Information for Individuals Applying for the Position of

Program Director -- Continuing Education

Salary Range: $50,000 -- $60,000 per year

Welcome! We appreciate your interest in our position.

In our advertisements for this full-time, permanent, EPA position, we referred you to this web address to find the list of specific areas of competence in training and adult/continuing education that we are expecting an applicant to have acquired through his/her work experience and/or education, and to obtain additional information on the qualifications we seek in applicants for the position. That information, as well as information on our unit, is provided below.

The Unit

The Office of Continuing Education, Extension, and Summer Programs (CEESP) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is a unit within the division of Academic Affairs, reporting to the Associate Provost for Metropolitan Studies and Extended Academic Programs. The Office conducts non-credit professional development programs, many of which offer participants formal continuing education units (CEUs) or meet the continuing education requirements of various State and National Boards (such as those for accountants, attorneys, engineers, project managers, human resource professionals, certified financial planners, business analysts); is available to provide registration services for university-sponsored conferences, institutes, workshops, and symposia; administers undergraduate and graduate credit instruction offered through extension and distance education, including courses offered at off-campus sites and online via the Internet; and administers the University's regular Summer School schedule of academic credit courses. Each year the Office offers approximately 400 non-credit continuing education programs, generating more than 7,700 enrollments; more than 150 distance education credit courses, generating more than 3,000 enrollments; and approximately 700 Summer School courses, enrolling more than 8,000 students. Summer Programs also offers 45 non-credit academic enrichment and pre-college programs for children and young adults each summer, which generate 800 enrollments annually. While extension and distance education activities are funded by state appropriations, Continuing Education and Summer Programs are self-funded through the generation of program registration fees/tuition. Total receipts generated from Continuing Education and Summer Programs exceed $13,500,000 annually. For more information about the Office and its programs, please go to www.ceesp.uncc.edu.

The Office of Continuing Education, a component part of CEESP, is responsible for designing, marketing, delivering, and evaluating a financially viable array of non-credit instructional programs that respond to the continuing education and training needs of individuals and companies/organizations -- primarily in the Charlotte region. Continuing Education delivers (a) open-enrollment or public programs and (b) in-house programs, which are offered by agreement with sponsoring companies and organizations that arrange for UNC Charlotte to bring our programs in-house to serve the needs of their employees. While Continuing Education programs do not award participants academic degree credits, many programs are approved to award participants special designations -- e.g., CPE (Continuing Professional Education) units for accountants, PDHs (Professional Development Hours) for engineers, PDUs (Professional Development Units) for project managers, etc. Many of our lengthier instructional programs award Certificates to participants who complete all program requirements (e.g., the Project Management Certificate Program, the Training and Development Certificate Program). Most programs are approved to award CEUs (continuing education units).

The Office of Continuing Education's operation -- expenses related to programming and expenses related to the salaries, benefits, and other-than-personnel expenses of the CE office infrastructure -- is expected to be self-supporting from the generation of receipts.

Location

Our new Continuing Education Program Director will be officed at UNC Charlotte's Ben Craig Center, 8701 Mallard Creek Road, Charlotte 28262 (about 15 minutes from the Main Campus). Twenty-eight of the unit's 42 staff are currently housed at the Ben Craig Center. Fourteen staff (those who work exclusively with Extension/Distance Education and Summer Programs) are housed on the UNC Charlotte Main Campus. It is anticipated that when UNC Charlotte's new Center City Building at 9th and Brevard opens in 2010, all or a large number of the staff currently housed at the Ben Craig Center will be re-located to the Center City Building.

Continuing Education programs are currently offered at three primary sites: the UNC Charlotte Ben Craig Center, the UNC Charlotte Main Campus, and UNC Charlotte's current Uptown Center. Continuing Education programs delivered by agreement to the employees of a particular business or organization are delivered either at one of UNC Charlotte's facilities or on-site at the sponsoring business or organization. Extension/Distance Education programs are offered at a variety of off-campus sites in the region as well as over the Internet. Summer Programs are offered primarily on the Main Campus.

The Position and Qualifications Sought

The primary job of a Program Director is to identify, develop, market, and deliver a viable array of non-credit instructional programs that effectively meet the continuing education needs of individuals and organizations -- primarily those in UNC Charlotte's service region. Each Program Director is responsible for generating an individual, annual, minimum financial return to the organization, in recognition of the charge to Continuing Education to be self-supporting. Programs are currently delivered through face-to-face instruction, but the Office is committed to the design of selected programs for online delivery. Additional information on the position's minimum financial expectation, and on specific program assignments that will be made at the time of hire, can be found at:
http://www.ContinuingEd.uncc.edu/expectations.htm.

There are currently six other Program Directors working in Continuing Education. The position we are recruiting for is a new, seventh position and part of our planned expansion of Continuing Education.

