The Director of Nursing@Simmons (FNP-BC MSN, and RN-MSN) is a Boston based, 12-Month Contract Faculty position. This individual is employed by the College and reports to the Dean of the school of Nursing and Health Sciences (SNHS) and Chair of Graduate Nursing. The Director is responsible for supervision of the online MSN (FNP-BC) and RN-MSN programs, the Assistant Director and Coordinators, and is responsible for the overall the day-to-day management of students and operations and the long term success of the program. The Director of the Nursing@Simmons Program will have administrative, teaching and advisement responsibilities. Collaborating with the Dean of the SNHS and the Chair of Graduate Nursing, the director ensures academic rigor and curricular alignment with the face-to-face Simmons Graduate FNP program, while meeting the needs of current and prospective students and aligning with the overall vision and standards of the SNHS and the standards of the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
The Director serves as an active member of the Academic Review Board and any consultation that is required. The Director of Nursing@Simmons is responsible for overall program design, development, and delivery, with the goal of creating the optimal student experience and desired student outcomes. In collaboration with a core team across several functional areas of the college (Strategic Initiatives, SFS, Registrar, Technology, Finance, Legal and THCS) and in collaboration with Simmons strategic partner, 2U, the Director must focus on several areas of the program to ensure quality:marketing, curriculum, content, faculty, student support, operations and profitability.The Director must also demonstrate proficiency in teaching online. In addition, the subsequent year of their contract, demonstrate leadership and originality in her scholarly work, across disciplines.
Curriculum/ Content: The Director is responsible for the overall quality and delivery of the program, evaluating materials and instructional plans, and ensuring credentialed content experts design courses with rich syllabi and relevant, current content.
Responsible for ensuring the appropriate use of research-based evaluative criteria in the assessment of online courses.
Ensures that the academic rigor and curriculum of the onsite program are replicated in the online medium, including selecting appropriate clinical experiences to meet the stated course objectives with the appropriate clinical faculty, in collaboration with the 2U Clinical Placement Team.
Evaluates translation of appropriate level of clinical training is meeting the development of the student needs.
The Director is responsible for attending Immersion Weekend, a high impact experience critical to the clinical component of the program and overall student experience. The Director will approve and oversee the academic and clinical design, development and delivery of the weekend agenda, delivery and leadership of the Coordinators and the Assistant Director of Operations.
Oversees and supports the Nursing@Simmons Faculty Recruiter and Coordinators hire necessary staff and faculty to organizing the needed supplies and facilities. The evaluation of the events of Immersion Weekend are dependent on student feedback, evaluation of the Immersion Weekend Planning Committee and coordination with the on ground program pedagogy.
Faculty: The Program Director oversees all faculty vetting and hiring nationally in conjunction with a Nurse Faculty Recruiter, with specific attention to credential and experience needs by course.
The Director will be responsible for hiring, managing, and leading the team of full/part time faculty Coordinators/Special Project Managers. The Director will manage all full/part time faculty to ensure successful outcomes through each content expert role, and will be responsible for conducting annual evaluations as well as periodic reviews as needed.
The Director recruits and/or approves faculty for 1) course design (Course Designer), and specific content expert needs by course 2) leads in course coordination (Course Lead), and 3) individual course instructors (Section Instructors) and 4) Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for quality control in course content.
Ensures adjunct faculty readiness through Faculty Orientation by (oversight of onboarding conducted by Nursing@Simmons Coordinators), programmatic training and touch-points, mentoring around the use of online teaching and learning methods for both synchronous and asynchronous components of the courses, and continuous quality improvement efforts around faculty retention and development. These observations and responsibilities are communicated through the Coordinators, Director of Special Projects/Program Development, Course Leads and the interviewer response.
The Director ensures formative assessments of faculty for online teaching abilities, recommending opportunities for improvement,.
TheDirector will lead the online Academic and Core Team leadership meetings between the Director and Coordinators as well as evolve the academic infrastructure through the organizational design and hiring of full time faculty (Coordinators), and Course Leads who serve in roles critical to faculty learning, sharing, mentoring, and collaboration- important to student outcomes.
Student Support: The Program Director collaborates with all Nursing@Simmons Operations, Department of Student Affairs, Office of Student Disabilities and Academic Advisors to leverage the Core Team and ensure appropriate student support, and protocols in place i.e. Library, Writing Center, tutoring support/direction and student support with the Coordinator of Special Projects and 2U's network, etc.
The Director must enable a process for addressing and escalating student concerns and needs, and at times respond directly to students and leading the appropriate actions. A key part of supporting students involves mentoring, training and developing faculty to identify and respond to students' academic and other transcultural needs.
