Senior Vice President forFinance and AdministrationCALARTS

CalArts (www.calarts.edu) is a highly regarded, nationally ranked independent multi-disciplinary arts institution in Valencia, Calif., that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide range of métiers. The Institute invites applications and nominations for the position of Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration (SVPFA). The SVPFA serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the Institute, reporting to the Presi-dent. Collaborating with academic and administrative leaders across the Institute, the position provides overall vision, strategic and operational leadership, and execution in areas including finance, investments, procurement, internal controls, and human resources. Through the President’s Office, the SVPFA serves as senior staff liaison for the Board of Trustees’ finance, audit, and investment committees, and assists with the buildings & grounds committee.

Mission & ValuesIn March of 2020 the CalArts community completed a two-year Strategic Visioning Project, engaging all stakeholders – students, faculty, staff, alumnx, and trustees – and reaffirmed new language for its mission and values which has yet to be published formally:

MISSIONCalArts is a multidisciplinary community of artists. Our ongoing educational endeavor is grounded in openness, experimentation, critical engagement, and creative freedom. Through artistic practice, we transform ourselves, each other, and the world.

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VALUESThe Institute values Agency, Distinction, Diversity, Empathy, Equity, Inclusivity, Persistence, Rigor, and Social Justice in all our efforts.

History and RatingsEstablished in 1961 by Walt and Roy Disney, CalArts emerged with a bold new paradigm for arts education, the kind not seen since the Black Mountain College experiment of the 1930’s that promised freedom to create with boundless imagination, unfettered by conventional expectations. Offering a curriculum that is at once imagina-tive and rigorous, CalArts continues to distinguish itself as a pioneer in arts education, nurturing and respecting students as artists, offering remarkable interchange with faculty across disciplines, generating new work and new forms, and encouraging students to cross-pollinate and inspire each other.

This year, in the sole fine art category, U.S. News & World Report named the CalArts MFA Program in its Top 5 ranking. Animation Career Review named CalArts Anima-tion Programs #1 nationally in its most recent review. The Hollywood Reporter ranked CalArts among the top 10 film schools, top 25 music schools and top 20 drama schools in the world.

PresidentRavi S. Rajan is the fourth president of the California Institute of the Arts. A highly regarded artist and musician whose work reaches across disciplines, Ravi is also an accomplished teacher and academic administrator with a reputation for innovative and visionary leadership.

As a designer and producer, Ravi works on collaborative projects that focus on creating an immersive experience for the audience,

crossing many media including music, architecture, photography, film/video, drama, and performance, and by working with artists, choreographers, directors, playwrights, theaters, museums, and galleries around the world. His recent collaborations have been seen at the Whitney Museum of Art, the São Paulo Biennial, and Venice Biennale, and have shown at major venues for art, dance, music, and theatre in cities such as Basel, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Helsinki, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Paris, Santiago, Tokyo, and Warsaw.

Before CalArts, Ravi worked at Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY Purchase) in a number of instructional and administrative roles, including as Director of the School of Art+Design, and culminating with his service for six years as Dean of the Arts. Prior to Purchase, he taught students from kindergarten through university at various institutions and worked with Nobel Prize-winning scientists on multimedia projects at The Rockefeller University.

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Ravi has degrees from Yale University and the University of Oklahoma and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (UK) in 2010. He was the chair of the board of the Asian American Arts Alliance, and recently served as a member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee. He is involved in various service organizations for the arts, diversity, and higher education worldwide. He is married to Lucy Tucker Yates, a renowned musician, opera coach, and linguist, and they have two young sons.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) CalArts is proud of its diverse student body and deeply committed to supporting the cultural and artistic aspirations of all its students. A commitment to increasing opportunities for underrepresented students and currently disenfranchised groups is necessary, as is the desire to work to support institutional goals of IDEA matters in an ongoing way.

Strategic FrameworkIn March 2020, along with a reaffirmed mission and values, the Board of Trustees approved a new CalArts Strategic Framework, yet to be published. The framework has three pillars:

I: Center the Educational ExperienceHow do we maximize the transformative quality of our distinctive multidisciplinary artseducation for all who engage with CalArts?

II: Remove Barriers to AccessHow can we expand the impact of our unique educational mission by broadening accessto CalArts?

