Sr. Academic Program Director - Physical Therapy

The mission of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is the development of professional health care practitioners through innovation, individualized, and quality classroom, clinical, and distance education.

As a member at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences academic leadership team, you help create energy and excitement about the entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy programs. “Clinical Excellence” is our focus, and every day is an opportunity for you to live the mission of developing professional health care practitioners through innovative, individualized and quality teaching methods. Together with the support of fellow faculty and clinical partners, USAHS is dedicated to delivering excellence and innovation in education for our students. Our organization is committed to growth and fosters career development and opportunity. 

GENERAL SUMMARY:

The Senior Academic Program Director is a full-time academic core faculty who reports to the Associate Dean for Physical Therapy, and works closely with academic administrators, administrative staff, and both full-time and part-time contributing faculty. The Senior Program Director will provide leadership and management to the program in collaboration with Associate Dean and faculty and is responsible for oversight of the DPT program on multiple campuses to include their DPT ‘home campus’ program and at least one DPT expansion program.  The Senior Program Director assures delivery of the curriculum in a manner that meets program goals, educational effectiveness, consistency, and institutional expectations. This Senior Program Director works closely with the Associate Dean, Product Manager, and other Academic Program Directors and/or faculty on revisions of program policies, admissions, academic progress, and graduation competencies. The Senior Academic Program Director is accountable for implementing the strategic plan initiatives concerning the DPT programs within their specified area, as the director serves as an important conduit connecting the program with other University departments, communicating information, and contributing to the growth and improvement of the institution. Additionally, the Senior Program Director integrates with other departments and programs to resolve student and faculty issues as they arise.  The Senior Program Director will be instrumental in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders to develop the program (s) into a sustainable and scalable model offering a competitive and quality curriculum. Additional knowledge and expertise in business partnerships and industry networking will be a benefit.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Planning

• Provides leadership, vision, organization, processes and infrastructure for a respective program, and in concert with the University's strategic and quality improvement plan; develops and implements overall department's strategic plan (for main program and expansion (s)); identifies new opportunities.
• Using the program's assessment plan, collects, analyzes, and develops improvement plans based on program metrics such as student learning outcomes, faculty workload and scholarly productivity, student satisfaction, graduation rates, licensure passing rates, employability, enrollments, etc. to assure program goals are being met; reports on outcome data as needed to various University constituents.
• Builds a culture of innovation and selects those strategies that best achieve the mission of the program and its long-range plans.
• Leads curriculum development and improvement efforts in concert with other disciplines as needed.

Local Program Operations

• Responsible for the development and maintenance of effective department operations including efficient workflow, achieving student learning outcomes; ensuring appropriate faculty numbers; assuring quality curriculum. 
• Works effectively with other departments across the University to coordinate activities and promote change.
• Communicates effectively and fosters collaborative relationships among all campus and programmatic constituencies including students, faculty, and staff; advises students, assisting with problem solving and complain resolution.
• Participates in student recruiting efforts.
• Ensures faculty support the attainment of department and institutional outcomes as established in the Institutional Effectiveness Plan.
• Marketing and inquires; participate in marketing activities as needed.
• Coordinates scholarly project research as the student begins these endeavors, serves on committees as needed.
• Monitors and improves progression, completion and graduation rates as needed.
• Supports University efforts to maintain program approval and institutional accreditation.
• Supervises, recruits and hires faculty.
• Works with instructional design teams in the development and delivery of course content.
• Interacts with other post-professional programs for an interprofessional delivery of content.
• Participates in the teaching of the DPT program.
• Coordinates and further develops the Dissertation and Scholarly Projects process.

Faculty and Support Staff Leadership and Development

• Demonstrates effective leadership and team building skills in the selection, management and development of program faculty and staff.
• Utilizes standards for effective job performance evaluates faculty effectiveness.
• Mentors and develops employees to maximize individual performance, builds future organizational leadership, and enhances teamwork.
• Promotes a programmatic culture in alignment with the University's core values that focuses on the academic success of all departmental students and employees.

Scholarly and Professional Development

• Stays abreast of educational best practices, policy changes and developments that may impact the program through attendance, and developing professional relationships at professional conferences, seminars and local, state and national organizations.
• Meets scholarly goals, as identified in annual performance evaluation.
• Maintains visibility in respective professional organizations.
• Uses research and practice, theory and experience to foster professional development and student learning. 

Fiscal Management 

• Works closely with enrollment and admissions departments to meet projected enrollment goals. 
• Based on strategic goals and quality improvement plans, establishes resource needs.
• Utilizes expected financial management practices of the University; creates a sound budget and expenses for area(s) of responsibility.
• Manages program funds responsibly and equitably.

Core Management Responsibilities

• Leads participation in the accreditation process; assures full compliance with federal, state and accrediting body standards and regulations.
• Maintains superior customer service to internal and external customers.
• Fosters a success-oriented; optimizes the health of the organization by building trust and accountability within the program and University community.
• Develops, communicates, and upholds University policies and procedures.
• Attends and participates in meetings where appropriate.
• Approves prerequisite course substitutions and transfer credits. 

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

May perform other duties and responsibilities that management may deem necessary from time to time, to include:

• Works with instructional design team to lead course development process, including hiring appropriate subject matter experts
• Collaborates with Director of Curriculum Quality to ensure integrated, threaded curriculum across the DPT Program
• Collaborates with the Executive Director of Accreditation and Assessment to meet all accreditation timelines for the main program and expansion programs.
• Collaborates with Clinical Services department to assure quality clinical experiences for students
• Leads curriculum development and improvement efforts in concert with other disciplines as needed.
• Serves on identified committees and councils
• Completes scholarship, service and clinical work as identified in professional development plan
• Participates in student recruiting efforts
• Works closely with enrollment and admission departments to meet projected enrollment goals

POSITION IN ORGANIZATION

REPORTS TO:  Associate Dean, Physical Therapy Programs

POSITIONS SUPERVISED:  AcademicProgram Director, Associate Program Director, Assistant Program Director, DPT Core and Contributing faculty and related support staff.

TECHNICAL, MANAGERIAL, and PEOPLE SKILLS REQUIRED

To perform this job successfully an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Incumbents will be evaluated, in part, based on performance of each essential function. Appropriate reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• The successful candidate must possess an academic doctoral degree.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience teaching in a DPT program
• Demonstrated experience as a chairperson or program director of an accredited Physical Therapy program, highly preferred

LICENSURE and/or CERTIFICATION

• Current licensure as a Physical Therapist

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: Position will require periodic travel to other campuses and professional events.

BUSINESS COMPETENCIES:

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Being Resilient - Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.
• Instills Trust - Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Drives Results - Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Innovation - Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Customer Focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Drives Engagement (People Managers Only) - Creating a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.
• People Leadership (People Managers Only) - Leads by example when it comes to finding and developing talent, with a focus on talent acquisition strategies, setting performance targets that raises standards and development of high potential talent.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work is performed primarily in a standard office environment but may involve exposure to moderate noise levels. Work involves operation of personal computer equipment for six to eight hours daily and includes physical demands associated with a traditional office setting, e.g., walking, standing, communicating, and other physical functions as necessary.

Hiring range: $105,600 - $190,080