Associate Dean, Social Work and Behavioral Health Programs

About the role

The Associate Dean of Social Work and Behavioral Health Programs at WGU provides strategic, academic, operational, and business leadership for the university's social work and behavioral health portfolio. This role is responsible for building, launching, scaling, and continuously improving high-quality, workforce-aligned programs that prepare students for careers in various fields such as social work, behavioral health, mental health, substance use, community health, and human services.

Responsibilities

• Provides strategic leadership and end-to-end ownership for social work and behavioral health programs, including program strategy, growth, student outcomes, financial performance, academic quality, and workforce alignment.
• Owes P&L for the portfolio, managing budget, enrollment assumptions, staffing plans, and contribution margin against university growth targets.
• Learns the development, launch, revision, and scaling of market-relevant, competency-based programs addressing national and regional workforce needs across social work, behavioral health, mental health, substance use, community health, and human services.
• Maintains primary accountability for CSWE accreditation activities — self-study development, candidacy, reaffirmation, site visits, assessment plans, reporting, and continuous improvement — and for any other relevant regulatory or professional approval processes.
• Pairs with academic, operational, and regulatory teams to ensure field education, practicum, clinical placement, supervision, and experiential learning models meet accreditation, student, and workforce needs.
• Serves as a credible academic and industry voice for social work and behavioral health — representing the school in strategy discussions, external partnerships, professional associations, conferences, and workforce development opportunities.
• Serves as a credible academic and industry voice for social work and behavioral health — representing the school in strategy discussions, external partnerships, professional associations, conferences, and workforce development opportunities.
• Serves as a credible academic and industry voice for social work and behavioral health — representing the school in strategy discussions, external partnerships, professional associations, conferences, and workforce development opportunities.
• Builds and strengthens relationships with healthcare organizations, behavioral health providers, social service agencies, community organizations, government entities, professional associations, and employer partners.
• Learns and leads diverse, distributed teams — program leaders, faculty, program managers, instructional teams, and cross-functional partners — fostering accountability, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
• Uses data and analytics to monitor program health: student progression, retention, completion, field placement outcomes, licensure outcomes, employment outcomes, student satisfaction, and faculty performance.
• Drives a culture of experimentation, measurement, and learning to improve academic quality, student support, and operational effectiveness.
• Partners with enrollment, marketing, and workforce teams on go-to-market strategies that connect programs to the right students and employer/community needs.
• Supports innovation in curriculum, assessment, field education, student support, technology, and artificial intelligence to improve learning and operational outcomes.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Social Work, Behavioral Health, Counseling, Psychology, or a related field.
• 5 years of relevant experience in social work, behavioral health, counseling, or a related field.
• 5 years of leadership experience, including hiring, managing, developing, and scaling teams.
• Experience leading academic programs, workforce initiatives, professional practice teams, or complex cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience using data to evaluate performance, improve outcomes, and guide decision-making.
• Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education requirements, at the discretion of the hiring manager (generally 1 year of experience per 1 year of education).

Qualifications

• Deep commitment to student success, workforce readiness, and improving access for underserved and working-adult learners.
• Strong knowledge of social work education, behavioral health workforce needs, licensure pathways, field education, and professional standards.
• Demonstrated understanding of CSWE accreditation standards and expectations.
• Knowledge of trends in social work, behavioral health, mental health, substance use, integrated care, community health, and human services.
• Ability to lead academic programs with both strategic vision and operational discipline.
• Strong business acumen, including budget management, resource planning, enrollment growth, and financial stewardship.
• Ability to use data to identify trends, solve problems, improve outcomes, and drive innovation.
• Strong people-leadership skills, including hiring, developing, coaching, and managing high-performing teams — including remote/distributed teams — with excellence, integrity, and respect.
• Ability to lead and influence in a highly matrixed organization without relying on direct authority.
• Strong collaboration skills and ability to build trusted relationships internally and externally, including with accreditors and licensure boards.
• Demonstrated ability to manage change, bring structure to complex situations, and execute in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including representing programs with executive leaders, faculty, students, regulators, accreditors, employers, and professional organizations.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and culturally responsive social work and behavioral health education.