Curriculum And Academic Operations Manager

Job Description

CURRICULUM AND ACADEMIC OPERATIONS MANAGER

Req #: 240670 Department: UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Appointing Department Web Address: https://honors.uw.edu/ Job Location: Seattle Campus Posting Date: 11/06/2024 Closing Info: Open Until Filled Salary: $5,819 - $6,415 per month Other Compensation: Shift: First Shift Benefits: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here.
Although open until filled, priority date is 11/20. As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills, and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.
The University Honors Program, a unit of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, has an outstanding opportunity for a Curriculum and Academic Operations Manager to join our team.
Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) shapes, advances and stewards a world-class undergraduate academic experience for students at the University of Washington. Staff, faculty and students in UAA deepen and enrich the learning experience for all undergraduates, recognizing and supporting the unique learning path of each individual student and the commitment of each academic program to excellence in learning and teaching.
The University Honors Program stewards innovative academic experiences featuring experiential learning, an interdisciplinary curriculum, and structured reflection. Students can pursue Honors as a general education track, an in-depth program within their majors, or a combination of the two. We prepare our students to ask and answer bold questions about the challenges facing our ever-changing world through participation in small classes with faculty from across campus, and by challenging themselves and each other to take intellectual risks and commit to conscious global engagement. The Honors staff supports these aims, serving approximately 1400 students each year in partnership with faculty, administrators, and other staff across campus and in the broader community. As an integral member of our team, the Honors Curriculum and Academic Operations Manager will join a staff community that models program values of deep curiosity about the world and the interdependence of all branches of knowledge; engagement with the complexities of difference and diversity; and pursuit of a life of continuous learning and personal growth.
The University Honors Program Curriculum and Academic Operations Manager directs the Program’s Interdisciplinary Honors curriculum, manages program operations and processes, and provides administrative oversight of Departmental Honors offerings across the UW Seattle campus. It generates strategic plans for these areas and creates relationships and processes to enact them. They are responsible for outreach and partnering across all three University of Washington campuses in order to build the Honors Program curriculum. The position is the subject-matter expert with oversight of the design and implementation of the Interdisciplinary Honors curriculum, including independent decision-making about curriculum policy, hiring, budgeting, and course logistics. The position directs outreach and recruitment of faculty and new course proposals, and leads communication with faculty and academic administrative staff to determine course compensation and initiate/process teaching appointments. They are responsible for programmatic management and operations, administrative coordination and planning, and office processes. The position additionally manages the Program’s administrative supervision of Departmental Honors offerings.
This position is central to the operations of the Honors Program, directly impacting the education of all 1,400+ active Honors Program students, serving as the primary contact for the 75+ Honors Program faculty per year, intersecting with all Honors Program staff, and ensuring timely and accurate procedures, information, and responses to all 1,400 current Honors Program students and the more than 10,000 prospective student applicants and families, while regularly partnering across the University of Washington. Now in its 63rd year, the University Honors Program oversees three diploma distinctions– Interdisciplinary, Departmental, and College Honors–that students can earn at UW Seattle. Interdisciplinary Honors contributes an annually-curated curriculum of unique and innovative courses to undergraduate general education at the University of Washington, while more than 100 Departmental Honors offerings across all UW Seattle undergraduate colleges and schools provide students with opportunities for close faculty mentorship, research, and other forms of deep disciplinary exploration within their major. The position is essential to recruiting and appointing faculty to teach in the program and ensuring a positive experience for faculty and their respective academic units, as well as ensuring a varied and pedagogically current curriculum for students. The position is responsible for maintaining clear communication and productive relationships with the 100+ departments across the Seattle campus that offer Departmental Honors programs. The position also sits on a number of campus and external committees and workgroups to advance the work of undergraduate interdisciplinary education and student engagement in initiatives across the tri-campus system.
Under the supervision of the Honors Program Director, this position will have the following responsibilities:
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Annual Curriculum Planning & Implementation (25%)

Direct the annual curriculum programming to create an yearly course lineup for the Interdisciplinary Honors program. Promote and support the development of 60-75 innovative on-campus and study abroad courses that align with program curriculum requirements and values and fulfill University of Washington undergraduate general education requirements. Oversee a rotating lineup of instructors from varied departments throughout the course creation and teaching process. Lead closely coordinated and time-sensitive processes to ensure accurate and efficient administrative oversight of the annual course lineup.