III: Prepare for and Shape our FutureHow do we ensure the long-term vitality of CalArts?

The framework also includes seven Institutional goals which support one or more of these pillars, and each goal has a series of objectives. The work of publishing, prioritiz-ing, and operationalizing this framework begins this coming academic year.

Academics and CurriculumCalArts artistic philosophy places an emphasis on the exploration of new paths beyond conventional boundaries and empowers students to define their own personal objec-tives. Given more creative freedom than at traditional art schools and conservatories, and encouraged to take risks while discovering and cultivating their own artistic voices, CalArts students areself-motivated, passionate, and deeply committed to their work. Students are accepted primarily on the basis of their artistic promise and are treated as artists and expected to produce art from their first day.

CalArts offers its educational program to student artists through six primary academic areas: the School of Art; the School of Critical Studies; The Sharon Disney Lund School

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of Dance; The Herb Alpert School of Music; the School of Film/Video; and the School of Theater. Students may pursue BFA and MFA degrees through programs in music, art, theater, dance, and film/video, an MFA program in creative writing, an MA pro-gram in aesthetics and politics, and a DMA performer-composer program in music.

The Institute also offers a variety of undergraduate and advanced certificates; interschool degrees and double majors are available to a small number of advanced students. Students in all programs are required to take a series of liberal arts/general education classes through the School of Critical Studies, where they are encouraged to recognize the complexity of political, social, and aesthetic questions and respond to them with informed, independent judgment; all students are given the opportunity to take electives in other schools. The distribution of students across the schools are Film/Video (27%), Theater (23.6%), Art (21.9%), Music (19%), Dance (5.4%), and Critical Studies (3%).

REDCATIn 2003, CalArts opened REDCAT (www.redcat.org) in the Frank Gehry-designedWalt Disney Concert Hall complex in down-town Los Angeles. Programming for CalArts’ center for innovative visual, media, and performing arts is divided into four parts: work by high-profile international artists, work by emerging Southern California-based

artists, community service programming, and work developed from within CalArts. Many of the artists featured at REDCAT visit campus to give lectures, lead workshops, and conduct master classes.

EnrollmentIn 2019-2020 CalArts enrolled 1,523 students: 1,025 undergraduates and 498 graduate students. Students are exceptionally diverse, coming from across the United States and from 48 countries. Female students currently make up 58% of the student body, students of color represent nearly half of the population, and international students represent 20.4% of the student body. The Institute is also highly selective relative to many arts institutions, with a 31% acceptance rate and a 43% yield. The first-time retention rate is 83.7%.

FacultyAn extraordinary feature of CalArts’ pedagogical model is that students are treated as artists from the day they arrive. Under the guidance of a gifted and experienced faculty, who themselves are accomplished practicing artists, students are offered a highly personalized experience. It is common for students to engage with faculty-art-ists on an individual basis, performing and collaborating together. The faculty-to-student ratio varies by program, but the average is 6.5:1. Instruction by the faculty and visiting professional artists fosters independent artistic work, values collegial relationships over

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hierarchies, and encourages continuous cross-pollination among the branches of the arts.

The faculty is comprised of 400 members, approximately 168 of whom are full-time. CalArts does not have tenured faculty lines. Faculty members are intellectually, artistically, and professionally active in their disciplines of expertise and have been recognized for their achievements with national and international awards for peda-gogy, scholarship, and creative work. The Provost works in close consultation with the faculty, and faculty governance extends from a Faculty Senate and from that group, an elected Academic Council. Faculty and students are supported by 262 full- and part-time staff, many of whom are CalArts’ alumnx; some are artists in their own right, and many have undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines that complement the needs of the Institute. These staff members help maintain the rich institutional history and community that is CalArts.

Governance The CalArts Board of Trustees has 43 members, comprised of leaders in the arts industries, the foundation world, and civic engagement, and also includes a faculty, staff, student, and alumnx representative elected by each constituency. Six of its current members are alumnx of the Institute. REDCAT has its own advisory council.

