Program Director of OTA

The Program Director for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is a faculty position responsible for the management and administration of the program, including planning, evaluation, budgeting, selection of faculty and staff, maintenance of accreditation, and commitment to strategies for professional development.

Increase your chances of an interview by reading the following overview of this role before making an application.

Job Description

Program Accreditor-Specific

• Adherence to the ACOTE definition of Release Time, assigned as the instructor-of-record for a maximum of 18 credits per academic year equivalent to a 60% allocation of release time for each term or semester.
• If teaching two or more courses during the academic year, maintain written professional growth and development plans (see Professional Development Plans in ACOTE standards of accreditation).
• Engage in professional development specific to the occupational therapy assistant profession, subject matter expertise, and content delivery methods.
• Maintain continuing education (CE) hours to ensure renewed OT or OTA licensure.
• Ensure oversight of curriculum design to meet program accreditation standards.

Promote Excellence in Teaching

• KPI : Achieve an overall student satisfaction level of at least 85% on all comprehensive student surveys.
• Coordinate accreditation, program review, and assessment activities required for compliance with institutional accreditation standards and academic program accreditor (as applicable) standards.
• Conduct periodic evaluation of academic program outcomes and write program evaluation plans (PEP).
• Conduct instructor observation(s) in an objective, unbiased, nonthreatening manner pertaining to quality and scope of instructional delivery.
• Participate in course and program orientation for new students.
• Maintain a schedule of student representative meetings, document meeting minutes and write action plans based on student feedback.
• Coordinate the academic honors program for students.

Distance Education

• Exercise oversight of established occupational therapy assistant program policy and procedures and curriculum design.
• Provide mentorship to the core faculty and academic fieldwork coordinators to maintain diverse teaching methodology utilization and to drive continuous quality improvement.

Strategic Planning

• KPI : Achieve 70% participation rate on all student surveys (course-end and functional).
• KPI : Maintain a New Student retention rate of 92%.
• Initiate curriculum changes to maintain high quality academic program(s).
• Ensure faculty documentation of teachers required for compliance with institutional accreditation standards.
• Coordinate supply and equipment ordering and maintenance to meet program(s) objectives.
• Provide mentorship to teachers and externship coordinators to maintain student retention.
• Participate in new student enrollment activities.
• Coordinate teaching assignments.

Management of Faculty and Staff

• KPI : Maintain 90-day teacher retention.
• Communicate professionally and respectfully with internal and external college stakeholders.
• Participate in advising students.
• Monitor course attendance and ensure that all attendance is entered in accordance with college policy.
• Collaborate with the regional dean of allied health, the associate dean or dean to develop and promote internal communication.
• Conduct quarterly faculty meetings and document meeting minutes.
• Provide ongoing supervision of academic fieldwork coordinators.
• Participate in the search process for new members of the faculty and staff.
• Facilitate orientation for new members of the faculty and staff.
• Provide instructional support to students and refer to student advisors as needed.

Student Success Planning

• KPI : Maintain Retention / Graduation outcomes according to institutional accreditation standards or program accreditation standards, or both as applicable.
• Utilize feedback and data-driven decision-making strategies to evaluate the impact of fieldwork course outcomes regularly.
• Participate in accreditation and program reviews, required for compliance with institutional and program accreditors standards.
• Maintain an inclusive college environment that celebrates and promotes understanding and respect for a diverse student body, academic staff, and community.
• Manage student retention with data-informed strategies to achieve accreditor benchmarks and college budget / metrics.
• Manage local retention plan.
• Participate in the student re-entry process.
• Engage in student advising managing communication processes to identify and respond to all students.

Customer Service

• Demonstrate sensitivity and understanding of all college students and faculty with diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds.
• Meet with prospective students engaged in the pre-enrollment process.
• Other duties as assigned.

Fieldwork Course Management

• Maintain contact with hiring managers to promote externship opportunities and extern-to-hire.
• Partner with career services staff to identify externship opportunities and to match students to appropriate externship sites leading to employment.
• Manage affiliation agreement procurement process to support the externship course requirement.
• Monitor extern attendance and ensure that all extern assignments are completed in accordance with curriculum standards.
• Maintain a schedule of externship site visits (online / remote or in-person) to review the quality of externship opportunities and evaluate student learning experiences.

Qualifications

Education and Experience :

• Master’s degree (minimum requirement) awarded by an institution accredited by a United States Department of Education-recognized institutional accrediting agency, required.
• Active, unencumbered license as an occupational therapist (OT) or certified occupational therapy assistant (COTA) in the state where the program is approved to enroll students, required.
• Two (2) years of experience in a full-time academic appointment with teaching responsibilities at the postsecondary level.
• Five (5) years of experience in the field of occupational therapy, of which experience must include :
• Clinical practice as an occupational therapist or certified occupational therapy assistant.
• Administrative experience including, but not limited to, program planning and implementation, personnel management, evaluation, and budgeting.
• Scholarship (e.g., scholarship of application, scholarship of teaching and learning).
• Understanding of and experience with occupational therapy assistants.
• Previous experience with academic program planning and evaluation, and faculty and staff management, preferred.
• Documented expertise in the area(s) of teaching responsibility, content delivery system, and teaching methodology.
• Demonstrated experience with professional communication, both orally and in writing, organizational and prioritization skills, and multitasking, required.

Additional Information

We Offer :

• Medical, Dental and Vision starting the 1st of the month following 30 days of employment
• 2 Weeks’ starting Vacation per year. Increasing based on years of service with company
• 12 paid Holidays and 2 Floating Holidays
• 401K with a Company Match
• Company Paid Life Insurance at 1x’s your annual salary
• Leadership development and training for career advancement
• Tuition assistance and Forgiveness for you and your family up to 100% depending on the program

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