Assistant Program Director MSWDenver, Graduate School of Social Work
Job No: 498392
Work Type: Staff Full-Time
Location: Denver, CO
Categories: Academic Administration, Admin / Executive / Office Support, Social Work
The Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) is a vibrant community of scholars and teachers committed to having a diverse faculty and student body. The School's curriculum, research, and community partnerships emphasize social and economic justice, along with an understanding of and respect for social, political, and cultural diversity both nationally and internationally. GSSW provides an intellectual, collegial, and supportive environment that fosters interdisciplinary and international educational opportunities. GSSW engages in collaborative projects locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Position Summary
Assistant Program Directors at the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) perform a broad range of management and operations duties related to the online MSW Program, including supporting MSW curriculum cohesion, excellence in the student experience, and alignment and partnership to all MSW programs at GSSW. Assistant Program Directors report directly to Program Director. This position is integral to program success and requires the development of collaborative and supportive relationships with faculty, staff, and internal and external education partners. Ideal candidates possess the ability to work with a cross-functional team of professionals, managing relationships, systems, and holding students at the center of decision-making. They are also strong project managers, skilled at balancing the personal side of change with a commitment to program excellence and attention to detail. The Assistant Program Directors are a key point of interface in coordinating logistics between GSSW departments, University of Denver administration, education partners, and students. In addition to coordinating logistics, the Assistant Program Directors are involved with curricular deployment and improvement to ensure that it retains alignment with the other GSSW MSW programs and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accreditation standards.
This is an interim position, evaluated on a yearly basis for job renewal based on student enrollment.
Essential Functions
Coordinate educational and administrative components of the Program - Coordinates educational and administrative components of the MSW Program.
- Create effective and efficient workflows for all internal program operations in collaboration with the Program Director, Academic Affairs program support staff and Student Services teams.
- Collaborates on curricular and response efforts to promote an anti-racist and anti-oppressive learning experience that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion at GSSW.
- Collaborates on implementation of program evaluation strategies and strategic planning initiatives; reviews data and presents themes to administration.
- Supports and tracks aspects of the academic advising process as varies by program need.
- Collaborate with the Program Director and GSSW Student Services to support communication and implementation of student services and resources
- Serves as a point of contact for the Graduate Student Advisors and the Student Ambassadors program.
- Coordinates with admissions and faculty to facilitate prospective student webinars and informational sessions.
- With support from the Program Director, responds to student concerns about curriculum and instruction, and completes follow up inquiries and communication promptly as needed.
- Supports the Program Director in communication with adjunct faculty teaching in the program including the coordination of materials, substitute requests, and resources.
- Support and assist faculty in the design and development of courses including templating syllabi and course shells, creating reading lists for the library, and other learning aids
- Develop and update course materials for inclusive design and accessibility, as needed
- Manage the retrieval, filing, auditing, and updating of course-related documents for accreditation and assessment purposes including archiving of syllabi
- Supports registration and student-facing efforts related to course enrollment and access to the online learning platform, advocating for student experience within the virtual classroom environment.
- Manages, tracks, and summarizes meetings related to the GSSW internal transfer process for students transferring between GSSW programs.
- Facilitates administration/communication/tracking for varying student processes as needed.
Field Education - Jointly attends Field Concerns meeting with program representatives, conducts follow up information gathering and tracks student status.
- Serves a communication/liaison function between the program and field team as needed.
Community Engagement - Represents the Program in the DU Community at various meetings or events as determined by program need.
- Serves as a key point of contact for external education partners, building and maintaining systems and relationships to ensure a seamless and supportive experience.
- Collaboratively coordinates special events and professional development for students, adjuncts, alumni, and field instructors in partnership with other GSSW teams and personnel. This might include local reception ceremonies, guest lecture experiences, alumni engagement opportunities, student orientation, licensure preparation courses and/or commencement.
- May serve on various university and GSSW committees and assist with administrative processes for operations.
- Other duties as assigned
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Strong Project management skills
- Great attention to detail and accuracy
- Ability to plan and complete multi-stage projects
- Excellent oral and written communication skills with internal and external partners
- Skilled at connecting and building rapport with staff, faculty, students, and external stakeholders
- Eager partner with the ability to co-lead initiatives, take ownership of cross-functional projects, and anticipate downstream impacts to improve alignment and execution across teams.
- Demonstrate a strong ability to lead with a lens of liberation and equity, applying discernment around DEI principles to assess program impacts and build coalitions that are solution-focused, advance inclusive, justice-centered outcomes.
- Ability to successfully and promptly address issues from identification through resolution.
- Ability to adapt to new and rapidly changing situations
- Creative, innovative, and able to work independently and in a team with a high level of professionalism
- Ability to effectively work with multiple databases and student platforms (e.g., Salesforce, Banner, Learning Management Systems, etc.,)
- Comfort with online webinar technology using audio, video and shared desktop applications (e.g., Zoom and Teams)
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
- Demonstrated commitment, knowledge, and driven to engage individuals from broadly diverse communities
- Aptitude for presenting information in multiple formats
- Strong interpersonal communication skills
- Attention to detail, ability to take comprehensive notes and disseminate information with precision.
- Develop and update course materials for inclusive design and accessibility, as needed
- Keep current with emerging educational technologies and solutions for effective learning
- Capacity to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
- Comfort working autonomously and collaboratively with diverse teams.
- Willingness to facilitate and lead public speaking events.
- Eager to learn by doing and provide strategic partnership to Director and partners.
Required Qualifications
- MSW plus a minimum of 2 years' experience in Higher Education or Social Work field
- Proficiency and excellence in online learning settings, systems and processes, (e.g. Excel and other Word software, Zoom or online meeting forums, communication systems and comfort navigating and learning new systems (including learning management, web based or customer relationship management (CRM) platforms).
- Experience reviewing and analyzing large sets of data (such as attendance, course evaluations, enrollment, class size) and summarizing themes.
- Experience in design and development of courses including templating syllabi and course shells, creating reading lists for the library, and other learning aids
- Demonstrated experience in anti-racist, anti-oppressive, inclusive educational programming.
- Demonstrated skill in conflict management and resolution or mediation.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and/or Human-Centered Design
- Demonstrated experience in leading trainings or classroom teaching, virtual instructing a plus
Working Environment
- Standard on-campus office environment may include interruptions.
- The noise level is quiet to moderate.
Physical Activities
- Ability to work in front of a computer for extended periods of time.
- Occasionally required to move about the office/campus.
Work Schedule
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m . click apply for full job details