Direct recruitment of a diverse and inclusive pool of faculty to contribute courses to the Interdisciplinary Honors curriculum via engagement with 140+ academic units across the three University of Washington campuses and with community partners. With a deep understanding of the academic department landscape, build relationships with scholars and academics across the university and throughout the broader community to implement a strategic faculty recruitment plan. Develop, maintain, and administer the course proposal system and calendar to guide faculty recruitment and communication strategy.

Provide guidance and support to prospective faculty at the course proposal stage, based on expertise and understanding of higher education and honors education best practices and trends, and consult to create withered/jointly listed courses and courses with Honors Program student sections, ensuring pedagogical alignment with Interdisciplinary Honors requirements.

Evaluate and provide feedback on the approximately 100 courses and study abroad proposals to create the academic year and summer/early fall course lineup in close consultation with the Director and Interdisciplinary Honors Curriculum Committee. Manage the annual evaluation of course proposals by the Interdisciplinary Honors Curriculum Committee.

Manage the Interdisciplinary Honors curriculum budget used to compensate academic units whose faculty are released for temporary appointments to teach in the Honors Program.

Maintain and manage regular communication with the Director, Financial Manager and UAA HR Manager required for timely curriculum budget planning and decision making. Provide reports and recommendations to the Honors Director and Assistant Directors on the effectiveness and efficiency of the annual curriculum budget.

Direct coordination with 10+ partner academic units offering Honors electives and English Composition courses, leading the search for new partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations with academic units.

Represent the Honors Program on UW-Seattle and tri-campus teaching and learning committees and subgroups, networking and providing subject matter expertise to advance undergraduate interdisciplinary learning and Program values and goals.

Assess course enrollment and programming and apply new approaches to continuously improve curriculum, programs, delivery, and to increase student/satisfaction, engagement and retention.
Program Operations (25%)

Manage day-to-day operations of the office, including develop and implement policies and procedures. Maintain appropriate resources and guidelines for support staff.

Oversee front desk functions and student staff, including hiring, onboarding, and allocation of duties.

Initiate and monitor spending and purchase requests. Work with faculty and staff to initiate reimbursements, monitor order requests, and other purchasing and reimbursement requests. Maintain purchasing records and work with Fiscal Managers to ensure procedure and policy compliance.

Maintain, document, and update standard operating procedures, educating staff on compliance and changes to UW, UAA, or Honors practices as needed for all office procedures, including but not limited to, room reservations, purchasing, and facilities.

Build and implement annual and quarterly processes to support and improve program operations and services. Create and maintain guides, resources, and websites for these processes.

Support annual freshmen and second-year admissions and scholarship application evaluation processes and the dispersal of program scholarships.

Coordinate program committees and meetings, including overseeing meeting logistics, monitoring projects, collecting and disseminating materials, and communicating outcomes to stakeholders.
Process Management and Course Logistics (20%)

Direct annual and quarterly processes and timelines to implement the annual course lineup, ensuring alignment with the Office of the Registrar’s deadlines, Time Schedule deadlines, Workday deadlines related to faculty appointment and compensation, and relevant Office of Academic Personnel (OAP) processes and deadlines. Liaise with partner academic units to ensure consistency and correct scheduling of courses that are jointly listed or withered in coordination.

Use discretion and independent decision-making to quickly solve faculty and course issues, including last minute cancellations and instructor replacement, strategizing to resolve time-sensitive problems and corrections across university systems and course registration processes.

Use special judgment and apply best practices to oversee and continuously improve all program-to-faculty communication, including pedagogical guidance, faculty orientation and workshops, course logistics and more.

Design curriculum for and lead curriculum development workshops and annual Honors faculty orientation.

Coordinate with campus partners like the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), Libraries, and other campus resources to provide inclusive pedagogy, course planning, and anti-bias training and support to Honors Program faculty.

Manage faculty inquiries, including assisting with classroom and business processes associated with special events such as guest speakers and experiential learning, and requests for information and resources.

Create and maintain a faculty resource website and a syllabus collection site.

