Director, National Defense Education Initiatives

The Office of National Defense Initiatives (NDI) is KU's central connector for education programming, research development, and strategic partnerships with the Department of Defense, military services, intelligence community, and related federal, state, and corporate partners.

The Director, National Defense Education Initiatives is NDI’s primary outward-facing education leader. The Director anticipates emerging education and workforce needs of the DoD, military services, graduate and undergraduate PME institutions, and returning veterans; translates those needs into partnership and program opportunities; and convenes academic units and university partners to act on them. The Director builds education partnerships, leads development of defense- and national-security-aligned pathways, connects students and veterans to career-relevant opportunities, and manages assigned grants and projects.

The Director works across academic units, the Military-Affiliated Student Center, the Office of Research, enrollment and advising offices, and external partners. The Director represents KU in assigned education-facing partnerships; may act for the Assistant Vice Chancellor for National Defense Initiatives on delegated matters; supervises assigned staff; and manages assigned project resources.

The Director, National Defense Education Initiatives is a 1.0 FTE Unclassified Professional Staff position within the Office of Academic Affairs. The position reports to the Assistant Vice Chancellor for National Defense Initiatives and serves at the pleasure of the Provost and the Chancellor.

• Monitor DoD, military-service, national-security, and returning-veteran education needs; use partner engagement, market signals, and outcome data to recommend priorities for NDI’s education portfolio.
• Serve as KU’s education liaison to assigned DoD organizations, military services, undergraduate PME institutions, service universities, military education centers, Geographic Combatant Command Academic Alliance partners, and other government or national-security partners.
• Develop and steward education-facing partnership agreements, partner visits, briefings, convenings, and communications that strengthen KU’s role as a trusted academic partner.
• Convene academic units and university services to assess partner needs, identify KU capabilities, and develop responsive education, credential, and learning-pathway concepts.
• Work with undergraduate PME institutions, service universities, military education centers, and KU academic units to develop or improve undergraduate education programs, stackable credentials, and learning pathways aligned with mission needs and KU strengths.
• Facilitate appropriate recognition of military education, training, and experience through established KU transfer-credit and prior-learning processes; preserve academic-unit and faculty-governance authority for curricular decisions.
• Coordinate education planning for approved military or partner locations, including instructional support, faculty orientation, student access, and academic-calendar alignment.

• Build partnerships with defense-industry employers, government organizations, alumni, and workforce intermediaries to identify priority talent needs and expand internships, applied-learning projects, fellowships, mentoring, and career pathways.
• Connect students and returning veterans with education and career opportunities in public service, federal employment, and defense-industry fields; coordinate with the…