The Institute is known for the active participation by students, faculty, and staff in all matters of the Institute. Recently, a CalArts Assembly was formed that constitutes all members of the Institute – faculty, staff, and students. From this, two new cross-Insti-tute bodies were developed to formalize ongoing shared governance deliberation: the Assembly Budget Committee (ABC) and the Assembly Executive Committee. The ABC is chaired by the SVPFA, includes the Provost and two Deans, and includes representa-tion from all three constituent bodies.

Finances and FundraisingThe Institute has experienced steady growth over the last several years. Its FY 2019 audited financials indicate a budget surplus with unrestricted revenues of $71.6 million, unrestricted expenditures of $70.4 million, total revenues of $75.6 million and total expenditures of $71.4 million. Tuition for the 2019 – 2020 academic year is $50,850 and on-campus room and board is $17,500 with 83% of students receiving financial aid. Net tuition accounted for $50 million, or 70% of total revenues. The tuition discount rate is about 30%, which is far below the average for private colleges nationally. The remainder of the budget is supported by donations, investment earnings, auxiliary income, and other miscellaneous revenue sources. Unrestricted net assets increased by $1.3 million while total net assets increased by $5.3 million over FY 2018. The Insti-tute had accumulated unrestricted reserves of $19 million as of the end of FY 2020.

The Institute raised $14.7 million in FY 2020; the largest amount raised in more than 10 years. This included 100% participation by the Board of Trustees. Of the total funds raised in FY 2020, $2 million was unrestricted. The endowment has more than tripled

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in size over the last 15 years and currently totals $173 million as of June 30, 2020. The endowment is invested in a broadly diversified portfolio which includes global equities (58%), absolute return (14%), private equities (13%), and fixed income (16%). The Institute’s spending policy provides that 4% of the average value of the endowment in each of the three prior years can be spent annually.

President Ravi Rajan continues to focus on diversifying and strengthening the revenue streams for the Institute, including earned income as well as continued growth to annual giving and the endowment.

Impact of Covid-19 on FinancesAs a result of Covid-19, the Institute went to all remote learning in March of 2020, and plans to offer remote classes for the fall term, with plans for campus use, safely, when permitted. There are no students in the campus residence halls this academic year, and partial refunds were provided for spring 2020 room and board. This, along with an expectation of lower than budgeted enrollment for the fall, has put stress on the Institute’s finances. The Institute has dealt with this situation by reducing operating budgets, progressively decreasing individual faculty and staff salaries, and by reducing retirement contributions. Additional expenditure reductions are likely as fall 2020 and spring 2021 enrollment solidify. Past this academic year, the Institute will have to build towards the priorities in the Strategic Framework, guided by its pillars, goals, and objectives, and taking stock of the impact that the pandemic will have had on its operations.

FacilitiesCurrently, CalArts campus consists of a sprawling five-level, 500,000-square-foot building that houses all six schools as well as a number of auxiliary buildings. The main building was constructed in the early 1970s and retains much of its original character, though it has undergone various renova-tions over the years, including an extensive

rebuilding following the Northridge earthquake in 1994. The facility was constructed for a student body totaling hundreds less than where enrollment stood in 2019-20. The Institute has expanded to many nearby temporary buildings to manage the over-flow. According to the most recent study done by Sightlines, the Institute has about $220 million in overall deferred maintenance because of the unified age of a majority of its operational square footage. The campus has embarked upon a request for qual-ifications from firms to develop a facilities master plan to address the facility issues, a process which is likely delayed this academic year due to the pandemic

Students have options to live in on-campus housing in two separate units: Chouinard Hall houses approximately 340 undergraduate students, and Ahmanson Hall provides apartment-style housing for 99 third and fourth-year undergraduates as well as

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graduate students. The campus also has numerous studios and production and performance spaces, including the Walt Disney Modular Theatre. One of the newest academic buildings is an on-campus music pavilion known as “The Wild Beast,” a 3,200-square-foot structure used as a large classroom and combined indoor-outdoor performance venue. CalArts opened REDCAT’s gallery and theater in 2003 in the Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall complex, which is part of the County-owned Los Angeles Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Local and Global ReachThe Institute is recognized for its Community Arts Partnership (CAP) program, a youth program that offers free, after-school, and school-based arts programs for artists between the ages of 6 and 18 in every discipline taught at CalArts. Programs are offered at public schools, community centers, and social service agencies in the greater Los Angeles area with classes led by a teaching corps of CalArts faculty, alumnx, and student instructors. CAP has served as a model for other arts education organizations locally and nationally, its format being adopted by other higher-ed arts colleges and universities. CAP has received numerous honors.

