Assistant Provost & Director of Curriculum Development

Organizational Overview

College Unbound (CU) is an accredited and state-approved college whose mission is to reinvent the higher education experience for underrepresented returning adult learners. Through rigorous and engaged scholarship, College Unbound integrates students’ own purposes for learning with the needs of their workplaces and communities, improving the lives of the students and the lives of those they touch. Started in RI, College Unbound now supports students across multiple states and looks to continue to develop an infrastructure to support this developing model.

Position Summary

The Assistant Provost & Director of Curriculum Development will direct and oversee the integrity of College Unbound’s (CU) curriculum across courses, faculty, place, and pathway while ensuring depth, rigor, and that CU’s values are embedded. They will be responsible for charting and guiding curriculum and course development, the scaffolding of courses, course integration, Learning in Public portfolio processes, articulation, and development of pathways of learning through collaboration with faculty, mentors, staff, students, and partner organizations. With a deep focus on bringing CU’s vision for relational, transformative, student-centered learning to all courses, curriculum evaluation, and related resources, the Assistant Provost & Director of Curriculum Development will support College Unbound in ensuring fidelity to its curriculum

Duties and Responsibilities:

Curricular Alignment:

• Oversee curricular alignment, integration, and rigor of CU’s Curriculum.
• Work with faculty to understand the strengths and challenges of each course.
• Ensure learning activities and assignments demonstrate learning outcomes, center students and core projects, and are designed according to CU's pedagogical philosophy.
• Align and revise core curricular courses, as necessary.
• Work with others in Lifelong Learning around guidelines and recommendations for order and requirements of core courses.
• Develop curricula in response to emerging student needs and interests.
• Oversee the Learning in Public Office (LIP), ensure Learning in Public portfolio processes are appropriately aligned with the curriculum, and ensure rigor in the assessment of learning as it relates to student submissions, external program reviews, and LIP Sprints.

Curriculum Development:

• Conduct research and consult with faculty, staff, and CU leadership in the design and development of the new curriculum.
• Participate in the development and evaluation of proposals and plans for new curriculum including curriculum modifications and enhancements including new guided pathways.
• Stay abreast of the professional needs and interests of CU students and industry trends to ensure that the CU curriculum continues to be relevant.
• Coordinate the review/assessment of the current curriculum to ensure that the course/program is meeting intended objectives and accreditation requirements and lead curriculum audits and reviews.
• Determine knowledge, skills, and abilities related to specific emerging professional pathways, map pathway knowledge sets to CU’s curriculum for consistency with existing courses and course outcomes, and identify proposed curricular adjustments or additions in support of pathway development.
• Work with the Director of Learning in Public to identify opportunities for LIP Sprints aligned with life and work experiences held in common by students from the proposed pathway.
• Advise the Provost and Lifelong Learning staff about curricular issues that require attention and refinement.
• Lead curriculum review processes, assist with self-study processes, and formulate recommendations for consideration.

Administrative Functions:

• Provide guidance and oversight of the development, implementation, and evaluation of all guided pathways.
• Serve as the academic liaison to pathway partners, ensuring pathway alignment, and curricular connections as needed, and advising on the evaluation of partner programs for LIP credit.
• Stay up-to-date on current research and best practices on adult learning, andragogy, college curriculum, and faculty development.
• Monitor requests for new courses, programs, or program revisions for accuracy and submit all program information through proper channels for approval, including tracking special topics courses.
• Ensure the accuracy of curricular materials tracking course revisions, course descriptions, and other relevant curricular revisions, along with corresponding and updated program plans.
• Serve as convener of the Lifelong Learning Curriculum Working Group, staff liaison to the Faculty Curriculum Committee, and staff liaison regarding curriculum design and development to pathway advisory groups.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications: Successful candidates will be mission-driven, detail-oriented, collaborative, and creative problem solvers who will thrive in the all-hands-on-deck ethos of a higher education start-up. Candidates must also be able to work independently, prioritize, organize, and multi-task; must possess strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Required

• Master’s degree.
• Previous experience in curriculum development, review, and alignment at the college or university level.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a diverse educational environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to collect and analyze data for the purpose of curriculum development.
• Must reside in Rhode Island or Philadelphia.

Preferred

• Doctorate in Education or a relevant field.
• Experience with guided pathway development and/or special emphasis curricula is highly preferred.
• Previous experience supporting adult learners directly or indirectly in an educational setting.
• Experience working within an institution of higher education.

Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume, review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.