The Academic Director provides overall strategic leadership and day-to-day management of the Communication Management degree program. This role requires a broad understanding of the communication industry. The primary responsibilities include overall program management, with emphasis on curriculum development; faculty selection and development; course scheduling and delivery; assessment; and program budget management, including enrollment goals. The Academic Director ensures that the content of the degree program and its concentrations is current, high quality, and meets the needs of employers and students. The Academic Director also works to ensure that the curriculum in each of the concentrations integrates with the program foundations courses, aligns with program outcomes, and is complementary where appropriate with courses in other concentrations within the program. Finally, the Director develops a deep understanding of the current market trends and strengths of the program and, in cooperation with industry advisors and faculty, creates, plans and implements a vision for where the program should be in the future with respect to industry demands and the changing dynamics of the communication field.

The Academic Director will engage in positive, productive, professional, and interpersonal relationships with academic advisors, instructional support specialists, instructional designers, enrollment and marketing staff, student services staff, senior management, and constituent departments campus-wide as well as with corporate partners and the community to assure quality course delivery, support student advising, address student issues, hire and provide support to faculty, and attract new students to the program. The successful candidate must be willing to be part of and promote an inclusive team and work culture. The Academic Director is also assigned a teaching load per academic year. The role has inherent responsibility to provide advising to students concerning the program and their careers as appropriate. In addition, the Academic Director represents the College at University and community events. The position is a full-time, benefited position and is a non-tenured, appointed faculty position in the teaching series.

Essential Functions

• The Academic Director and Teaching Professor is responsible for all content areas of the program, including the foundations courses, core concentration courses, and elective courses.
• Support and implement the strategic plan, mission, vision, and values of University College.
• Curriculum development, including clear learning objectives, and quality assessment.
• Identify and lead the development of new programmatic opportunities.
• Teach select courses in the Communication Management program.
• Faculty recruitment.
• Train and provide support for faculty to ensure engagement in best teaching practices and adherence to University College Baseline Faculty Expectations.
• Plan and implement the annual schedule, to include faculty assignments.
• Ensure high-quality course delivery and immediately address instructional issues that may arise.
• Review and approve student applicants.
• Ensure a high-quality student experience by promptly and effectively responding to student issues.
• Identify the knowledge and skills requirements for incoming students.
• Identify and enact measures to positively impact student success and retention.
• Investigate and help develop solutions to address gaps in preparedness of incoming students.
• Develop industry relationships to ensure the curriculum is responsive to employer needs and current with respect to industry-related best practices.
• In partnership with faculty, evaluate the program and lead program initiatives and new curriculum development.
• Engage in assessment reporting to assess the extent to which the program is meeting student learning outcomes.
• Assist with student recruiting.
• Maintain professional knowledge of key developments and trends in the communication field.
• Contribute to strategic initiatives such as the use of technology to enhance online instruction.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in Communication Management or a related discipline.
• 5 years of demonstrated professional experience within the fields of communication or related discipline.
• Evidence of teaching ability (for example through course and teacher evaluations).

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate degree in the field of academic concentration.
• 8+ years of experience in the higher education environment (administration or teaching).
• 8+ years of experience in management and/or leadership.
• Experience in the area of professional and continuing education.
• Curriculum development and assessment experience.
• Knowledge of best practices across face-to-face and online course delivery.
• Demonstrated experience and commitment to hiring faculty and recruiting students from diverse and varied backgrounds.

Application Deadline

For best consideration, please submit your application materials by Friday, February 1, 2019.

Special Instructions

Candidates must apply online through www.du.edu/jobs to be considered. Only applications submitted online will be accepted. Once within the job description online, please scroll to the bottom of the page to apply.