Program Director, RN to BSN Program, Jefferson College of Nursing, Thomas Jefferson University

Program Director For Online RN To BSN Program

Thomas Jefferson University seeks a strategic and experienced academic leader to serve as Program Director for the fully online, asynchronous RN to BSN Program, delivered collaboratively between the Jefferson College of Nursing (JCN) and the Jefferson College of Health Professions (JCHP). This is a full-time, 12-month faculty appointment that combines academic leadership, program oversight, and teaching.

The Program Director is responsible for leading a high-quality, scalable online program that meets the needs of working registered nurses while advancing Jefferson's mission, workforce commitments, and strategic growth priorities.

In this role, the Program Director provides integrated leadership across academic quality, enrollment growth, and operational execution. The Director ensures that the program remains responsive to a rapidly evolving healthcare and higher education landscape, while maintaining full alignment with accreditation standards and institutional expectations.

The position includes 0.60 FTE administrative leadership and 0.40 FTE faculty responsibilities, including teaching 23 courses annually in the online program.

Program Overview

The RN to BSN program is designed to support licensed registered nurses in completing the baccalaureate degree through a flexible, accessible, and career-aligned model. The program features:

• Fully online, asynchronous delivery
• 30-credit curriculum delivered in 8-week courses
• Flexible completion timeline (13 years)
• A capstone/practicum experience (45 hours) focused on leadership or community-based outcomes
• The program serves working nurses across Jefferson Health and external partners and is positioned for growth within a competitive national market.

Role Overview

The Program Director leads all aspects of program performance, with responsibility for ensuring a cohesive, high-quality student experience while advancing enrollment, retention, and financial sustainability. This role requires the ability to lead within a distributed, technology-enabled environment, manage complexity across multiple stakeholders, and drive continuous improvement using data and evidence.

The Director works closely with faculty, instructional designers, enrollment management, student services, and institutional leadership to ensure that the program operates effectively at scale and maintains strong alignment with workforce needs.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership, Growth, and Workforce Alignment

The Program Director is responsible for positioning the program for sustained growth and relevance within a competitive national landscape. This includes developing partnerships, expanding pipelines, and aligning the program with employer and workforce needs.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Developing and executing a multi-year strategic growth plan
• Expanding employer-based partnerships, including Jefferson Health and external organizations
• Monitoring market trends and competitor activity to maintain program differentiation
• Leading a program designed for scale, including management of multiple cohorts and course sections

Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success

The Director ensures that the program is designed and delivered in a way that supports adult learners and promotes student success in an online asynchronous environment.

Key responsibilities Include:

• Implementing strategies to improve: Retention and persistence Time to completion Graduation rates
• Ensuring alignment with the needs of working professionals, including flexibility and accessibility
• Monitoring student engagement, satisfaction, and progression data to inform continuous improvement

Financial and Operational Engagement

The Program Director maintains awareness of the financial and operational dimensions of the program to support informed academic leadership and alignment with institutional priorities.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Remaining informed about budgetary considerations as they relate to program planning and sustainability
• Communicating program needs and considerations related to: Course scheduling and delivery patterns Section size and instructional capacity Faculty workload distribution
• Offering program-level perspective to institutional partners engaged in enrollment forecasting, academic planning, and continuous improvement initiatives

Accreditation, Regulatory, and Compliance Oversight

The Director ensures that all aspects of the program meet accreditation and regulatory expectations, with particular attention to academic quality in online education.

Key responsibilities Include:

• Maintaining compliance with CCNE accreditation standards
• Leading accreditation processes, including self-study and reporting
• Ensuring alignment with current AACN Essentials
• Supporting continuous quality improvement through data, evaluation, and documentation

Curriculum Leadership and Online Academic Quality

The Program Director provides leadership for a fully online, asynchronous curriculum that is high-quality, rigorous, coherent, and aligned with professional standards.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Overseeing curriculum design, implementation, and evaluation
• Ensuring alignment with workforce needs and institutional goals
• Establishing consistent standards for asynchronous course delivery, including: Faculty presence Timely feedback Student engagement
• Collaborating with instructional design and academic technology teams to support course quality and innovation
• Ensuring teaching-learning practices support student achievement

Clinical/Practicum Oversight

Although the program is fully online, it includes a required applied learning experience. The Program Director ensures the quality, consistency, and integrity of this component.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Overseeing the capstone/practicum (45 hours) experience
• Ensuring alignment with leadership and community-based outcomes
• Standardizing expectations, documentation, and evaluation processes
• Maintaining compliance with institutional and accreditation requirements

Faculty Leadership and Online Teaching Excellence

The Program Director leads faculty in delivering high-quality, asynchronous online education.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Recruiting and mentoring faculty
• Ensuring faculty competency in: Asynchronous teaching and facilitation Student engagement and presence Assessment and feedback practices
• Promoting a culture of accountability and continuous improvement

Interprofessional and Institutional Collaboration

The Director plays a key role in coordinating across colleges and institutional units to support program success.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Leading collaboration between JCN and JCHP
• Partnering with enrollment management, marketing, instructional designers, and student services
• Engaging enterprise partners to strengthen workforce alignment

Teaching Responsibilities

The Program Director maintains an active faculty role by teaching in the program and contributing to course content development.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Teach 23 courses annually in the fully online, asynchronous RN to BSN program
• Demonstrate excellence in online teaching
• Participate in course content development and continuous improvement

Qualifications Required:

Earned doctorate in nursing or a related field

Earned Graduate degree in Nursing

Eligible for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher

Current, unencumbered PA RN license (or eligibility as required)

Demonstrated experience teaching in an online, asynchronous environment

Knowledge of accreditation, curriculum design, and program evaluation

Demonstrated ability to use data to inform decision-making

Experience working with adult and working learners

Qualifications Preferred:

Progressive academic leadership experience with increasing responsibility

Experience leading or scaling an online academic program

Experience with workforce partnerships and enrollment growth strategies

Experience with employer-funded education models

Experience collaborating with instructional design teams

Record of scholarship, service, and professional engagement

Work Environment and Expectations

This is a 12-month faculty position supporting a fully online program. While the program is delivered asynchronously, the role requires engagement across three campuses for leadership, collaboration, and institutional responsibilities.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to lead in a distributed, technology-enabled environment, balancing strategic leadership with operational execution.

Interested candidates should submit on-line application/CV/Cover Letter detailing specific teaching and clinical experience, and areas of scholarship and service; then enter in search box Job ID # REQ-0030659