Dean, Academic Operations and Assistant Chief Academic Officer

The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Inc.; Saint Augustine (FL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences seeks a Dean of Academic Operations and Assistant Chief Academic Officer to design and execute scalable academic systems across multiple campuses and modalities.

The role reports to the Chief Academic Officer and advances student success through policy governance, curriculum operations, and faculty planning. This campus-based position requires on-site presence five days a week with monthly business travel, and strong leadership in health sciences

Qualifications

• Minimum of a master’s degree with an earned entry‑level clinical degree (e.g., DPT, OTD, MOT, SLP, MSN, DNP).
• 7–10 years of progressive academic administrative experience in a higher education environment.
• 7–10 years in a health sciences field with senior administrative responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Translate institutional strategy into scalable operational plans for multi-campus academic delivery.
• Lead curriculum operations, policy governance, and accreditation readiness.
• Oversee faculty workload planning, recruitment, engagement, and advancement.
• Standardize processes and workflows for academic programs across modalities.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Hybrid/Online education

Stakeholder influence

Operational execution

Talent leadership

Executive presence

Education

Master’s degree with clinical degree (e.g., DPT, OTD, MOT, SLP, MSN, DNP)

Job description

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.

GENERAL SUMMARY

The Dean of Academic Operations and Assistant Chief Academic Officer leads the design and execution of the systems, infrastructure, and processes that enable consistent, high-quality academic delivery across a multi-campus, multi-program, and multi-modality university. Reporting to the Chief Academic Officer, this role translates institutional strategy into scalable operational plans, driving performance across academic scheduling, faculty workload optimization, curriculum operations, clinical education effectiveness, accreditation readiness, policy governance, and continuous improvement. In close partnership with academic and administrative leaders, the Dean ensures operational excellence and alignment across campuses, directly advancing student success and the USAHS mission.

This is a campus-based position on one of our five campus locations and requires monthly travel for business purposes.

This is a campus-based position and requires a presence on campus 5 days per week.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Execution & Operational Alignment

• Translate the university’s strategic plan into clear, executable academic operational priorities across programs, campuses, and modalities.
• Align academic operations, systems, and resources to enable effective execution of institutional strategic initiatives.
• Establish accountability structures, timelines, and performance metrics to track progress against strategic goals.
• Identify operational barriers to execution and implement scalable solutions to improve speed, consistency, and impact.
• In partnership with Program Strategists and Program Directors, monitor program performance metrics, identify variation across campuses, and intervene proactively.

Instructional Pathway and Resource Coordination

• Ensure academic scheduling supports program pathways (Residential, Flex and Hybrid Immersion), student progression, and institutional capacity goals.
• Partner with facilities to optimize room and resource utilization aligned to enrollment projections and modality needs across campuses.
• Align facilities and delivery models to support both residential and distance modalities, including high-quality residency experiences.
• Develop standardized processes and infrastructure to enhance the distance learner experience on USAHS campuses.

Faculty Planning and Utilization

• Collaborate with Program Directors to develop annual faculty assignment plans aligned to workload, accreditation requirements, expertise, and enrollment demand.
• Ensure equitable, transparent distribution of teaching assignments across full-time and adjunct faculty.
• Develop and maintain tools and models to support workload planning and faculty advancement.
• Oversee utilization and strategy for contributing (adjunct) faculty, including recruitment, engagement, and retention infrastructure.
• Lead the development and implementation of university-wide initiatives to enhance the contributing faculty experience, strengthen engagement, improve consistency, and support faculty effectiveness across programs and campuses.

Curriculum Operations and Policy

• Establish and enforce university-wide standards for course delivery to ensure consistent learning experiences across all residential, hybrid, and online modalities.
• Conduct cross-campus and cross-modality audits to ensure consistency in content, delivery, and instructional quality.
• Maintain and continuously improve documentation and processes for curriculum, including program and course creation, modification, and discontinuation workflows.
• Create standardized templates, guidelines, and toolkits to support Program Directors and faculty in curriculum design and revision activities.

