Associate Vice President of Education

Founded in 1967, Sheridan has grown from a local college of 400 students to one of Ontario's leading postsecondary institutions, educating approximately 23,116 full-time and 1,741 part-time students every year on in three Ontario cities - Oakville, Brampton, and Mississauga.


Sheridan's play a critical role in shaping the future of our society in the fields of arts, business, community service, health, technology, and the skilled trades.


Sheridan is the epicentre for groundbreaking, standard-setting higher education that unleashes everyone's full potential and empowers people to flourish in and shape an ever-changing world.


Cultivate resourceful, highly skilled, and creative people and communities through cross-pollinated, active learning and the relentless incubation of new ideas.


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This newly created position will be the senior Indigenous leader at Sheridan College. The successful candidate will provide transformative vision, strategy, leadership, and direction to advancing our institutional commitments to decolonization, truth, and reconciliation and will actively contribute to institutional governance and program development.


Reporting to the Vice President (VP), Inclusive Communities, the Associate Vice President (AVP), Indigenous engagement and Education will influence and lead with others within the senior leadership team across Sheridan to achieve the outcomes identified in Sheridan's Indigenous three-year Engagement and Education Plan and beyond by working closely with the Indigenous Education Council.


The AVP will help ensure that Sheridan respectfully and ethically incorporates Nation-specific Indigenous ways of knowing, meaningful Indigenizing and decolonizing pedagogies, policies, processes, and procedures. The incumbent will also work closely to establish and strengthen Sheridan's relationships with Indigenous communities with the aim to build long-term reciprocal partnerships.


The AVP works cross-collaboratively to engage our internal and external communities in decolonization and indigenization with respect and reciprocity. Provides strategic, policy, and leadership on Indigenous initiatives to the college to meet outcomes and goals of Sheridan's Strategic Plan and Indigenous Engagement and Education Plan
Maintains a system to collect, track, and measure Sheridan's progress in implementing the Indigenous Engagement and Education Plan
Builds, guides, and empowers Sheridan's diverse and capable leadership team through recruitment, selection, coaching, workflow/project planning, and employee development
Demonstrates leadership and collaborates with administrative and academic departments and faculties to address and implement Indigenous initiatives into strategic and operational plans that support decolonization, truth, and reconciliation, and Indigenous education
Provides advice and direction in the development of strategy, including stakeholder and community engagement activities to build relationships with local, provincial, and national Indigenous communities
Share knowledge about Indigenous education with senior leaders across Sheridan to build their understanding and to find ways to align college initiatives.
Champions continual learning about Indigenous cultural awareness and relationship building with all leaders at Sheridan; Enhancing relationships with Indigenous communities, organizations, and peoples through outreach, partnership development, and community-based initiatives
In collaboration with the Indigenous Education Council (IEC), advises the Sheridan community on Indigenous protocol and appropriate strategies for developing relations with Indigenous communities
Chairs the Indigenous Education Council and represents Sheridan College at other local, provincial, and national tables to ensure collaboration and representation on Indigenous education initiatives
Supports Sheridan's approach to relationship building that is rooted in reciprocity and respect
Maintains current knowledge in the field of Indigenous education; Acts as a Sheridan representative at both functional and social events
Participates in other projects and initiatives as required
You are results-oriented and enjoy balancing many different tasks, staying organized and planning, and have the ability to integrate multiple streams of information, prioritize and track multiple projects to meet a demanding workload and keep things running smoothly.


You exercise sound judgment, and your sharp problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills, along with your ability to invite new ways of thinking, allow you to solve challenges in a creative way to help advance organizational goals.


You have the skills and knowledge to work with an increasingly diverse student and staff population, as well as a proven commitment to anti-oppression, equity, and inclusion.



A 4-year bachelor's degree and a professional designation in the areas of Indigenous studies, education, business, public administration, or a related field
Over 10 years of related, progressive work experience, ideally within the education sector
Proven experience working successfully with Indigenous students, organizations, leadership, and communities
Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain relationships with college administrators, government officials, and other external partners
Demonstrated understanding and leadership in support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) calls to action
Collaborative, creative leadership style - responsive, collaborative, results-oriented, and agile; Experience in strategy and people building, operational planning, and implementation with multi-faceted operations
Sound knowledge of emerging trends, issues, regulations, processes, and best practices in post-secondary education
Sheridan regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. Sheridan seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism, and inclusion.


As such, we encourage applications from qualified candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including those who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuit/Inuk, Black, members of racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+; To learn more about this leadership opportunity, please submit a comprehensive resume and cover letter as well as proof of citizenship or membership to an Indigenous Nation or community in confidence to Pathways Executive Search. This should be a document that is acceptable to the community or Nation you are from.*


*Documentation required of the candidate is to include a citizenship card/membership card from a recognized Provincial Métis Nation, Métis National Council, or a letter from the Indigenous community who claims them; should this documentation not be available, the Indigenous community who claims them may also share information along with their story about their connection with the individual. In the event the documentation set out above is not available for the candidate to provide, they will be invited to provide a letter (not to exceed 750 words) describing their Indigenous identity and their connection to an Indigenous community within Canada (or elsewhere if applicable) and/or information along with their story from their Indigenous community.



Faculty/Department: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Work Categorization: Hybrid Position | On-site at least 3 days/week
Administrative
Sheridan will provide job applicants with accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.