The Programs and Services unit seeks a dynamic and visionary director who can collaborate with and guide campus leaders and key stakeholders on emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities that may shape the future of postsecondary education and training across the West. This role offers an exceptional opportunity for a strategic leader who excels at balancing forward-thinking innovation with practical program delivery.

As the Director of Academic Partnerships, Learning, and Development, you will oversee current initiatives and design new programming to support the professional development of college and university leaders while addressing the evolving needs of postsecondary institutions. A central aspect of this role involves fostering and managing several leadership groups and communities of practice, creating collaborative spaces and active networks that provide real-world solutions and deepen leaders' understanding of postsecondary education policies and practices.

Key Focus Areas:

Advancing leadership development and professional networks. Promoting student success via interstate and inter-institutional partnerships. Enhancing campus policies, student outcomes, institutional efficiency, and workforce development. Supporting credit transfer and learner mobility across institutions and states. Expanding educational access in rural and remote communities.  

The director will build and sustain strong relationships with campus leaders, state and federal agency representatives, foundations, and regional and national education organizations. In addition, they will lead grant-funded projects, develop impactful concept papers, and collaborate with WICHE colleagues and external partners to address regional and national priorities in higher education.

This role calls for a curious, strategic thinker deeply committed to advancing access and innovation in postsecondary education and training to drive meaningful change across the region for all its residents.

The Programs and Services Unit

The Director of Academic Partnerships, Learning, and Development is housed within the Programs and Services Unit at WICHE, which is where students thrive and institutional leaders collaborate. The unit’s primary goals are to broaden student access and success and to foster higher education collaborations that address institutional strategic goals. The Programs and Services unit manages WICHE’s three Student Access Programs and other initiatives that help institutions and students — undergraduate, graduate, and health professional — save money and efficiently use available resources. The unit also oversees initiatives that bring together the West’s higher education leaders to address shared goals and concerns and develop a new cadre of college and university leaders. The Programs and Services unit notes when a particular topic or issue warrants further exploration. The unit works with campus leaders to create communities of practice, often grant-funded, to examine these issues and explore solutions. Additionally, the unit helps institutions achieve cost savings through several programs in collaboration with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), which created and administers the joint purchasing programs.

Responsibilities
LEADERSHIP (30%)

Inspirational Leadership

Demonstrate a deep commitment to expanding the membership-based and leadership development programs within the programs and services unit designed for chief academic officers, their team members, and faculty at colleges and universities across the region. The Western Academic Leadership Forum: The Forum is a member-based leadership development network for chief academic leaders at four-year institutions. It allows leaders to discuss strategies and solutions to current higher education issues. Forum membership includes a range of institutional types (doctoral, comprehensive, and baccalaureate) and is situated in various geographical settings (college towns, metropolitan, and rural).   The Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leaders: The Alliance is a member-based leadership development network for chief academic leaders at two-year institutions. Like the Forum, Alliance members connect online and in person to discuss postsecondary challenges and opportunities. They leverage their shared knowledge to develop unique solutions that honor their missions and locations.  The Western Academic Leadership Academy: The Leadership Academy is a yearlong leadership development and mentoring program for those who hold a title within Academic Affairs and aspire to be a chief academic officer. The WICHE Academy for Leaders in the Humanities is a Mellon Foundation-funded leadership development fellowship for senior humanities faculty who are emerging academic administrators.  Practice actively promoting the current programs and any newly developed programming. Inspire WICHE staff and network members by explaining the value proposition of leadership development programs. Identify learning and development trends relevant to postsecondary leaders and develop plans that address those needs. Provide effective and thoughtful leadership by building strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including campus leaders, higher education organization and foundation team members, and interstate compact staff, with a strong emphasis on access and success while continually reinforcing WICHE’s mission. Contribute to the Unit’s Strategic Vision Address programmatic needs, staffing, training, infrastructure, and system needs that will help the unit uphold its values, implement its annual work plan, and support the WICHE mission, focusing on continuous quality improvement. Develop and implement proposals, business plans, or curricular concepts, with the vice president’s approval, to create leader and leadership development programs for institutional stakeholders and leaders. Thought Leadership and Scholarly Activity Offer thought leadership (presentations, white papers, guidebooks, articles, book chapters, and other works) related to unit research and activities, as needed. Be a lifelong learner of policy and practices—administration, programmatic, organizational culture, and capacity-building—impacting postsecondary education access and success. Maintain a healthy attitude around red, blue, and purple strategies for networks, programming, and leadership development.  

