ORGANIZATION

St. Olaf College

POSITION
Vice President for Human Resources

BRIEF
Ballinger Leafblad is pleased to conduct the
search for a Vice President for Human
Resources at St. Olaf College in Northfield,
Minnesota.

www.ballingerleafblad.com
 ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
One of the nation's leading four-year residential colleges, St. Olaf
offers an academically rigorous education with a vibrant faith
tradition. Founded in 1874 by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants, St.
Olaf College is a nationally ranked liberal arts college of the ELCA.
Overlooking the city of Northfield, the campus is known as “The
Hill.” St. Olaf College’s picturesque 300-acre campus is home to 16
academic and administrative buildings, 30 student residences, and
10 athletic facilities. Adjacent to campus are 325 acres of restored
wetlands, woodlands, and native tallgrass prairie owned and
maintained by St. Olaf. The college also has a utility-grade wind
turbine, and 40 acres of college-owned land are blanketed with
solar panels. The college’s solar subscriptions, combined with the
energy generated by its wind turbine, have enabled St. Olaf to
achieve 100 percent carbon-free electrical power.

St. Olaf College is accredited as a degree-granting institution by the

Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools. The college’s academic programs are also
accredited by the American Chemical Society, Commission on

2020
Collegiate Nursing Education, Council on Social Work Education,
Minnesota Board of Nursing, Minnesota Board of Teaching,
National Association of Schools of Art and Design, National
Association of Schools of Dance, National Association of Schools of AT A GLANCE
Music, and National Association of Schools of Theatre.

820 2,954 85+ 81%

Enrolled Majors, Graduation Rate
Faculty & Staff
Students Concentrations &
Pre-Professional
Tracks
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HISTORY
In 1874, a group of pioneer pastors, farmers, and businessmen in
Rice, Dakota, and Goodhue counties laid the groundwork for the
college’s founding. The purpose of the school, then as now, was
to offer a program of liberal studies to students preparing for
careers in business, politics, the clergy, and other professions.
In choosing a name for the institution, the founders responded
to strong Norwegian national and religious symbolism. They
named the school for Olav II Haraldsson (spelled “Olaf” in the
19th century), king of Norway from 1016 until 1030.
St. Olaf’s School was operated as an academy until 1886, when a
college department was added. The name was changed to St.
Olaf College in 1889, and the first college class graduated in 1890.
Affiliated with the Lutheran Church throughout its history, St.
Olaf remains a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America.
Many influences have combined to make St. Olaf what it is
today. Remaining dedicated to the high standards set by its
Norwegian immigrant founders, the college has made a
significant contribution to American liberal arts education
while maintaining an academic center with a strong program
for the study of Scandinavian culture.
The rich St. Olaf tradition in music has gained worldwide
renown for the college through its choirs and instrumental
organizations.
EQUITY AND INCLUSION
The Glenn and Myretta Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion
aims to foster an inclusive environment across the intersections
of race and identity that students bring to St. Olaf by providing
resources and programs that support student success,
engagement, leadership and inter-cultural understanding. In
addition to, and in collaboration with, over 16 multicultural and
affinity organizations, the Taylor Center hosts and sponsors a
wide array of events and programs throughout the year.
The goal of the Center is to generate conversations and processes
that create greater clarity, transparency, trust, cooperation,
consensus, respect, and measurable outcomes. Practices include
listening, cultivating a growth mindset, respecting those with
different views, being informed by data, and understanding that
the work is ongoing, collaborative, organic, and ever evolving.
St. Olaf College has strong a strong commitment to equity and
inclusion and acknowledges that the institution is on a journey.
Conversations about faith, service and justice are part of campus
life and numerous opportunities are provided for students to
grow in their faith and discover how they are called upon to serve
others.
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 GOALS
Intentional and holistic self-development
Broad knowledge of human cultures and the natural world
Specialized knowledge of a particular field or topic
Critical thinking and inquiry
Effective communication and collaboration
Insightful integration and application of learning
Responsible interpersonal, civic, and global engagement
Informed vocational discernment and resourceful planning
THE MISSION PRACTICE
To excel in the liberal arts. We aim to offer the best
possible liberal arts education. We cultivate breadth and
depth in the skills, knowledge, and capacities that help
students flourish in whatever future emerges. Across the
sciences, the humanities, and the arts, we pursue inquiry,
imagination, and evidence wherever they lead. STO
celebrates learning and creativity in classrooms and labs,
in concert halls and studios, in community settings and
internships, in residence halls and on athletic fields.
To examine faith and values. The liberal arts involve
underlying claims about what is ultimately meaningful
and worthwhile. We undertake explicit examination of
faith and values. Our community includes people of many
religions and no religion, and we impose no doctrinal filters
on our teaching or scholarship. We create opportunities for
academic and personal reflection on religious belief,
including reasoned consideration of Christian faith and
other traditions that engage questions of truth and
meaning.
To explore meaningful vocation. The liberal arts also call
us to direct our skills and knowledge toward the good. We
encourage purpose and hope in the discernment of what is
worth doing. We challenge each other to connect the work
we do and the many roles we fill to larger frameworks of
meaning and value. We help students envision their
futures and develop their talents to address the needs of
their many communities.
MISSION
St. Olaf College challenges students to excel in
the liberal arts, examine faith and values, and
explore meaningful vocation in an inclusive,
globally engaged community nourished by
Lutheran tradition
To be an inclusive community. Excellence in the liberal arts is
possible only when people of diverse backgrounds, experiences,
and ideas come together in a spirit of mutual respect and
inclusion. We strive to be a place of welcome to all. This
commitment is strengthened by our particular history. The
founders of the college were immigrants from Norway who
established a co-educational college long before that was
commonplace. Their experience impels us to advance the ideal
of a community where people of all backgrounds and identities
belong.
To be a globally engaged community. Learning in the liberal
arts is intrinsically global and pluralistic. We emphasize
learning in global contexts, and in direct relationships with
people around the world. We seek and welcome students and
scholars from many countries. We offer rich opportunities for
international and domestic off-campus study connected to a
curricular emphasis on language, culture, and place.
To be nourished by Lutheran tradition. All these commitments
are reinforced by a Lutheran understanding that God’s love
calls us to meet the world in generosity and service. We hear in
this a summons to use the gifts of reason, creativity, and
empathy to their fullest; to live in community with all people;
to steward carefully the resources on which we depend; and to
respond in good will to the needs of neighbor and planet.
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ST. OLAF GOALS: COLLEGE-WIDE GOALS FOR
STUDENT LEARNING
St. Olaf College aims for all students to achieve a holistic set of
goals for student learning, developed both within and beyond
the classroom.