Policy Governance and Standardization

• Lead the research, drafting, and periodic review of programmatic academic policies, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, accreditation standards, and institutional values.
• Oversee the academic policy governance framework that defines ownership, review cycles, approval pathways, and communication protocols for all academic policies.
• Facilitate cross-campus collaboration to implement and standardize policies and operational practices.
• Monitor policy compliance across academic units and elevate patterns of non‑compliance to senior leadership with recommended corrective actions.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives to standardize key operational processes, replacing fragmented or ad hoc practices with documented, scalable workflows.

Academic Governance Operations

• Manage the structure, membership, charge, and meeting cadence of key academic governance committees, including curriculum and academic progression committees.
• Provide operational support to committee chairs, ensuring agendas, materials, minutes, and follow‑up actions are documented and distributed in a timely manner.
• Track committee decisions and action items to completion, reporting outcomes to institutional leadership and ensuring integration into operational workflows.

External Relations & Partnerships

• Advance the reputation and visibility of the institution with key constituencies including industry associations, clinical partners, partner schools, professional organizations, regulatory bodies, and alumni.
• Strengthen industry partnerships and affiliations to provide students with practical experience, innovative learning, and employment opportunities.

Financial and Operational Management

• Align resources to strategic priorities, including contingency planning for enrollment or financial variability.
• Standardize operational processes to meet accreditation and efficiency goals.
• Develop and manage academic budgets, ensuring fiscal performance aligned with institutional targets.
• Implement workload and staffing models that optimize faculty capacity and operational efficiency.

Academic Services

• Provide oversight and leadership for the academic quality and integrity of USAHS’s learning model, clinical innovation, and curriculum development initiatives.
• Works closely with academic and institutional management teams to oversee the adoption of new instructional innovations and technologies, and deliver faculty support and development that advances USAHS’ active, immersive, and technologically engaged learning model.
• Lead and advance university-wide initiatives to improve the effectiveness, quality, and outcomes of clinical education across academic programs.
• Provide university-level leadership and accountability for the Center for Professional Readiness, ensuring effective cross‑functional collaboration to support clinical readiness, licensure performance, and career readiness outcomes.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

May perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Chief Academic Officer.

POSITION IN ORGANIZATION

Reports to: Chief Academic Officer

Positions Supervised: Direct reports include academic leadership, as assigned. In partnership with the Chief Academic Officer, this role provides leadership and oversight of academic program leaders across the institution, through indirect, matrixed reporting relationships and structures.

TECHNICAL, MANAGERIAL & PEOPLE SKILLS REQUIRED

• Results‑oriented leader with demonstrated success driving operational performance and achieving measurable outcomes within higher education in a health sciences discipline.
• Professional experience in a health sciences discipline, with a strong understanding of graduate‑level academic program delivery across multiple modalities.
• Experience with hybrid and online education is required.
• Proven senior administrative leadership in complex, multi‑campus or matrixed environments, with the ability to translate strategy into effective operational execution.
• Strong talent leadership and organizational development skills, with the ability to build, align, and support high‑performing academic teams.
• Executive presence and communication skills to influence, align, and mobilize stakeholders across functions and levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities, solve complex problems, and drive continuous improvement in dynamic, fast‑paced environments.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Required:

• Minimum of a master’s degree with an earned entry‑level clinical degree (e.g., DPT, OTD, MOT, SLP, MSN, DNP, etc.).
• 7‑10 years of progressive academic administrative experience in a higher education environment.
• 7‑10 years (professional or educational) experience in a health sciences field.
• Demonstrated senior‑level administrative ability and University/college‑level faculty employment and teaching experience.
• Experience translating institutional strategy into operational execution, with responsibility for performance outcomes.
• Experience working across multiple programs, campuses, or delivery modalities (residential, hybrid, or online).
• Experience collaborating with program leadership (e.g., Program Directors) to improve academic outcomes and operational performance.

Preferred:

• Earned academic/terminal degree (e.g., PhD, EdD, DHSc, etc.)
• Significant knowledge of discipline‑specific accreditation requirements, processes and policies.

LICENSURE and/or CERTIFICATION

• None required

TRAVEL

Will require 25‑30% travel to other campuses in the United States.

BUSINESS 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.

The University is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, genetic condition, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local laws, regulations, or ordinances.