Director of Curriculum, Assessment & Academic

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary:

The Director of Curriculum, Assessment & Academic Quality provides University-wide leadership for curriculum management, academic assessment, program review, course development and revision, and continuous academic improvement at Salem University.

Working closely with the Provost, academic Deans and Directors, faculty, Institutional Effectiveness, Registrar, instructional design personnel, and other University stakeholders, the Director establishes and maintains systematic processes to ensure academic programs and courses are current, coherent, appropriately assessed, and aligned with institutional expectations, accreditation requirements, workforce needs, and student-learning goals.

The Director serves as the primary coordinator for the University Curriculum Committee (UCC) and leads University processes related to curriculum development and approval, assessment of student learning, academic program review, course development and redevelopment, and documentation of continuous improvement.

The Director also supports innovation in teaching and learning, including the responsible and academically appropriate integration of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies into curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The duties listed below are representative of the responsibilities of this position. Additional duties may be assigned based on departmental or organizational needs.

Curriculum Management & Governance

• Coordinate and facilitate the University Curriculum Committee (UCC), including proposal workflows, agendas, supporting documentation, meeting materials, approvals, records, and follow-up.
• Maintain a comprehensive University curriculum calendar and ensure curriculum proposals progress through established approval processes.
• Establish and maintain standards, templates, procedures, and documentation for new and revised courses, programs, certificates, concentrations, and other curricular offerings.
• Review curriculum proposals for completeness, consistency, appropriate documentation, and alignment with established University requirements prior to governance review.
• Support academic Deans, Directors, and faculty in developing new academic programs and substantive curriculum revisions.
• Maintain accurate documentation of curriculum approvals and coordinate implementation with the Registrar and other appropriate University offices.
• Review academic catalog content related to curriculum for accuracy and consistency in collaboration with the Registrar and regulatory or compliance personnel.
• Identify opportunities to improve curriculum governance, approval processes, documentation, and implementation.

Course Development & Academic Quality

• Establish and manage an annual course-development and redevelopment schedule in collaboration with academic leadership and instructional design personnel.
• Coordinate the systematic review and updating of existing courses.
• Support academic departments in ensuring course content, learning outcomes, instructional materials, assessments, and course design remain current and appropriate.
• Establish expectations and processes for course development and revision.
• Monitor completion of assigned course-development and redevelopment projects.
• Collaborate with instructional design personnel and academic leadership to promote consistency and quality in course design.
• Support alignment among course learning outcomes, program learning outcomes, instructional activities, and assessments.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen course quality, instructional effectiveness, and student learning.

Assessment of Student Learning

• Lead Salem University's academic assessment cycle.
• Establish and maintain University expectations, schedules, templates, and documentation standards for assessment of student learning.
• Support academic programs in developing and maintaining measurable program and course learning outcomes.
• Coordinate curriculum mapping and alignment of learning outcomes across academic programs.
• Guide academic programs in developing assessment plans, identifying appropriate measures, analyzing findings, and establishing improvement actions.
• Monitor completion of required academic assessment activities and documentation.
• Assist academic leaders and faculty in interpreting assessment findings and translating results into meaningful academic improvements.
• Ensure evidence of assessment findings, actions, and subsequent improvement is appropriately documented.
• Provide training and resources to faculty and academic leadership regarding learning outcomes, assessment practices, curriculum mapping, and continuous improvement.

Academic Program Review

• Lead the academic component of the University's annual and comprehensive academic program-review processes.
• Develop and maintain program-review schedules, templates, expectations, procedures, and completion tracking.
• Coordinate with academic Deans, Directors, and faculty throughout the program-review process.
• Partner with Institutional Effectiveness to incorporate established institutional and program data into academic program review, including enrollment, retention, persistence, completion, student-learning outcomes, licensure outcomes, financial sustainability, and other approved indicators.
• Assist academic leaders in interpreting program-review findings and developing appropriate improvement strategies.
• Monitor completion of program-review action plans and maintain evidence demonstrating progress and continuous improvement.
• Identify recurring academic trends or concerns emerging through program review and communicate findings to the Provost and appropriate academic leadership.

Academic Quality & Continuous Improvement

• Meet regularly with academic Deans and Directors to review assessment findings, program KPIs, course-evaluation results, program-review findings, and other indicators of academic quality.
• Assist academic leaders in developing measurable continuous-improvement action plans.
• Monitor academic action plans and maintain documentation demonstrating implementation and outcomes.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen academic programs, curriculum, student learning, and academic processes.
• Promote systematic use of evidence in academic planning and decision-making.
• Support University initiatives designed to strengthen academic quality and student outcomes.
• Provide the Provost with regular updates regarding curriculum, assessment, program review, and academic quality initiatives.