We require that applicants have significant work experience in, and/or knowledge of, the training and adult/continuing education field -- to include but not be limited to the following areas: educational and training needs assessments and methodologies; identification and analysis of market competition; design of programs (learning objectives, curricula, course content, format) to meet educational and training needs (familiarity with the online delivery of non-credit programs is preferred); methods for assessing program effectiveness; selection of competent and effective instructors; evaluation of teaching effectiveness; marketing/promotion of programs -- for example, through sales, brochure production/distribution (design and printing, securing of appropriate mailing lists, use of mailhouses, bulk-mail rates and processes, timing of distribution), securing of appropriate e-mailing lists (and knowledge of the issues surrounding mass e-mail distributions), advertising in mass media and in specialized media, effective use of a website, etc.; program delivery (facility/logistics planning and evaluation); financial management (budgeting and pricing).

The position also requires excellent oral, written, presentation, sales, and interpersonal communication skills; exceptionally strong organizational and analytical skills; and the ability to manage the details of multiple projects simultaneously and effectively. The successful applicant will be an entrepreneurial self-starter who enjoys the dual challenge of creating excellent programs and generating income from those programs to support and grow the organization.

Applicants must be proficient in the use of a computer for word processing, spreadsheet, and e-mail applications. Applicants must be licensed drivers or otherwise able to travel independently by car as required for effective performance in the position.

We prefer work experience where performance was evaluated, at least in part, on success in generating revenue; work experience at a graduate-level institution of higher education; and familiarity with the Charlotte market.

A Program Director is responsible for the following (note: depending on the specific characteristics of the array of programs in his/her inventory, a Program Director may be directly involved in only a sub-set of some of the program-specific responsibilities included below):

The exercise of initiative, self-direction, and independent judgment in helping the Office achieve its overall mission and goals.
The identification of current trends in continuing education programming and the researching of specific program opportunities.
Staying current on the educational needs and the economic development of the Charlotte region and on the competition UNC Charlotte faces in responding to those needs with non-credit instructional programs.
Conducting educational needs assessments/market research -- as appropriate -- within specific organizations/companies, within targeted professions, focused on audiences with specific characteristics, focused on specific content/program areas, to include but not be limited to the following: identifying and analyzing relevant existing data; designing and administering needs assessment instruments; conducting focus groups.
The appointment of appropriate Advisory Committees, specific to a program or group of programs, to provide expertise and advice in completion of various tasks as indicated below.
The design of curricula to respond to educational needs (often in conjunction with Advisory Committee).
The specification of intended learner outcomes and/or learning objectives appropriate to various curricula and educational needs (usually with Advisory Committee and/or instructors).
The specification of the content, the appropriate instructional delivery method(s), and the program structure for various curricula and audiences (often with Advisory Committee). Instructional delivery methods can include, but are not limited to, face-to-face instruction; two-way interactive televised instruction; online synchronous instruction; online asynchronous instruction.
Specification of the requirements that participants must meet in order to complete a specific program -- e.g., attendance and grade requirements.
Compliance with the requirements of various national, state, profession-specific and similar boards through which programs award specific kinds of continuing education credit.
The identification, hiring, and evaluation of instructors (often with Advisory Committee).
The specification of the standards to be used for instructional materials.
The specification and securing of appropriate instructional facilities.
The preparation and monitoring of program budgets.
The positioning of programs in the marketplace, to include but not be limited to: identification of target audience; pricing.
Approval of programs to award specific kinds of professional designations as appropriate (e.g., CPEs for accountants, PDHs for engineers).
The preparation and execution of a marketing plan for each continuing education program.
The design, printing, and distribution of appropriate promotional brochures/other materials.
The design and placement of appropriate advertising.
The effective use of the Continuing Education website for promotion of programs.
The sales of open-enrollment programs, and the solicitation of in-house training opportunities, by direct contact with organizations/companies.
The evaluation of programs and the use of evaluation results to improve future program offerings.
Working effectively with Program Coordinator staff, Registration and Information Management Specialists, accounting staff, and others in the unit.
Communicating clearly and providing specific instruction to Program Coordinators and others involved with the marketing and delivery of programs.
The support of faculty and academic departments on-campus that have identified continuing education as part of their missions.
The initiation and maintenance of appropriate collaborative relationships on- and off-campus, including with professional groups and associations in the community.
The development, on behalf of the institution, of policies, procedures, and standards of good practice for continuing education.

To Apply

Please apply electronically at https://jobs.uncc.edu (reference: position #8254). Attach a résumé and a letter of interest to your application. In your letter, please describe how your experiences and skills are particularly suited to this position. Include with your letter the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three work-related references (preferably current and former supervisors -- please indicate each person's relationship to you). References will not be contacted without your permission. Only electronically submitted applications will be accepted. Review of applications is ongoing, and will continue until the position is filled.

Members of minority groups, persons with disabilities, and women are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants are subject to Criminal Background Check. UNC Charlotte is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.