Program Chair (Non-licensure Graduate Nursing)

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

Pay

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. A reasonable estimate of the current range is $123,000.00 - $190,700.00.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the overall end-to-end owner of a program through its entire lifecycle, including:
  • Pre-definition research: market-segment selection, targeted skills, market demand for graduates, student demand, competitive analysis, portfolio strategy, pricing, program requirements, and program-level P&L.
  • Building and launching the program: collaborate with academic program directors and subject matter experts to define the curriculum, and work with the program development team to build and launch the program with the right quality, on-time, and within budget.
  • Post-launch adoption: work with marketing and partnership teams to drive student adoption, monitor and track student success, collaborate with stakeholders to make ongoing adjustments to improve student success and market relevance, and manage the program-level P&L.
• Drive a culture of continuous experimentation, measurement, and learning from data to rapidly improve the quality and delivery to students.
• Lead academic program leaders, instructional faculty, and student coaches/mentors.
• Influence others and communicate effectively to improve and promote teamwork, decision-making, and problem-solving.
• Collaborate across the organization to achieve shared objectives while representing own interests fairly.
• Manage ambiguity by handling uncertainty, risk, and incomplete information constructively.
• Drive for results with a strong outcomes-based orientation, persistence, and a continuous improvement mindset.
• Build effective teams with diverse styles, perspectives, and experiences, fostering open dialogue and collaboration.
• Promote organizational learning by quickly adapting to new situations, experimenting with innovative solutions, and extracting lessons from failures.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Deep understanding of how students learn and combining innovative curriculum and student support strategies to drive student success.
• Customer or student obsession with a focus on driving successful outcomes.
• Industry or academic leadership in the Nursing discipline.
• Understanding of industry trends, job opportunities, and educational market trends in the discipline.
• Credible voice of the department in external partnerships and presentation opportunities.
• Strong people leadership to indirectly lead a diverse team of 25+ people, including academic program leaders, instructional faculty, and student coaches/mentors.
• Execution focus with the ability to dive deep into details and maintain a fast-paced weekly execution cadence.
• Ability to organize and coordinate activities and results across cross-functional teams.
• Ability to coach and develop direct reports.
• Ability to collaborate with and manage remote teams while demonstrating excellence, integrity, and respect.
• Ability to work effectively in a highly matrixed organization.
• Ability to build relationships and influence at all levels, both internally and externally.
• Ability to be an agent of change in a rapidly changing environment.
• Proven ability to analyze data to identify trends and drive innovation.
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications:
  • Master of Science in Nursing degree from an accredited institution.
  • Active unencumbered RN license.
  • 5 years of demonstrated teaching excellence in a variety of courses at the post-secondary level.
  • 2 years of leadership or supervisory experience, preferably in a post-secondary institution.
  • 4+ years of related experience, including program P&L responsibility, planning and operating degree-granting educational programs to drive student outcomes, satisfaction, and profitability.
• Preferred Qualifications:
  • Doctoral degree in Nursing in a programmatically appropriate/related field from an accredited institution.
  • Experience in higher education.
  • Experience in developing online education programs and/or developing and scaling rapidly changing organizations/programs.
  • Experience in developing curriculum and/or high-stakes assessments.
  • Demonstrated success in change management and bringing order to complex situations.

Schedule

This is a full-time, regular position classified for 40 standard weekly hours.

Benefits

• Eligibility for bonuses.
• Medical, dental, vision, telehealth, and mental healthcare.
• Health savings account and flexible spending account.
• Basic and voluntary life insurance.
• Disability coverage.
• Accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages.
• Legal and identity theft coverage.
• Retirement savings plan.
• Wellbeing program.
• Discounted WGU tuition.
• Flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation (no accrual required).
• Flexible paid sick time (no accrual required).
• 11 paid holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

Travel

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to lift up to 15 pounds at times.