Intentional and holistic self-development – Students will nurture

and connect their intellectual, spiritual, physical, social, and
emotional gifts.
Broad knowledge of human cultures and the natural world –
Students will use tools and ideas from many fields of study to
understand human experiences, natural phenomena, and the
relationships among them.
Specialized knowledge of a particular field or topic – Students will
develop deep knowledge of a field of study and its distinctive
modes of inquiry, creation, and expression.
Critical thinking and inquiry – Students will investigate, analyze,
critique, and construct arguments.
Effective communication and collaboration – Students will
convey ideas with clarity, and work constructively with others.
Insightful integration and application of learning – Students will
synthesize and apply their knowledge and skills in creating,
performing, innovating, and problem-solving.
Responsible interpersonal, civic, and global engagement –
Students will develop knowledge, skills, and commitments for
enhancing the well-being of peers, families, and communities.
Informed vocational discernment and resourceful planning –
Students will develop their gifts in pursuit of lives of worth and
service.
STRATEGIC PLAN 2020 PRIORITIES
In 2020 and beyond, the College continues to advance its
mission of challenging students to excel in the liberal arts,
examine faith and values, and explore meaningful vocation in
an inclusive, globally engaged community nourished by
Lutheran tradition. The college seeks to foster excellent
experiences and outcomes for students and to be an inclusive
community. To accomplish these purposes, the College has
adopted the following strategic priorities through Fall 2023:
 Ensure and sustain robust and equitable engagement
with high impact educational practices, both for students
overall and for students from underrepresented groups.
 Enrich student experiences in co-curricular and
residential life, both for students overall and for students
from underrepresented groups.
 Continue to increase the racial and cultural diversity of
St. Olaf students, faculty, and staff.
 Advance retention and graduation rates.
 Enhance programs and processes for faculty and staff
development.
 Enhance fiscal sustainability.