CalArts also sustains partnerships with arts institutions around the world, including Lasalle College of Art (Singapore); European Exchange Academy (Germany); London Contemporary Dance School (England); Universitat der Kunst (Germany); Glasgow School of Art (Scotland); the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Scotland); Goeblins, L’Ecole de L’Image (France); Ecole Nationale Superiere des Arts Decoratifs (France); Ecole National Superiere des Beaux Arts (France); Sarah Lawrence College (U.S.A.); the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Scotland); the Kunitachi College of Music (Japan); Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts (Czech Republic); Hongik University (South Korea); Teatro a Mil (Chile); Estudios Anima (Mexico); and Universidad San Martin (Argentina).

LocationCalArts’ 60-acre, residential campus is located in Valencia, part of the suburban city of Santa Clarita, 40 miles from Los Angeles International Airport; 21 miles from the Burbank Airport; and 30 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles. In addition to its close proximity to the nation’s major film, animation, and music studios, the campus provides easy access to enormous cultural opportunities in the Los Angeles area, which extend well beyond major arts institutions like the Getty Museum, the L.A. County Museum of Art, or Disney Hall. From music to dance to an explosion of new galleries, Los Angeles has emerged as a hotbed for both visual and performing arts. The burgeoning art scene in areas such as Culver City, East L.A., Echo Park, South L.A., Inglewood, and the new Downtown Arts District has fueled a renewed interest in the city’s distinguished and diverse cultural heritage, long a source of creative vitality in the area.

Santa Clarita has also been a center of rapid growth and diversification in recent decades. It features a robust public-school system and a growing industrial center

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with technology and aerospace companies and a variety of light industries. The town of Newhall, a historic part of Santa Clarita, is undergoing a downtown renovation that features its unique character and history as an early Western town and location for many early movie shoots. New restaurants, shops and presentation venues are also moving into downtown Newhall. CalArts’ next door neighbors include College of the Canyons, a rapidly growing campus in the California Community College system, and the recently constructed PHI Stoa (Packard Humanities Institute) complex, which currently includes the Library of Congress and the UCLA Film Archive, located directly across the street from CalArts.

The PositionThe Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration is an executive leadership position, reporting directly to the President. The SVPFA is an integral member of the Institute’s leadership team who provides strategic and operational leadership, and execution in finance, investments and human resources. Reporting to the SVPFA is budget, accounting, procurement, audit/internal control, investments/partnerships and earned revenue, human resources, and the bursary function. The Institute is currently restructuring its leadership to better accommodate the priorities defined in the Strategic Framework, and the SVPFA will participate in those discussions. As the designated Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the SVPFA serves through the President’s Office as the senior staff liaison to the finance, audit, and investment committees, and assists with the building & grounds committee of the Board.

Key Responsibilities• Provide oversight of the finance area, including budget, procurement, internal controls, accounting standards, audit, and related policies;• Contribute to the oversight of capital facility planning and real property management;• Provide oversight of the Human Resources area, including personnel, payroll, and benefits.• Provide analytical support to the Institute, including development of internal management reporting capabilities;• Contribute to the Strategic Framework’s initial deployment and the successful attainment of the goals and objectives outlined within it, especially related to finance and administration;• Maintain continuous lines of communication, keeping the President informed of all critical issues;• Mentor and develop staff in the sector using a supportive and collaborative approach: assign accountabilities; set objectives; establish priorities; monitor and evaluate results; conduct annual performance appraisals, and evaluate and change structures;• Chair the Assembly Budget Committee;• Partner with and support all other sectors of the Institute and the senior and executive leadership operationally, strategically, and by providing data and information, as well as strengthening processes to advance their sector’s agendas;

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• Clearly and transparently communicate the Institute’s finances to all constituencies (Trustees, faculty, staff, and students) through governance, as appropriate; and• Assume additional responsibilities as required.

