Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Saint Anselm College
April 2017
Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College seeks an outstanding financial professional to join the senior
leadership team as Vice President for Finance (VPF) and Chief Financial Officer. The
VPF provides the financial leadership necessary to closely align the College’s resource
allocation with its strategic objectives in pursuit of the vision of the President and the
Board of Trustees. The VPF reports directly to the President and works closely with
peers across the institution and the Board of Trustees.
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College was founded in 1889 by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary's
Abbey of Newark, New Jersey, in response to the invitation by Bishop Denis M. Bradley,
the first bishop of Manchester, NH. A six-year classical course, with curricula in
philosophical and theological studies, was organized and opened to qualified students.
From its beginning, the College has been, and desires to remain, a small college
dedicated to delivering a first-rate, liberal arts education, preserving a tradition framed in
academic excellence that has distinguished the Benedictine Order for more than 15
centuries.
Saint Anselm is a Catholic, Benedictine college providing its 1,930 students a distinctive
liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career
preparation. It does so in a learning community that encourages the lifelong pursuit of
the truth and fosters intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth to sustain and enrich its
graduates' personal lives, work, and engagement within local, national, and global
communities. In this context, the 150 full-time faculty and 550 part-time faculty and staff
of Saint Anselm provide well-balanced and broad educational opportunities. Based in
the Benedictine tradition of transformation through nurturing education that nourishes
the whole student, the academic program at Saint Anselm College carries on the
tradition of inquiry that exemplifies a liberal arts education.
Saint Anselm College is located on approximately 400 acres in and around Manchester,
New Hampshire, an hour north of Boston. The scenic campus includes 57 buildings, as
well as fields and facilities for the 20 NCAA Division II teams.
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In keeping with the deep commitment to engagement, there are many well-known
institutes and centers at Saint Anselm, including the New Hampshire Institute of Politics,
which has provided a nonpartisan forum for discussion and debate on all aspects of the
American political process. Its mission is to educate, engage, and empower citizens to
participate in the civic and political life of their local, national, and global communities.
Saint Anselm College affirms that the diversity of human perspectives and capabilities is
essential to the fostering of educational excellence in the 21st century and beyond. In
order to realize their mission as a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts institution, Saint
Anselm is committed to sustaining an intentionally inclusive environment that benefits all
constituencies. All members of this community are called to honor the dignity of all
people and to treat each other with the respect to which each is entitled. This summer,
Saint Anselm College will welcome its first Chief Diversity Officer to campus.
Saint Anselm College is on an impressive trajectory. With incoming freshman classes
ranging from just over 500 to almost 530 for each of the last five years, and a five-year
high likely for this year’s entering class, student quality has also been increasing by
every measure. Likewise, in the last five years, the endowment has grown from $83
million to $123 million as of June 2016.
Leadership
President Steven R. DiSalvo, PhD, is a longtime leader in higher education and
philanthropy with a history of executive positions at colleges and universities throughout
the United States. The tenth president of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH, and
its first lay president, Dr. DiSalvo joined the College in July of 2013 after serving as
president of Marian University in Wisconsin.
At Saint Anselm, he has advanced the College's national reputation through
scholarship, athletics, and via the prestigious New Hampshire Institute of Politics
operated by the College. Dr. DiSalvo also serves on the boards of leading national
higher education organizations like the National Association of Independent Colleges
and Universities (NAICU), where he is a member of the Board of Directors representing
the northeastern states, and the New England Council. During his tenure at Marian
University, Dr. DiSalvo strengthened the university's endowment, improved its physical
plant, and added both undergraduate and graduate programs that focused on academic
quality and service.
The outgoing Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Harry
Dumay, PhD, has recently been named the 11th president of Elms College, a Catholic
liberal arts college located in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
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The Role, Opportunities, and Challenges
The incoming VPF will join strong and cohesive teams at both the senior leadership
level and within finance. Leading a team of twenty, with five direct reports, the VPF
provides counsel to the President and Board of Trustees in all areas of operational,
tactical, and strategic financial management planning and execution. Areas reporting to
the VPF include Treasury and Auxiliary Services, Budget and Planning, Controller,
Facilities, and Risk Management. For fiscal year 2017, the operating budget is $77
million.
Finance is a robust and modern entity at Saint Anselm College; processes and
frameworks for decision-making exist and are respected by the community. There is an
overarching sense of working together to carry out the College’s mission. To this end,
the VPF provides executive leadership in setting long-term financial strategy and shortterm fiscal policy for the College, creating appropriate tools for analysis, preparing ad
hoc financial analyses to support decision-making, and collaborating in the
determination of funding priorities.
The VPF supervises the Finance team in: activities related to the College’s annual
operating and capital budgets; establishing internal control procedures; maintaining the
College’s financial records according to GAAP; providing all financial reports; ensuring
satisfactory audits of the College’s financial statements in accordance with Office of
Management and Budget Uniform Guidance; managing the College’s long-term
investment and short-term liquidity; issuing and managing the College’s long-term debt;
creating and disseminating appropriate reports; and managing appropriate access and
use of the College’s financial systems.
The VPF supervises the Facilities and Capital Project team in: updating and executing
the campus master and enhancement plans; managing all capital projects according to
best practices; maintaining the campus buildings and grounds and reducing deferred
maintenance to an acceptable level; managing the College’s space allocation, as well
as real estate and properties owned by the College.
The VPF supervises the Auxiliary Services team in: managing all Campus Dining and
Catering Services, the College’s Ice Arena and Bookstore; and running and increasing
the book of business of the College’s Events and Conference Services.
As a College leader, the VPF oversees the identification and management of Collegewide risks and serves as a resource for the Finance Committee and the Facilities and
Technology Committees of the Board of Trustees. As a leader in all matters related to
finance, the VPF oversees the administration of the College’s split-interest agreements,
serves as a member of the 403(b) Administration Committee, and collaborates with
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Human Resources in areas of payroll and labor. The VPF collaborates with the Division
of Academic Affairs on matters such as a faculty hiring plan, faculty compensation,
approval of federal and non-federal grant proposals, etc. The VPF also collaborates with
the Division of Enrollment Management in setting Tuition, Enrollment, and Financial Aid
(TEFA) targets.
Over the last years, Saint Anselm College has brought in its first lay chief financial
officer and first lay president. The College has stabilized incoming enrollment, and
enjoyed tremendous growth in terms of entering student achievement levels, and
contributions to the endowment. The administrative and academic leaders at the
College will face the challenge of balancing the need to address changing student
demographics and the current higher education climate with the College’s strong
commitment to stability and maintaining the character of the institution. The VPF serves
as a primary point of strategic and visionary leadership within the Saint Anselm
community.
Qualifications
In addition to possessing a broad understanding of all aspects of financial management
in a college or university setting or a related field, the next VPF will have many of the
following experiences and characteristics:
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10 years of progressively responsible experience, including 7 years of financial
management experience, preferably in a similar organization;
Excellent communication skills that engender trust and cooperation;
Demonstrated ability to hire, develop, and manage highly effective staff;
Familiarity and management experience with advanced computing and financial
information systems;
Ability to work effectively in a consultative, team-oriented, decision-making
culture, including a willingness to educate and explain as well as be educated;
and
Understanding of, and commitment to, the College’s Liberal Arts, Catholic and
Benedictine mission.
The successful candidate will bring a combination of significant experience and
education, with a master’s degree and CPA credentials preferred. A Bachelor’s degree
is required.
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Interested candidates should submit a resume and letter discussing their interest in the
position, indicating their accomplishments in relationship to the listed responsibilities
and qualifications. Background checks will be performed on all final candidates.
Applications and nominations should be sent to:
[email protected]
Liz Neumann, Partner, and Kristine O’Brien, PhD
Neumann Executive Search Partners
Boston, MA
Consistent with the Benedictine, Catholic principles that sustain the mission and
heritage of Saint Anselm College, no one acting on behalf of the College or in
administering the affairs of the College, shall discriminate against any student, faculty,
staff, vendor, or contractor on the basis of the individual’s race, color, gender, religion,
national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
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