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ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
St. Olaf takes pride in it record of academic excellence.
Students are engaged in a multidisciplinary, multicultural
exploration of human knowledge and experience,
cultivating the skills students need to succeed in college
and beyond. St. Olaf ranks 11th overall among the nation's
baccalaureate colleges in the number of graduates who go
on to earn doctoral degrees, with top ten rankings in the
fields of mathematics/statistics, religion/theology, arts and
music, medical sciences, education and the social service
professions, chemistry and the physical sciences, life
sciences, and foreign languages.
Within one year of their commencement, more than 95% of
St. Olaf graduates report that they are employed, pursuing
graduate education, or engaged in full-time service work.
Athletics
There are 27 varsity teams, 14 for men and 13 for women
participating in NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports in
baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, hockey,
skiing (Nordic and Alpine), soccer, softball, swimming and
diving, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor), volleyball,
and wrestling. All varsity athletic teams compete in the
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), with
the exception of wrestling and Alpine and Nordic skiing.

Music at St. Olaf

With eight choirs, two orchestras, and two bands of the
highest quality and dozens of smaller ensembles from
Japanese taiko drumming to jazz to lyric opera,
approximately one-third of St. Olaf students are involved in
music. The three flagship ensembles--the St. Olaf Choir, St.
Student Organizations
Olaf Orchestra, and St. Olaf Band--annually tour the United
St. Olaf has 214 registered
States and frequently travel abroad. The St. Olaf Christmas
student organizations,
Festival, featuring more than 500 student musicians
including academic,
comprising five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra, is one of
athletic, awareness,
the oldest music celebrations of the season in the United
multicultural, political,
States and is broadcast on PBS nationally.
religious, service, and other
special interest groups.
Club sports include men’s
and women’s rugby, men’s and women’s lacrosse, badminton,
cycling, judo, dance, fencing, rowing, and waterskiing, among
others. The Manitou Messenger is the student newspaper and
KSTO 93.1 FM is the student operated radio station.

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 P R OF
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VICE PRESIDENT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES

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The Vice President for Human Resources will report directly to the President and will work closely with the other members of the
President's Leadership team. This individual will share the passion for the mission of the Institution and its grounding in a faith tradition.
The position is open due to the retirement of current Vice President Michael Rodriguez Goodson.
The Vice President for Human Resources is a strategic executive who will develop both short and long-term visions for the Human
Resources function in alignment with St. Olaf's strategic plan and create corresponding implementation plans. They will have a
collaborative style that earns the trust and support of members of the President's Leadership team, and all staff.

The Vice President for Human Resources will be responsible for managing the delivery of Human Resources services to the faculty and
staff of the college, including staffing, compensation, benefits, employee relations, employment law and immigration. The Vice President
of Human Resources will embrace, uphold and further concepts of equity and inclusion and will work in tandem with the Vice President of
Equity and Inclusion to advance and celebrate diversity in all forms and incorporate this work into human resources programs.

Essential Responsibilities

Management Responsibilities
The Vice President for Human Resources is responsible for the supervision and direction of direct reports, including
Associate Director of Human Resources, Employment Specialist, Benefits and Compensation Specialist, Human Resources
Coordinator and Student and Staff Employment Specialist.

Strategic Business Perspective

• Work directly with the President of the College to define goals and objectives, create strategic and tactical
management plans and develop and enhance current policies and objectives related to human resources.
• Translate the strategic and tactical business plans into HR strategic and operations plans and ensuring alignment;
measure and evaluate the function's performance and capabilities against the needs of the College.
• Evaluate and advise on the impact of long-range planning of new programs/ strategic ventures.
• Provide leadership and general support to colleagues on the matters of goal setting, policy development and strategic
implementation in support of achieving objectives and growth for the College.

Talent Management and Development

• Develop human resources planning models to identify competencies, knowledge, and talent gaps, and create specific
programs to fill these gaps. Work to ensure that hiring processes surface diverse slates of candidates and that the hiring
processes at the institution are welcoming and equitable to all.
• Design and implement initiatives to ensure members of the President's Leadership team can manage, motivate and develop
staff members.
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VICE PRESIDENT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES

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Essential Responsibilities, cont.

Talent Management and Development, cont.

• Oversee initiatives to increase engagement - performance management, organizational development tools and
initiatives, community involvement, internal communications, succession planning, etc.
• Manage departmental budgets and provide guidance and oversight of total compensation strategies.

