Strategic Dean, Academic Operations & Assistant CAO

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences seeks a Dean of Academic Operations and Assistant Chief Academic Officer to lead design and execution of systems, infrastructure, and processes enabling high-quality academic delivery across campuses and modalities.

This campus-based role reports to the Chief Academic Officer and requires 25–30% travel to other campuses in the United States. The Dean translates strategic goals into scalable operational plans, drives faculty workload optimization,

Qualifications

• 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.
• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• Ensure academic scheduling supports program pathways, 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Job description

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences seeks a Dean of Academic Operations and Assistant Chief Academic Officer to lead design and execution of systems, infrastructure, and processes enabling high-quality academic delivery across campuses and modalities.

This campus-based role reports to the Chief Academic Officer and requires 25–30% travel to other campuses in the United States. The Dean translates strategic goals into scalable operational plans, drives faculty workload optimization,