Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

WittKieffer is proud to be supporting SUNY Cortland in the search for its next chief of staff (COS). Founded in 1868 as the Cortland Normal School, a teacher training institution authorized by the New York State Legislature, State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland (SUNY Cortland) has grown since these beginnings into one of the state's top public institutions. Dedicated to offering diverse learning experiences that develop students as engaged, socially conscious citizens, SUNY Cortland has emerged as a regional powerhouse, offering academic strength across 68 majors and a high-quality experience to its students. To help the institution build on these strengths, SUNY Cortland seeks a thoughtful, diplomatic, and highly organized professional to serve as chief of staff to President Erik Bitterbaum. Reporting directly to the president, the next COS will serve as a trusted advisor on myriad projects and initiatives that will assist the college in maintaining its upward trajectory.

Located on a 191-acre campus in the heart of New York's Finger Lakes region, SUNY Cortland serves approximately 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students and boasts more than 600 faculty. As a leading public comprehensive college, Cortland provides an outstanding and affordable education that empowers students to achieve their goals and make meaningful contributions to their communities. A strong track record in teacher education and health-related majors laid the foundation for exciting new programs related to business, natural sciences, the arts, and specialized professional fields, including sports management and criminology. SUNY Cortland is one of 64 campuses in the State University of New York system and is therefore part of a powerful collection of institutions serving every corner of the state and thousands of New York families every year.

The chief of staff is a vital member of the President's Office and the executive leadership team. Apart from advising the president on strategic planning, decision-making, and problem-solving, the chief of staff also works closely with senior leadership and campus committees to advance the president's agenda, foster collaboration, and oversee high-level operations, projects, and special initiatives. The COS uses data to identify trends, opportunities, and risks in the competitive landscape; builds consensus around policy; coordinates projects and initiatives addressing priorities; communicates overall strategy to the broader community; and tracks performance. The COS also fields issues that come to the President's Office, advises on responses, and organizes solutions to ensure successful outcomes. In addition, the COS works closely with the strategic communications team to ensure consistent, high-quality messaging from the president and serves as a liaison to SUNY Cortland stakeholders to ensure accurate and consistent communication in a way that facilitates transparency.

In its next chief of staff, SUNY Cortland seeks a professional with a deep knowledge of higher education and the ability to understand and connect with a wide range of constituents. The selected candidate will have a minimum of five years of higher education experience with a track record of problem solving, strategic planning, policy communication, and project management. The optimal candidate will have exceptional organizational and time-management skills; excellent communication skills including the ability to influence others; political savvy; a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; the capability of analyzing complex situations and offering workable solutions to problems; and the utmost integrity.

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in the leadership profile.

For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by August 8, 2025. Application materials should be submitted using WittKieffer's candidate portal.

Nominations and inquiries can be directed to: Senior Partner Greg Duyck and Associate Consultant Kim Migoya at SUNYCortlandChiefofStaff@wittkieffer.com.

SUNY Cortland is dedicated to providing a comprehensive educational experience that prepares individuals to function in a diverse society and aims to create an environment where each person's individual dignity is valued. The College prohibits, and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, self-identified or perceived sex, gender expression, status of being transgender, or gender identity, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristic or carrier status, military status, U.S. Veteran status, domestic violence victim status, prior criminal conviction unrelated to employee's job or, any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state or federal law. SUNY Cortland will comply with all applicable equal employment opportunity/nondiscrimination laws. Employees, students, applicants or other members of the College community (including but not limited to vendors, visitors, and guests) may not be subjected to harassment that is prohibited by law or treated adversely based upon a protected characteristic.





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