MANAGEMENT (15%)

Program Oversight and Operations

Collaborate with the vice president, unit operations and budget lead, other unit director(s), and direct reports to strengthen programmatic policies, processes, and infrastructure. Develop and manage program budgets to ensure high-quality program delivery and compliance with said funds.  Effectively communicate clear program goals and drive those goals to completion. Plan, convene, and facilitate meetings for program stakeholders (i.e., executive committees, institutional faculty and administrative staff, and industry experts). Seek out regionally and nationally acclaimed speakers for meetings and special sessions. Work closely with the unit operations and budget lead to present an annual programmatic budget to the vice president, programs and services. Annually evaluate and present to the vice president the sponsorship plan team members will use to solicit meeting support from institutional, state, and corporate groups. Manage the governance of leadership development networks; review and update program governance documents, such as Alliance and Forum by-laws. 

Marketing

Identify target audiences for Academic Partnerships initiatives and programming. Draft and share with WICHE Communications critical statements and messaging pertinent to target audiences. Work with WICHE Communications and external consultants to create compelling marketing materials that explain the value and importance of meetings and convenings. Meeting and Programming Assessments and Surveys Report member and program participant satisfaction, interest, and needs survey results to the vice president Assess program effectiveness based on data collection and analysis to strengthen program service quality.  Draft project guidelines and reports (include the initial project goals, outcomes, proposed next steps, and budget-to-actuals) for the vice president, programs and services review and approval; note the need for these guidelines and reports to be consumed by external entities, i.e., foundation program officers.  

OUTREACH (45%)

External Relations

Strengthen programmatic and stakeholder partnerships, including special projects that enhance programs through communication campaigns and other practices. Solicit and motivate representatives from higher education institutions, system offices, and state agencies to contribute to projects and activities. Attend national, regional, and state meetings and conferences representing the programs and services unit and WICHE. Maintain relationships with national funding agencies, professional associations, non-profit peer groups, and current sponsorship bases. Internal Process Development and Implementation Draft concept papers for the vice president’s review and identification of potential funding sources. Lead and manage complex, collaborative grant-funded projects as the co-principal investigator or program manager (e.g., WICHE Institute for Leaders). Document processes that enable the programs and services unit to coordinate funding opportunities. Supervise, including staff management and consultant agreements, grants, and sub-awards from external agencies.  

PERSONNEL (5%)

Staff Relations

Value and appreciate the strengths of the unit’s staff. Consult with the vice president to clarify WICHE policies and practices. Direct and oversee the work product of staff, consultants, and other advisors. Clarify expectations, work standards, and evaluation processes for staff, consultants, and other advisors.

Functional Areas Responsible For

The director has one direct report, Manager, Community Engagement and Development. The following functional areas are the director’s responsibility, and three WICHE team members, consultants, and facilitators staff these programs: Western Academic Leadership Forum Western Alliance of Community College Academic Leader WICHE Institute for Leaders in the Humanities Western Academic Leadership Academy

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES (5%)

Support and promote social impact work within the programs and services unit. Other duties as assigned.  

Required Education, Skills, and Experience
Doctorate in a relevant field (e.g., education, public administration, organizational design or development, or public policy). Ability to plan and conduct learner-centered meetings for individuals and teams. Possess a commitment to collaborate with people working and leading in and around academic and administrative functions, higher education state structures, and related policy issues. Experience in survey methodology and tactics. Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills to effectively communicate, facilitate conversations, and develop partnerships with senior management, staff, and all external stakeholders; think critically when writing or speaking about the higher education environment. Self-motivated, results-driven, detail-oriented, and resilient. Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective, cooperative, and cordial working relationships internally and externally. Strong analytical and management skills with the ability to continuously re-evaluate priorities.  Proven ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion. Exceptional computer skills with the ability to learn and use new software and platforms.

Preferred Skills and Experience

Demonstrated success in developing grant proposals and budgets for federal and state agencies and foundations and managing grants and contracts. Superior project management of cloud-based database or relationship management systems with internal staff and technical consultants developing and maintaining those systems. Published professional writing on higher education policy and practice. Recent professional experience in higher education in a position requiring leadership and innovation in a multiple institution or multi-state environment.  

Travel
Travel required to regional and national meetings (approximately two to four trips per year) and periodic travel (approximately two to four trips per year) associated with project/program management.