Colorado State University seeks an outstanding person to serve as the Executive Director of the Scott Scholars Program. Reporting to the Dean of the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, the Executive Director leads a unique learning community of high achieving undergraduate engineering students with the goal of developing creative and technically strong leaders who will solve the grand challenges of today and the future.
About the Program
Established in 2017, the Scott Scholars Program is a community of outstanding undergraduate engineering students who are engaged in an enriched educational program focused on developing creative and leadership skills. This includes a suite of innovative curricular and co-curricular experiential learning opportunities that range from company-sponsored projects to cutting-edge research to community and civic engagement. The Program is designed to complement and enhance the world-class engineering education that all students receive from Colorado State University.
Scott Scholars are selected from the top high school graduates from Colorado who have been admitted to the College of Engineering at Colorado State University. Each Scholar receives generous and substantial financial support for their entire undergraduate education. The Program currently enrolls 94 students, with plans (and resources) to grow to 130. In addition to creating transformational educational experience for the Scholars, the Program has a broad and positive impact on the entire Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering. Its scholarships enable the College to recruit and retain the best students from Colorado, year after year. It also supports the development and deployment of innovative new programs that benefit all students.
The Scott Scholars Program is made possible by the generous support of the Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation. Walter Scott, Jr., an alumnus of the College, believed that “Helping young people with their education is one of the finest investments we can possibly make as a society.” He has supported students to attend Colorado State University since 1983.
About the Position
This is an extraordinary opportunity for a dynamic, visionary leader to advance the national reputation of the program, engage alumni and elevate external engagement opportunities while advancing efforts to prepare Scott Scholars and engineering students for productive careers and engaged service as citizens. In its first seven years, the Program has created innovative learning experiences and established strong internal operations. We are looking for an extraordinary individual who will further elevate the Program through expanded engagement with external partners to develop students’ skills in leadership and engineering excellence. We are also seeking someone who will enhance the scholars’ innovation and design thinking skills through closer partnership with the CSU Institute of Entrepreneurship, the local and regional startup ecosystem, and potentially the creation of a living-learning community.
The Executive Director will provide the vision and leadership to create and implement a strategic plan to optimize the academic quality, leadership in education, research, scholarship, and engagement of the Program. They will collaborate with faculty and staff from across the College and will deeply engage with a faculty fellows advisory board and the Dean’s Advisory Board to enhance the Program’s innovative learning program that integrates curricular and co-curricular experiences across the College and in the surrounding communities. They will also be the lead in developing a new Scott External Advocacy Board specifically focused on developing deeper engagement with top industry partners. A member of the College of Engineering leadership team, the Executive Director must be a strategic thinker, adept at building partnerships within a diverse community, knowledgeable in higher education issues, collaborative in developing team-focused, data-driven approaches to problem solving, and possess strong people skills. The successful candidate will be expected to embrace and contribute to Colorado State’s land-grant mission and core values. This is a twelve-month appointment; the Executive Director supervises two additional staff members.