K&A assists colleges and universities in recruiting highly qualified candidates for selected leadership positions and provides transition consultation and customized coaching and support for newly hired executives and directors.
K&A recruits Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) and Directors of Student Health and Counseling Services.
Our recruiting projects are led by senior consultants who have actually served in the type of position for which an institution is searching. The combined experience and expertise of Almeda Rogers Jacks, Ph.D. (see bio link) and Richard P. Keeling, M.D. (see bio link) forms the framework for a uniquely qualified and responsive executive search service that complements, informs, and adds value to established in-house recruiting processes.
K&A is not a traditional search firm.
K&A’s services sidestep the extensive costs and lack of control that often accompany the recruiting process. Instead, we offer a consultative approach that is mission-oriented and focused on improving overall outcomes for the institution; recruiting is therefore a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.
Our long experience in higher education has allowed us to develop extensive, trust-based networks and relationships through which we can identify and motivate the best possible candidates.
We believe that the most successful searches are based on a solid understanding and appreciation of institutional priorities and goals. Only that understanding can produce the right “match.” We work closely with clients to find candidates who fit the mission, learning goals, characteristics, and requirements of each institution. We can secure pools of strong and well-matched candidates who will not only succeed in their new position, but also advance the mission and goals of the institution.
K&A also provides executive consultation, coaching, and transition support to newly appointed placements (both interim and permanent).
Given the extensive service of our senior consultants in executive roles in higher education, K&A can offer a developmental and well informed perspective to both new and experienced leaders and administrators as a way of advancing their own unique potential while increasing the probability of their success in their new roles.
Executive Search for Senior Student Affairs Officers
The scope of work done by K&A in recruiting SSAOs varies, depending on an institution’s needs, internal capacity, and requirements. Recruiting assistance may be performed independently or linked to a divisional review, reorganization, or strategic planning process. Often, a review prior to the recruiting process enables an institution to better define its needs — and, therefore, to recruit and hire a candidate who can address those needs effectively. Having the “right” person in a Student Affairs leadership role facilitates collaboration and can help build stronger bridges between the divisions of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs to promote student success. Note: In many situations, an interim placement meets the institution’s operational needs while a divisional review or reorganization is completed, or while the search for the permanent position is underway.
Executive Search Options
Recruiting Directors of Health and Counseling Services
Having the “right” person in charge of health or counseling services ensures that those programs enable students to be ready to learn and therefore support student success. K&A has provided leadership in college health programs for more than 25 years and has completed reviews of health and/or counseling services for more than 75 institutions; we have completed many successful searches for new executive directors or directors of health-related programs and services — sometimes combined with a departmental or program review.