Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes

Job Description

Job Description

Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes 
D30: $155,000 – $160,000
Division of Academic Affairs 

301 W. State Street Trenton, NJ 08618

Thomas Edison State University was founded in 1972 to break down barriers to degree completion. Fifty years later, it proudly serves a diverse body of adult students with innovative and professionally relevant academic programming in a predominantly online delivery. Our team of high-energy student-focused professionals is welcoming new members who are making their mark in education and are ready to help change the lives of thousands of adult students across New Jersey and around the world.

Candidates who are excited by changing lives, committed to the success of all and want to be challenged by new and innovative opportunities, should submit an application.

About TESU:

TESU offers academic programs at the associates, bachelors, master’s, and doctoral level in addition to myriad certificate offerings. The University offers a new “semester” every month of the year with varying course length options and several modalities beyond a traditional online course structure. This makes TESU’s environment fast-paced and rapidly evolving to meet the needs of students. As such, the need for rapid curricular innovation and management must match the University’s operational tempo. 

Summary:

Under the direction of the Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes creates and executes the vision to advance course and program innovation, workforce responsiveness and academic curricular operations. This includes working collaboratively with the Deans to ideate and implement new programs in response to changing workforce economies as well as to liaise with relevant departments to ensure a coordinated, and timely, launch of new and revised academic programs.

The Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes shall be the primary liaison to the following entities and shall lead and coordination program launches ensuring a cohesive institutional rollout:

- Marketing and Communications

- Website

- Center for Teaching and Learning / Information Technology (Instructional Design)

- Communications

- Enrollment Management & Admissions

- Registrar

- Advising & Student Success

- Office of the Provost

The Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes supervises the Assistant Director of Strategic Initiatives as well as overseeing the University’s articulation agreement strategy with community colleges including 2+2, 3+1 and 3+2 agreements.

The Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes is also responsible for development and implementation of the University’s academic program review process, which requires a bespoke model relative to the non-traditional nature of TESU. 

The Associate Provost for Curriculum Innovation and Outcomes shall also serve as the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) Chair.

Job Duties:

- Provide leadership in advancing a culture of innovation and outcomes.

- Collaborate with Academic Deans, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and senior University leadership to identify, develop, and advance curricular innovation, ensuring that the academic portfolio remains responsive to the University’s strategic plan, evolving learner needs, workforce trends, and emerging fields of study.

- Serve as a senior Academic Affairs partner to the University’s Academic Schools, facilitating cross-school collaboration, addressing institutional academic priorities, and advancing initiatives requiring coordination across academic units.

- Provide executive-level coordination between Academic Affairs and both University Marketing, Web, and Social Media, ensuring that academic programs, initiatives, and value propositions are accurately and strategically positioned.

- Provide strategic leadership and oversight for the University’s Academic Program Review process, ensuring program quality, relevance, continuous improvement, and alignment with University priorities.

- Lead and coordinate Academic Affairs participation in high-priority state and workforce initiatives, including CREATENJ, NJPLAN, and other emerging initiatives that align higher education with statewide educational, economic, and workforce-development priorities.

- Develop and recommend institutional policies, strategies, and initiatives that advance curricular innovation, academic quality, flexible learning pathways, and responsiveness to changing student and workforce needs.

- Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges affecting the University’s academic portfolio and recommend strategic responses that strengthen academic relevance, institutional competitiveness, and long-term sustainability.

- Represent Academic Affairs on University-wide committees, strategic initiatives, and external partnerships, providing senior-level academic perspective and ensuring alignment with institutional mission, priorities, and academic standards.

- Serve as facilitator and/or liaison to various committees and task forces.

- Perform other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge Skills & Abilities:

- Demonstrated ability to build effective partnerships and exercise leadership across diverse academic disciplines, administrative units, and institutional functions, fostering collaboration and advancing shared University priorities.

- Exceptional executive-level written and oral communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information and effectively communicate strategies, findings, recommendations, and decisions to diverse internal and external constituencies.

- Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-divisional initiatives from conceptualization through implementation, establishing priorities, building consensus, managing competing interests, and achieving measurable institutional outcomes.

- Demonstrated expertise in designing, overseeing, and continuously improving complex academic and administrative processes, with an emphasis on effectiveness, scalability, accountability, and organizational efficiency.

- Comprehensive understanding of academic programs and organizational units, including their missions, strategic objectives, operational requirements, performance expectations, and contributions to broader institutional priorities.

- Broad understanding of the University’s mission, strategic direction, governance structure, organizational environment, and academic enterprise, with the ability to translate institutional priorities into actionable strategies and initiatives.

- Demonstrated ability to lead, develop, and manage professional staff, including establishing performance expectations, aligning individual and team goals with institutional priorities, evaluating performance, developing talent, and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

- Demonstrated ability to develop, evaluate, and recommend institutional and academic policies, considering strategic objectives, operational implications, regulatory requirements, academic quality, and stakeholder impact.

- Ability to exercise sound judgment and independent decision-making in complex and evolving environments, balancing academic priorities, institutional objectives, stakeholder interests, regulatory considerations, and available resources.

- Demonstrated capacity for strategic and systems-level thinking, including the ability to identify emerging opportunities, anticipate institutional challenges, and develop sustainable approaches that advance the University’s long-term goals.

- Ability to influence and lead across organizational boundaries, building consensus and advancing institutional priorities in environments where responsibility and authority are distributed across multiple academic and administrative units.

Requirements:

Education:   A Doctoral degree in an appropriate academic discipline.

- A minimum of five years of college-level teaching and/or administrative experience or equivalence as determined by the appointing authority. 

- A minimum of five years of experience in the area of higher education program development, workforce/higher education relationships or equivalence as determined by the appointing authority.

- Experience with collegiate-level online instruction.

- Experience liaising with multiple departments and project management.

Preferred Requirements:

- Experience driving innovative practices inside or related to higher education.

- Experience leading academic program reviews.

- Experience with marketing concepts for new academic programs.

- Experience with Instructure Canvas.

*TESU strives to offer a flexible work environment while balancing the operational needs of the University. As such, we have several options for hybrid-work schedules. Positions determine what type of hybrid-work schedule is available and, if necessary, adjustments are made to support University operations. 

Thomas Edison State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer