Job Description
Vice President and General Counsel
St. Lawrence University invites nominations and applications for the position of Vice President and General Counsel.
St. Lawrence is a nationally recognized, independent, private, non-denominational, predominantly undergraduate university serving 2,400 students and is the oldest continuously coeducational institution of higher learning in New York State. Located in Canton, New York, St. Lawrence considers its location one of its greatest assets. Canton sits between the Adirondack Park, the largest state park in the United States and the site of the University’s nationally recognized Adirondack Semester, and the Canadian-U.S. border that is the St. Lawrence River. It is in close proximity to U.S. cities such as Burlington, VT, Syracuse, NY, and the major Canadian cities and cultural centers of Ottawa and Montreal.
The newly-created role of Vice President and General Counsel is a university-wide position that reports directly to President Kathryn Morris and is a member of the Senior Staff. They will serve as the chief legal officer for the university, overseeing and managing the provision of all legal services to St. Lawrence University to protect its legal rights and to maintain its operations within the limits prescribed by law. The inaugural General Counsel will be called upon to provide strategic guidance, consultation, and support to the President, senior administrators, and trustees on a comprehensive range of legal and associated issues involved in carrying out the mission of the institution. The General Counsel will also serve as Secretary of the University.
The ideal candidate will have knowledge of issues related to higher education law, including, but not limited to, non-profit governance, statutory and regulatory compliance, Titles VI, VII, and IX, VAWA, and the Clery Act. A Juris Doctorate from an American Bar Association accredited law school and admission to the bar in New York, or the ability to gain admission within six months of employment, is required. For additional details, visit the full position profile here.
Please send all queries, nominations, and applications to:
Susan VanGilder, Managing Director
Kamilah Allen, Senior Associate
Storbeck Search
StLawrenceGC@storbecksearch.com
For more information about St. Lawrence University, please visit: stlawu.edu
The University is committed to and seeks diversity among its faculty, staff and students. Such a commitment ensures an atmosphere that is diverse and complex in ways that are intellectually and socially enriching for the entire campus community. Applications by members of all underrepresented groups, as well as from individuals with experience teaching or working in a multicultural environment, are encouraged. St. Lawrence University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Our Mission
The mission of St. Lawrence University is to provide an inspiring and demanding undergraduate education in the liberal arts to students selected for their seriousness of purpose and intellectual promise.
University History
In the mid-1850s, four members of the Universalist Church ventured from St. Lawrence County in pursuit of establishing a 20-acre campus and a new building in the county seat. Armed with $9,000 in pledges from nearly 150 community members, they set out to persuade decision-makers in Syracuse that Canton should be the new home of a theological school with a college of letters and sciences alongside it. They knew the world needed St. Lawrence and, after much debate and deliberation, their dream came true: ‘The St. Lawrence University’ was chartered by the State of New York on April 3, 1856, as a Universalist seminary and college of letters and science.
St. Lawrence, the oldest coeducational institution of higher learning in New York State and home to one of the oldest environmental studies programs in the country, has championed progressive ideas such as critical thinking, sustainability, and a commitment to equity and inclusion since its founding day. The history of the Laurentian community is that of industry pioneers, renowned authors and astronomers, government leaders, movie stars, and sports legends.
Yet the history of this space in the North Country includes stories and accomplishments from others who came long before the University was chartered. St. Lawrence University occupies the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee (the People of the Longhouse)/Iroquois Confederacy. The United States is granted continued claim to this territory by the confederated nations (Kanienʼkehá꞉ka “the People of the Flint”/Mohawk, Onyota'a:ka “the People of the Upright Stone”/Oneida, Onondagaono “the Hill Place People”/Onondaga, Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ “the People of the Great Swamp”/Cayuga, Onongawaga “the People of the Great Hill”/Seneca, and Skarureh “the People of the Hemp”/Tuscarora) through a diplomatic relationship beginning with the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794.