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VICE PROVOST, ARTS
Job Title: VICE PROVOST, ARTS
Job Code: 1957
FLSA: E
Job Level: 98
Revised Date: 06/01/2025
Job Family: JF 28
Occupational Summary
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.
Work Performed
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.
Required Qualifications at this Level
Education/Training
Accomplished professional or scholar in the arts, with either a PhD, MFA, or other terminal degree.
Experience
10 or more years experience in either an academic or professional arts setting.
Skills
The intent of this job description is to provide a representative and level of the types of duties and responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.
Duke University is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, (including pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions), sexual orientation, or military status.
Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas-an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.
Essential Physical Job Functions
Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.
