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POSITION SUMMARY
The Director of Early College and Online Learning is responsible for overseeing and growing all aspects of the new Early College Credit Program for students in Archdiocesan and Parish Catholic high schools and serving as the liaison with higher education, particularly four-year college, and university partners. The goal of the Early College Credit Program is to assist vulnerable students from low-income and historically underrepresented backgrounds by expanding four-year college and university options, increasing dual enrollment and online options, providing opportunities to earn college credits in high school, supporting college affordability, and accelerating the path to degree completion.
We are seeking a dynamic, strategic thinker who is committed to best practices in early college/dual enrollment programs and is passionate about partnering with philanthropy to develop high impact four-year college and university programs for the most vulnerable and underrepresented students. This candidate will be highly proficient in online learning platforms and best practices for leveraging digital resources to engage all students and increase accessibility.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Because all Archdiocesan employees represent the Roman Catholic Church, they are expected to conduct themselves according to the goals and missions of the Church in performing their work.
Leadership and Management
- In conjunction with the Managing Director and members of the Academic Affairs team, develop programs from inception to launch that directly partner with Catholic high schools, higher education, philanthropy, and provide opportunities, support, and impact vulnerable students.
- Set a vision and goals for the early college and online learning program, including defining and measuring, establishing outcome-based goals, and planning and managing execution to meet those goals.
- Lead, enhance, evaluate, develop, and manage the early college network program, which may include, but is not limited to various provision of and integration of curricular and learning models, outreach and marketing, feasibility studies.
- Research national trends, guiding principles, and best practices in early college/dual enrollment program development, implementation, and evaluation, and communicate information to Department of Catholic Schools personnel, principals, counselors, students, parents, and community members.
- Develop a culture of accountability between the Department of Catholic Schools and schools in the early college network.
- Manage early college resources, including budget and any staff, and ensuring delivery of program goals.
- Lead cycles of strategic planning, implementation, analysis, and evaluation of results to monitor and continually improve the program and its impact.
- Coordinate with schools to raise awareness of and promote the early college credit program among high school students, parents, counselors, teachers, and other staff.
Program Development and Execution
- Define and developing a growth plan that may include various high schools and a variety of four-year higher education partners.
- Support high schools and higher education partners in the use of best practices of online teaching, learning, student support, and program evaluation.
- Manage the research, development and delivery of best-in-class, relevant and engaging curriculum being provided by partners.
- Develop and implement an orientation program, handbook, and other resources for stakeholders such as high school students, parents, facilitators, teachers, counselors, and administrators as appropriate.
- Collect feedback from students, families, staff, and other stakeholders on a regular basis and make program improvements accordingly.
- Develop strategies to promote, support, and monitor the student completion of courses and earn transferable college credit as appropriate.
- Identify and include “value added” academic and social supports that lead to student achievement across the program.
- Ensure strong execution of program; measuring learning, and collecting and leveraging data to monitor effectiveness, continually improve program and identify best partners serving vulnerable or underserved students.
- Collaborate with higher education partners so that college course content, instructional quality, professional development, and other aspects of the program address the needs of the most vulnerable students and meet Department of Catholic Schools expectations.
- Lead work to develop and brand the early college network and oversee the development and maintenance of website and social media platforms.
- Collaborate with the Managing Director, School Networks and the Development Department at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on grants including budgeting, tracking spending, ensuring benchmarks and deliverables are met, overseeing sub-contracts, communicating regularly with partners, and contributing to grant proposals and reports.
Organizational Leadership
- Support a strong team culture across the Department of Catholic Schools.
- Support principals and leadership teams in current and future network schools.
- Serve as an exemplar of professional values and servant leadership.
- Lead and serve with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Maintain a strong collaboration with the academic affairs team to ensure improved student academic performance is a key outcome.
- Work with other team members as appropriate (across academics, leadership and faith formation and operations) to ensure network success.
- Maintain a collaborative relationship with philanthropic partners, which may include meeting on a periodic basis and providing reports on program outcomes.
- Proactively seeking out, providing, and acting on feedback.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education and Experience
Any combination of education and experience likely to provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities, typically:
- Bachelor’s degree in Education, Program Administration, or a related field.
- A minimum of 5 years of successful teaching, counseling, program administration and leadership.
- Professional experience which includes at least five years of experience in adult learning, training and development and experience in a K-12 school operating organization or national education nonprofit.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Knowledge of:
- Early college/dual enrollment structures and guiding principles, as well as the college admissions and enrollment landscape, including UC/CSU A-G requirements.
- Expertise in analyzing student data and using results to improve programs and student outcomes.
- A professional track record of bringing ideas to life through meticulous planning and execution, program development, project management, budget preparation and analysis, team management and relationship building.
- Proven track record of leading successful, cohesive teams and delivering high-quality, data and results-driven programming.
Skills in:
- Excellent relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively with others internally and externally; Intrinsic drive to create new systems and continuously improve existing processes.
- Stellar verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to:
- Show a passion and demonstrated commitment to transforming K-12 education, managing, and developing inclusive teams, and equipping diverse, high-potential leaders with the tools they need to advance Catholic schools for the highest-need students.
- Have a commitment for diversity, equity, and inclusion with an ability to build trust and respect across lines of difference.
- Lead with curiosity, vulnerability, and humility.
- Exceptional ideas about how to amplify the impact of school networks.
- Willingness to travel to multiple campuses daily and work remotely where necessary.
Physical and Environmental Requirements:
- Occasionally lift up to 20 pounds.
- Sit for sustained periods of time on a daily basis.
- Perform tasks requiring intermittent bending, stooping, and walking.
- Sustain frequent movement of the fingers, wrists, hands, and arms.