Artificial Intelligence & Academic Innovation

• Advance the responsible integration of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies into curriculum, teaching, learning, and assessment.
• Partner with academic leaders and faculty to identify appropriate academic applications of AI and emerging technologies.
• Develop or coordinate guidance, resources, and recommended practices supporting ethical and academically sound use of AI.
• Support faculty development related to AI-assisted teaching, learning, assessment, and course development.
• Assist academic programs in evaluating how emerging technologies affect curriculum, learning outcomes, workforce expectations, and disciplinary practices.
• Collaborate with appropriate University stakeholders regarding academic integrity and responsible use of emerging technologies.
• Monitor developments in teaching, learning, assessment, and educational technology and identify appropriate opportunities for academic innovation.

Accreditation & Regulatory Support

• Support institutional and programmatic accreditation through organized documentation of curriculum, assessment, program review, and continuous improvement.
• Coordinate curriculum and academic assessment documentation required for accreditation and regulatory submissions in collaboration with appropriate University offices.
• Maintain organized evidence demonstrating curriculum oversight, student-learning assessment, academic review, and continuous improvement.
• Assist academic programs in preparing evidence related to curriculum and assessment for accreditation reviews.
• Support responses to accreditation findings or recommendations involving curriculum, assessment, or academic quality.
• Maintain awareness of accreditation expectations affecting curriculum, student-learning assessment, and academic program review.

Systems & Institutional Collaboration

• Partner with the Director of Institutional Effectiveness on the effective use of Watermark for academic assessment and program review.
• Define academic requirements, workflows, assessment processes, and documentation needs within institutional effectiveness systems.
• Collaborate with Institutional Effectiveness regarding data and reporting needed to support academic assessment and program review.
• Work closely with the Registrar to ensure approved curriculum is accurately reflected in University records and publications.
• Collaborate with instructional design personnel regarding course development, redevelopment, and academic quality.
• Work across academic and administrative departments to improve processes supporting curriculum and academic quality.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Provost.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in Higher Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Assessment, Educational Leadership, or a related field.
• Minimum of five years of progressively responsible higher education experience.
• Demonstrated experience with curriculum development and curriculum-management processes.
• Demonstrated experience with assessment of student learning, learning outcomes, and curriculum mapping.
• Experience with academic program review and continuous-improvement processes.
• Experience supporting institutional or programmatic accreditation.
• Experience working collaboratively with faculty and academic committees.
• Demonstrated project-management experience and ability to manage complex initiatives from planning through implementation.
• Strong written, verbal, facilitation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience with learning management systems, assessment-management systems, or related higher education technologies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in Higher Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, Assessment, or a related field.
• Previous leadership experience involving curriculum, assessment, academic quality, or institutional effectiveness.
• Experience coordinating a University or college curriculum committee.
• Experience administering or supporting Watermark or a comparable assessment and program-review platform.
• Experience designing and managing comprehensive academic program-review processes.
• Experience supporting regional and/or programmatic accreditation.
• Experience developing faculty training related to curriculum, assessment, course design, or academic quality.
• Experience with online and/or hybrid curriculum and course development.
• Experience supporting the responsible integration of artificial intelligence or emerging technologies into higher education teaching and learning.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described below are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position.

• Prolonged periods of sitting and working at a computer.
• Frequent use of computers, learning management systems, assessment platforms, telephone, and virtual meeting technology.
• Ability to review and analyze detailed academic documentation and electronic information for extended periods.
• Ability to facilitate meetings, presentations, training sessions, and committee activities.
• Ability to communicate effectively through written, verbal, presentation, and virtual communication platforms.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Work Environment

This position operates primarily in a professional academic and technology-based environment and requires frequent interaction with faculty, academic leadership, Institutional Effectiveness, the Registrar, instructional design personnel, and other University stakeholders.

The position requires regular participation in academic governance meetings, assessment activities, program reviews, faculty-development initiatives, and accreditation-related activities.

Workload may increase during curriculum approval cycles, academic program reviews, accreditation activities, course-development periods, and other academic deadlines.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Salem University is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Job Description Disclaimer

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by individuals assigned to this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Salem University reserves the right to modify responsibilities as institutional needs evolve.