges and licensure charges. Past three years, success implies that Alliant has been a confirmed chief in progressive methods of eager about how training is delivered whereas sustaining high-quality pupil studying outcomes and a quantitative measurement that claims success was attained. Alliant wish to be acknowledged for being an progressive chief in tutorial affairs.
Q: What sorts of future roles would somebody who took this place be ready for?
A: I wish to assume {that a} future position for this particular person can be to steer a college as president and CEO finally, or tackle a a lot bigger position at a bigger college due to their expertise for a few years with us.
