Academic Program Director, DPT, Residential & Hybrid

University-of-St.-Augustine-For-Health-Sciences; San Marcos (CA); On-site; USD 107,000 - 187,000; Full time

Job summary

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences seeks a Program Director for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. This full-time academic administrator reports to the Program Chair and collaborates with the Dean, faculty, and staff to ensure a high-quality curriculum and institutional alignment.

The role emphasizes strategic planning, program operations, and interdisciplinary collaboration to advance student outcomes, accreditation readiness, and strategic growth across campuses.

Qualifications

• Must hold a Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy.
• Experience teaching in the field of Physical Therapy.
• Demonstrated experience as a chairperson or program director of an accredited program in Physical Therapy preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and management to the program in collaboration with Dean and faculty.
• Lead curriculum development and improvement efforts in concert with other disciplines as needed.
• Coordinate scholarly project research and dissertation processes; supervise faculty and staff.
• Ensure program accreditation compliance and alignment with Institutional Effectiveness Plan.
• Oversee recruitment, retention, and development of faculty and staff; manage program budget and resources.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Curriculum development

Faculty supervision

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Doctorate in Physical Therapy

Job description

GENERAL SUMMARY

The Program Director is a full-time academic administrator who reports to the Program Chair, and works closely with the School's academic administrators, administrative staff, and both full-time and part-time faculty. The Program Director will provide leadership and management to the program in collaboration with Dean and faculty. The Program Director assures delivery of the curriculum in a manner that meets program goals, educational effectiveness, consistency, and institutional expectations. This director works closely with the Dean, Product Manager and other Program Directors and/or faculty on revisions of program policies, admissions, academic progress, and graduation competencies. The Director is accountable for implementing the strategic plan initiatives concerning the program, 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 director integrates with other departments and programs to resolve student and faculty issues as they arise. The 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 department's strategic plan; 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 select 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.
• Coordinate scholarly project research as the student begins these endeavors, serve on committees as needed.
• Monitor and improve progression, completion and graduation rates as needed.
• Support University efforts to maintain program approval and institutional accreditation.
• Supervise, recruit and hire faculty.
• Work with instructional design teams in the development and delivery.
• 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:

• Work with instructional design team to lead course development process, including hiring appropriate subject matter experts
• Collaborates with Clinical Education department to assure quality clinical experiences for students Leads curriculum development and improvement efforts in concert with other disciplines as needed.

• Serve on identified committees and councils
• Complete 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 Program

POSITIONS SUPERVISED: DPT Core and Contributing faculty

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 a Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy or a related field
• Experience teaching in the field of Physical Therapy
• Demonstrated experience as a chairperson or program director of an accredited program Physical Therapy preferred

LICENSURE and/or CERTIFICATION

• Current clinical certification as a Physical Therapist
• Must be licensure eligible in California, and other states as needed.

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 - $107,360-$186,780