Job description
Leadership Statement
Finding the next Great Viking Leader
The Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Chancellor Search Advisory Committee (SAC), on behalf of its Board of Trustees, the University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Governors, and the President of the UNC System, seeks in its next chancellor a strategic and transformational leader to build upon the success of recent years. The next chancellor should target continued enrollment growth, increase retention and graduation rates and student success, and examine current course offerings and methods to allow ECSU to compete in a rapidly changing world; while ensuring it serves the people of North Carolina — especially the northeast corner of this great state. The next chancellor should supercharge philanthropic support, build upon strong local, regional, state and national partnerships, and help develop service-oriented leaders for our state and nation. For full details about this opportunity view the Leadership Profile at https://bit.ly/
About Elizabeth City State University
Hugh Cale, an African-American representative in the North Carolina General Assembly representing Pasquotank County, sponsored House Bill 383 on March 3, 1891. The bill established a “normal school” for “teaching and training teachers of the colored race to teach in the common schools of North Carolina.” ECSU became a founding member of and constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system in 1972.
While retaining its commitment to the founding and traditional mission of teacher training, today ECSU offers much more to its students and to northeastern North Carolina. Undergraduate students at ECSU can choose from 27 diverse baccalaureate degree programs across three academic schools and nine departments, encompassing fields in the arts and sciences, professional studies, and pre-professional disciplines. In addition to its robust undergraduate programs, ECSU offers four master’s degree programs in biology, elementary education, mathematics, and school administration, providing advanced educational pathways for aspiring professionals and leaders. All academic programs are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), ensuring a rigorous standard of quality and academic excellence.
ECSU is a proud participant in the NC Promise program which aims to provide affordable education to North Carolinians. ECSU continues to garner regional and national recognition. In the past few years, the university has been highly ranked by U.S. News and World Report, BestColleges.com, Niche.com, and Diverse Issues in Higher Education. In 2024, Washington Monthly honored ECSU as #4 in the Top 200 Bachelor’s Colleges and #12 in Best Bang for the Buck in the Southeast. To learn more about ECSU visit, www.ecsu.edu.
A proud part of the UNC System
ECSU is one of 17 constituent institutions comprising the University of North Carolina System, a treasured public institution supported through strong legislative funding and dedicated to serving the people of North Carolina through world-class teaching, research, and community engagement. A 24-member UNC Board of Governors, elected by the North Carolina General Assembly to four-year terms, oversees the System. The Board has responsibility for the policymaking, planning, management, and overall governance of the UNC System, and elects the System’s President to serve as the chief administrative and executive officer. Each institution’s chancellor is also elected by the Board of Governors, upon the nomination of the UNC System President. The chancellor reports to the UNC System President. All UNC System institutions have a Board of Trustees, to which the Board of Governors has delegated duties and powers for certain campus academic, administrative, and budgetary functions. ECSU has a 13-member Board of Trustees, consisting of eight members elected by the Board of Governors, four appointed by the North Carolina General Assembly, and the president of the student body, who serves ex-officio.
Desired Qualifications
• A devotional heart and a willingness to build community. Elizabeth City State is a mission-driven university in the deepest sense, committed to welcoming students from a wide range of backgrounds and giving them the encouragement and support they need to achieve their dreams. That means nurturing an environment of genuine care in every part of this campus, a sensibility that must begin at the top.
• A love of teaching and mentorship. ECSU has an extraordinary faculty and staff who relish working directly with students, and a chancellor should share that commitment to quality instruction and close student support.
• Unwavering focus on student success. Educating our students is our primary mission as a university. A chancellor must be laser-focused on ensuring our students get the high-quality education and opportunity for upward social and economic mobility that they look to us to provide.
• A clear-eyed, ambitious vision for ECSU’s distinctive place in the higher education landscape. Institutions with a strong sense of identity, smartly differentiated from their peers, are positioned to thrive in an era of increasing competition for enrollment. ECSU’s next chancellor should clearly articulate a vision that sets the campus apart while addressing its core mission of service to North Carolina.
• An appreciation for the UNC System’s governance and strategic goals. Our public university leaders must understand and support the value of a well-coordinated state system, be wholly committed to furthering the shared goals of the UNC System’s strategic plan, and see how their institution contributes to the overall health of the educational landscape in North Carolina.
• An eagerness to be a part of Elizabeth City’s cultural and civic life. This campus is an anchor institution for the city and for the wider region, and a chancellor should be an enthusiastic ambassador to the wider community, eager to throw open the doors and contribute to the flourishing of the whole region.
• Reverence for ECSU’s history and a deep comfort with the diverse state that we serve. North Carolina is a big place, varied in its demographics, its politics, its geography, and its ideas about the future. An effective leader must welcome and serve all, while proudly celebrating ECSU’s historic role as a beacon of achievement for Black North Carolinians.
• Operational excellence and fiscal stewardship as guiding principles. The resources of a public university are precious and must be handled with exacting professionalism. From parking to budgeting, an effective chancellor must ensure the university’s processes are honed in service to the mission and its resources are used wisely.
• Enthusiasm for cultivating support from alumni, donors, state leaders, and philanthropic foundations in support of ECSU’s mission and vision.
• An appreciation for academic freedom and free expression, and an enthusiastic willingness to engage students, faculty, staff, and alumni of differing opinions and worldviews.
• Unimpeachable personal integrity. Chancellors must exercise their authority in an environment of earned trust and goodwill, something that’s only possible when their personal conduct is above reproach.
About Elizabeth City, NC
The university is located on 862 acres near downtown Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in the Historic Albemarle region. A beautiful waterfront community on the narrows of the Pasquotank River, Elizabeth City offers easy and quick access to the world-renowned North Carolina Outer Banks and the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia. Virginia Beach, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown are within an easy drive, as is Norfolk International Airport.
Founded in 1794, Elizabeth City is the county seat and most populous city of Pasquotank County, and it is the cultural, economic, and educational hub of the 16-county Historic Albemarle region. To learn more about Elizabeth City and the region, go to visitelizabethcity.com.
Elizabeth City hosts one of the nation’s largest U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) bases and has a long and prosperous partnership with the base and its leaders. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) connects ECSU with Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City, including the establishment of a Coast Guard Auxiliary University Program (AUP), which was the first AUP program at an HBCU. AUP provides opportunities for students to join the Coast Guard Auxiliary, participate in missions, and with program completion can fast track into the USCG. ECSU is a proud participant in the USCG’s College Student Pre-commissioning Initiative (CSPI), which provides scholarships, Reserve status, and guaranteed Officer Candidate School admission for successful graduates.
How to apply
Individuals interested in being considered for the chancellorship of Elizabeth City State University are encouraged to apply by submitting a letter of interest and a curriculum vitae/resume via https://apptrkr.com/5987973. The search advisory committee prefers electronic submissions. Confidential review of application materials will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
Points of Contact: Nominations and recommendations can be made using this link. For other confidential inquiries, contact Lynn Duffy, senior associate vice president for leadership and talent development and talent acquisition, UNC System Office, at [email protected].
Elizabeth City State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. The University does not discriminate in access to its educational programs and activities, or with respect to hiring or the terms and conditions of employment, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity and expression, political affiliation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or sexual orientation.