Key Opportunities and Challenges• Creatively and collaboratively help rethink the business model to return to a new financial equilibrium following COVID-19. • Improve operational processes and budgetary management throughout the Institute which is highly decentralized in its operations.• Build the practices, processes, and tools for data- and research-informed decision making across CalArts.• Increase transparency and expand the understanding of budgetary spending across administrative departments, schools, and programs.• Reevaluate and revise, where necessary, the chart of accounts and reporting systems to ensure the delivery of appropriate data to make informed decision.• Ensure that enough distributed staff, and training for those staff, exists to ensure financial data integrity.• Provide support to increase fundraising and for a comprehensive campaign.• Partner and support the Provost, the VP of Advancement, the VP of Enrollment, the VP of Students, the VP of Operations, and other senior team members strategi cally and with data and information to advance their sector’s agendas.• Renew CalArts’ campus to respond to current needs and future vision as well as strengthen its commitment to environmental sustainability.• Contribute to a successful comprehensive master planning process.• Foster an environment which motivates and encourages innovation and entrepreneurial activities.• Partner with the President and other Institute colleagues to research and develop structures that expand possibilities of earned revenue through new partnerships, entity creation activities, and creative new endeavors which follow from the Institute’s mission.

Candidate Qualifications and CharacteristicsThe ideal candidate will be comfortable working collaboratively and transparently in a shared governance environment where faculty, staff, and students are significantly involved in deliberation. The new SVPFA will be an outstanding manager who demon-strates financial, administrative, planning, and analytical acumen; be a deft and patient communicator; be able to work well both independently and collaboratively; and be genuinely enthusiastic about, and committed to, the mission of CalArts. The new SVPFA will take the time to learn the culture of CalArts and will come to appreciate and value the magical things that happen at the Institute.

The next SVPFA will have the following attributes:• Superb financial, analytical, research, and problem-solving skills;• The ability to inspire trust, communicate effectively, and build relationships

across all Institute constituencies;

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• A demeanor that inspires, embodies, and supports a culture of professional excellence;

• Exceptional interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills;• The ability to prioritize and handle a significant and varied workload;• An open, approachable interpersonal style with experience building consensus

among peers, subordinates, and others throughout an organization;• Confidence and the ability to take initiative;• The ability to promote others above self;• Respect for shared governance, with strong interpersonal and listening skills

and the gravitas and ability to effectively communicate and establish credibility with a wide range of constituency groups, ranging from faculty and staff to students, alumnx, donors, trustees, and external partners;

• Experience teaching and presenting to, and communicating with, varied audiences and constituents both through writing and verbal in-person presentations using digital media;

• Experience participating in the deployment of strategic plans, including ongoing tracking and assessment;

• Scenario planning and forecasting experience;• Experience analyzing data and creating systems of business intelligence;• Strong judgment and the ability to be both a confidant and a politically astute

diplomat;• Discretion and the ability to handle confidential and sensitive matters

appropriately;• A commitment to and appreciation for the importance of inclusion, diversity,

equity, and access in higher education;• An appreciation of and support for a diverse faculty and staff; and• The highest standard of personal ethics and integrity, great patience, high

energy, and a sense of humor.

Experience and DegreesAll candidates are required to possess the following:• An undergraduate degree; relevant graduate degree strongly preferred;• At least 10 years of progressively increasing experience in the finance area managing a large staff with diverse responsibilities;• Significant experience in an education, government, or nonprofit organization with comparable complexity, at least some higher education experience strongly preferred;• Experience working as part of a team and possessing the emotional intelligence to make the teamwork stronger together when compared to the sum of all individual members’ work;• Deft computer skills demonstrating comfort with standard office software packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), database input/output, queries and analysis of data, ERP systems, etc.• An understanding of the mission of CalArts and a respect for generative creativity.

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Applications, Inquiries and NominationsCalArts is being assisted by Lapovsky Consulting in this search. A cover letter and resume should be uploaded to: http://lapovsky.hiringthing.com. Nominations, confidential inquiries, and questions concerning this search may be directed to Lucie Lapovsky at CalArts@lapovsky.com or 917-690-1958.

Review of applications will begin immediately, and candidate material received by Oct. 22, 2020, will be assured full consideration although recruitment will continue until an appointment is announced.

CalArts is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). The Institute provides equal employ-ment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. In addition to federal law requirements, CalArts complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondis-crimination in employment in every location in which the Institute has facilities.

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