Director of Academic Programs and Program Innovation

Founded in 1965,
UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs.

It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide.

To learn more about UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

The Division of Continuing Education is an environment that celebrates diversity of background and experience and one that leverages the unique talents and strengths of staff to achieve greater employee satisfaction, higher productivity, and innovation. We strive to be a place where staff feel that they are equitably treated, respected, heard, valued, and enabled to do their best work while contributing to the organization's mission and vision.

The Academic Programs unit leads the program development and delivery of DCE open enrollment courses and programs targeted to a wide range of professional audiences and industries. The unit is responsible for leading academic governance and oversight, course development, strategic scheduling and all other administrative operations in support of the delivery of courses online and in-person. The unit actively collaborates with external subject matter experts, internal partners and initiates and consults with advisory boards.

The unit actively partners and consults with professional associations, licensing bodies and internal campus partners (divisions and schools). The unit recruits and hires professional instructors, provides coaching and professional development, and ensures learners have exceptional learning experiences that adhere to high academic quality standards. The unit is responsible for ensuring all programs and courses align with workforce development objectives and goals established in the division's five-year strategic plan.

This unit oversees the creation of programs leveraging non-credit professional courses, certificate programs (degree credit and non-credit) and degree-credit courses available to non-matriculated learners.

Under the direction of the Associate Dean of the Division of Continuing Education (DCE), the Director of Academic Programs & Program Innovation is responsible for overseeing the activities of public education professionals, academic programs, and management of unit’s day to day activities. The Director is responsible for ensuring that all programs are learner-centered, aligned to industry and/or professional association needs and adhere to established academic and service quality standards..

The Director, in consultation with the Associate Dean, establishes short and long-term goals and priorities for domestic open enrollment programs and collaborates on program development and oversees the delivery of courses, workshops and programs. Establishes goals, expectations and objectives and evaluates the performance of the academic programs team, including Program Managers and indirectly, instructional designers and program coordinators. Leads, supports and motivates the Program Managers, ensuring close attention is paid to curriculum quality and maintenance, industry alignment, instructor performance, relationships with professional associations and overall learner and instructor experience.

. Recommends changes to department policies and practices. Responsible for collaborating across teams and cultivating and…