Oversee Honors course evaluations and provide Honors-specific pedagogical instruction and guidance to faculty.

Guide faculty through financial processes, following unit norms and requirements.

Use discretion and special knowledge to mediate student-instructor conflicts, escalate those that need the attention of unit leadership, and guide parties through university processes (Student Conduct Code, Office of the Ombud, etc) as needed.

Direct student-facing course communications, ensuring timely and accurate information necessary to support quarterly registration and degree progress for 1400+ students.

Administer, maintain, and retain Honors course enrollment records in compliance with federal, state, and University policies and procedures.
Human Resources and Administration Management (20%)

Manage Interdisciplinary Honors faculty appointment and compensation processes in close consultation with the Director and UAA Shared Environment fiscal and HR specialists, and academic units across the three University of Washington campuses, following federal and state policies, university Office of Academic Personnel (OAP) policies and procedures, and unit norms for academic appointments and compensation.

Manage and participate in the hiring processes for permanent and temporary staff.

Manage the recruitment and hiring of undergraduate and academic student employees, assist in determining and prioritizing projects assigned to student employees.

Administer, maintain, and retain administrative, student, financial, and electronic database records to ensure compliance with federal, state, and University policies and procedures. Maintain a high level of confidentiality and discretion.
Curriculum Process Coordination (10%)

Direct Interdisciplinary Honors curriculum additions and changes in the university course catalog, serve as the Honors Program’s Curriculum Coordinator for the university’s curriculum management systems, and represent the Honors Program to the University of Washington’s Faculty Senate Council on Academic Standards and University Committee on General Education, requiring close coordination with the Registrar’s office and the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Curriculum Committee.

Assess Interdisciplinary Honors course designations and content, ensuring that compliance is achieved with both UW general education requirements and UW policies and practices, and consult with the Honors leadership team to manage faculty governance and oversight.

Directs administrative management of University Honors Program oversight of 150 Departmental Honors programs. This includes guiding chairs, directors and faculty curriculum committees through the creation of new Departmental Honors programs, and proposed revisions of Departmental Honors program requirements.

Coordinate the Honors Faculty Council review of proposed curriculum changes and additions and UAA Curriculum Committee review of proposed revision of requirements and creation of new departmental Honors programs; communicate final decisions of these review bodies to the respective academic units.

Manage communication between Honors Program and Departmental administrative staff.

Update Honors internal systems and coordinate with UW SDB/DARS systems to accurately reflect changes to Departmental Honors Programs.

Special projects and duties as assigned by Honors Program leadership to support the broader goals of the Honors Program.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Bachelor's degree in any field.

Two to three years experience working in a fast-paced and collaborative environment with process and project management experience.
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Experience developing programs that center around faculty involvement and a comprehensive integration of academics.

Superior administrative and organizational skills and demonstrated ability to manage a high volume of varied tasks simultaneously.

The capacity and persistence to be productive within a decentralized and dynamic institutional environment.

Demonstrated possession of a consultative management style that facilitates the creation and maintenance of positive relationships and partnerships.

Demonstrated excellent oral and written communication skills and experience communicating with diverse audiences.

Experience implementing project management tools on existing and new processes.

Demonstrated ability to identify and determine operational priorities.

Demonstrated experience taking on new projects and learning new skills.

Experience working with typical office software and project management tools.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Graduate degree from an accredited institution.

Knowledge, understanding, and experience working with higher education academic human resources procedures, policies, and systems.

Experience and/or familiarity with honors programs/colleges.

Experience working directly with college or university undergraduates in a higher education setting.

Direct work with faculty and other types of instructors in support of the teaching

Experience with website editing and content management.

The capability to assess programs, interpret gathered data, formulate plans to address identified concerns, and implement responses to improve administrative efficiency and enhance the participants’ experiences.

Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
CONDITITONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Work is conducted in an office setting on campus with hybrid working options. The primary work hours are typically 8am – 5pm with some occasional evening and weekend hours.
COVER LETTER
In your cover letter please address what is it about this job that interests you, and how your prior work experiences connect to the responsibilities of this position. Please include your experience working with diverse communities and efforts you have been involved with to foster diversity competence and understanding.
Application Process: The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are access ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.

The University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or [email protected] .

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law .

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