General Human Resource Management

• Provide leadership to all human resources services provided with highest quality throughout the institution. Work
in tandem with the Provost to assure relevant human resources services are available to faculty members.
• Provide training and direction to supervisors and employees of the College regarding employee relations, benefits,
performance management and talent acquisition and management. Maintain College policies and procedures.
• Coordinate the delivery and maintenance of employee benefits programs. This includes interfacing with vendors,
benefit attorneys, and the benefits committee, processing new and exiting employees, inputting employee benefit
elections, managing ADA, FMLA, Parental Leaves and worker's compensation claims.
• Facilitate employee relations with supervisors and employees. Assist employees and supervisors with identifying
resources to deal with personal and employment concerns.
• Serve as the Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator. Serve as the Privacy Officer for the HIPAA requirements.
Function as the liaison between the College and outside legal counsel on these issues.
• Serve as the Responsible Official for the Exchange Visitor Program by processing visa requests for researchers,
visiting scholars and teaching faculty. Act as the liaison between the College and the immigration attorneys.
• Serve on relevant committees, such as the Benefits Committee.
• Lead and develop the Human Resources staff with a positive, collaborative, authentic and coaching style.

Organizational Design, Development & Effectiveness

• Enhance and implement human resources policies and procedures of the College by way of systems that will
improve the overall operation and effectiveness.
• Facilitate cultural assessment processes and implement changes to enhance performance.
• Perform work analysis and redesign to establish clear standards for excellent performance.
• Ensure alignment and support for the College's mission and values.

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Essential Responsibilities, cont.
Additional Duties
• Participate as Retirement Plan Administrative Committee Member
• Oversee the Office for Student Exchange Visitor Program
• Manage Unemployment Claims and Communication
• Oversee the Emeriti Health Solutions Program
• Manage the COBRA program
• Manage Medical Leaves, FMLA, Parental, Workers Compensation

Essential Qualifications
The ideal candidate will possess:
• Bachelor's Degree or related educational credential is required; MAIR, MSIR, or equivalent advanced degree is preferred,
as is a related professional certification such as SPHR or CEBS.
• Significant experience in human resources with a broad generalist background in the function.
• Managerial experience leading a human resources function in a complex organization.
• Collaborative background partnering with other leaders to assure that human resources services are relevant,
meaningful and utilized throughout the organization.
• Knowledge of labor laws, employment laws, benefit laws and requirements, compliance issues, compensation and
training requirements.
• Knowledge and ability to manage the components of a complex compensation and benefits program.
• Experience leading organizational development, training and supervisory development for the institution.
• Expertise working in a "business-partner'' human resources model in an organization.
• Strategic, positive leadership skills and a coaching, developmental managerial style that encourages staff and furthers
the positive reputation of the function.
• Outstanding communication skills with the ability to connect meaningfully with all stakeholder groups within the
college as well as outside legal, regulatory agencies and benefit providers.
• Ability to facilitate conflict resolution and thoughtfully make difficult decisions.
• Commitment to principals of equity and inclusion and a history of successfully furthering diversity, equity and inclusion
at a personal, organizational and systemic level.

Compensation and Benefits

The compensation range for this role is $160,000-$165,000 and includes participation in the organization’s comprehensive benefits
plan which includes a generous tuition benefit for self and immediate family members. 9
NORTHFIELD, MINNESOTA

This position is located in the beautiful college town of Northfield,

Minnesota, This historic river town is just 45 minutes southeast of the Twin
Cities. Northfield provides year-round opportunities for recreation, arts,
culture, sports, shopping, nightlife.

The city owns 35 parks consisting of over 400 acres of land.

Northfield's annual festival,"The Defeat of Jesse James Days," is held the

weekend after Labor Day. It is among the largest outdoor celebrations in
Minnesota. The festival commemorates when the James-Younger Gang
attempted a robbery on the First National Bank of Northfield on September
7, 1876.

After one visit, it is easy to see why Northfield was included on

CountryLiving.com's "50 Most Beautiful Small Towns in America" list and
named "Best Place to Retire" by Money Magazine.

Find information about Northfield at the following links:

https://visitnorthfield.com/

https://www.northfieldchamber.com/

https://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/

https://www.exploreminnesota.com/profile/visit-northfield-minnesota/1977
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 WE INVITE YOU TO GET IN TOUCH.

Marcia Ballinger, PhD Lars Leafblad, MBA

Co-Founder/Principal Co-Founder/Principal
651-341-4840 612-598-7547
marcia@ballingerleafblad.com lars@ballingerleafblad.com

CIVIC SEARCH. REIMAGINED .

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www.ballingerleafblad.com