Marketing: The Program Director is responsible for ensuring that program information used in marketing and promotional materials accurately reflects the curriculum and quality of the program. This involves ongoing reviews of web copy, promotional materials, blogs, webinar content, etc. as initiated by 2U and AVP of Strategic Initiatives. The Director often plays a central and visible role in the internal and external marketing efforts to other Deans, departments, and the Board as well as to prospective students and faculty i.e. Leading and supporting orientation webinars for faculty and students, participating in webinars/ virtual information sessions for prospective students, and identify the areas that would be beneficial to develop for student and faculty support in the upcoming year.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Program Duties and Responsibilities: Administrative
Direct the Nursing@Simmons Program: Oversee curriculum development and evaluation
Hire, manage, and evaluate all full time/part time faculty positions (i.e. Faculty Coordinators)
Hire, oversee, and evaluate all adjunct faculty and support these processes with the Assistant Director and Coordinators of NURSING@SIMMONS
Conduct faculty meetings monthly (or as needed)
Participate in CCNE re-accreditation process including preparing the self-study report
Lead the ongoing continuous iteration/quality improvement of the NURSING@SIMMONS curriculum
Participate in the national dialogue on nursing education; present at national/international conferences
Attend monthly SNHS meetings and SNHS leadership team meetings and participate in Program Chairs team and department decision-making
Spearhead scholarly programs on issues of concern to nursing and interdisciplinary healthcare efforts
Participate in the standing committees of the School and College Teaching
Responsible for and approves course planning, implementation and evaluation in
Assures ultimate responsibility for online classroom teaching
Participate in the selection of instructional materials, library resources, and equipment for learning resource center.
Support the NURSING@SIMMONS academic responsibility for the clinical supervision of adjunct faculty
Is aware of appropriate clinical experiences to meet the stated course objectives
Monitor and receive quarterly evaluative records the maintain faculty, student performance and faculty evaluation under the direction of the Coordinator of Special Projects and conferences with faculty regarding progress at appropriate intervals
Assist the Chair of Graduate Nursing in preparation of summative evaluations of faculty and student performance
College Duties and Responsibilities
Participate in SNHS and college committees as elected or appointed
Represent NURSING@SIMMONS SNHS at College Functions as designated by the Dean
Ongoing Operations and Profitability: To ensure program quality, scale and profitability, the Director must demonstrate a command of and compliance with all terms of the contract between Simmons College and 2U and create systematic and disciplined approaches to operations. This is achieved as follows:
Assures review of student applications, following the established Admissions Criteria Guidelines by the Nursing@Simmons Admissions Committee
Collaborates with Chair of Graduate Nursing, Dean of SNHS and the VP of Strategic Initiatives to understand budget impact of decisions and operations
Participating in all aspects of planning and coordination of the program i.e. weekly team meetings with the Core Team, weekly sub-committee meetings (i.e. Student concerns and Faculty Retention Committee), scheduled interim weekly or bi-weekly meetings with Simmons Online and 2U for collaborative program development, and meetings and activities as needed across stakeholder groups, to meet program goals
Determining the need for faculty and number of sections/Course Leads by cohort- for planning, recruiting, onboarding, faculty development purposes and ongoing program growth
Creating a plan and national approach to monitoring sites, preceptors, and students during didactic courses, and clinical preceptorships
Qualifications
Candidates for the Director of Nursing@Simmons as an Associate Professor of Practice or Professor of Practice must have:
An earned DNP with MS in Nursing.
Must have the ability to obtain MA Registered Nurse License and Certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner;
A minimum of 5 years of clinical experience as an advanced practice nurse and administrative and/or academic leadership.
Evidence of continued and progressive professional development in the academic and professional communities.
A minimum of 5 years of teaching in a nursing program (masters and above preferred), preferred.
Ongoing scholarly activity that includes research and publication preferred.
Skill in hybrid and online course design and delivery as well as an interest in the adult learner, preferred.
Skills and Competencies
A track record of adaptive leadership;
Strong collaborative approach and relationship management;
Written and verbal communication skills;
Attention to detail and multi-tasking/prioritizing of competing and complex deliverables;
Solid business acumen and judgment;
Accountability for results;
Strong problem solving and decision making skills; flexible, self-directed, and motivated
Please note that this position is Boston based position and requires travel up to 10%. The teaching workload of this appointment is to be determined by Dean of SNHS, and overload would be available at the Dean's discretion.
As a College committed to diversity, Simmons encourages applications broadly. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body and curriculum.
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