Academic Program Director, Occupational Therapy Role Overview

Excelon Associates is recruiting an Academic Program Director for Occupational Therapy in San Marcos, CA. In collaboration with the Associate Dean and faculty, the Program Director ensures delivery of the local campus curriculum in a manner that aligns with program goals, learning outcomes, consistency, and institutional expectations, and leads local programmatic accreditation efforts to ensure compliance and timely submission of required reports.

This role works closely with the Dean, other Program Directors, and faculty on policies, admissions, academic progress, and graduation competencies. The Director is accountable for strategic initiatives, integration with other departments, resolving student and faculty issues, and promoting educational effectiveness. OT programs operate within the accreditation and professional frameworks set by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, the American Occupational Therapy Association, and the certification standards of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning

• Provide leadership, vision, and organizational strategy for the program while aligning with the institution’s strategic and quality improvement plans.
• Monitor program metrics such as faculty workload, scholarly productivity, student satisfaction, graduation rates, and enrollment trends to ensure program goals are achieved.

Program Operations

• Oversee development and maintenance of efficient department operations, ensuring workflow, student learning outcomes, and curriculum quality.
• Collaborate across departments to coordinate activities, implement improvements, and foster innovation.
• Promote a campus culture focused on academic achievement, personal development, and institutional core values.
• Communicate effectively with students, faculty, and staff while supporting problem-solving and complaint resolution.
• Partner with the Clinical Education department to ensure quality clinical experiences.
• Conduct student information and recruiting sessions.
• Ensure faculty support institutional and departmental goals tied to educational effectiveness.

Faculty Leadership and Development

• Hire, develop, and evaluate core and adjunct faculty while supporting effective staffing patterns and scheduling.
• Mentor faculty to enhance individual performance, build leadership capabilities, and strengthen alignment with institutional goals.

Scholarly and Professional Development

• Stay current on best practices, policy changes, and emerging trends through ongoing engagement with professional organizations, conferences, and seminars.
• Meet scholarly and professional development goals identified in annual performance evaluations.
• Integrate research and practice into student learning and faculty development initiatives.

Management Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the program’s strategic plan and identify opportunities for innovation and growth.
• Manage budgets, approve expenditures, and oversee departmental financial planning.
• Ensure full compliance with accreditation standards, institutional policies, and federal and state regulations.
• Participate in institutional committees, councils, and student-facing meetings as needed.
• Maintain a reduced teaching load of no more than 0.5 FTE, or 148 hours per term.
• Review and approve prerequisite course substitutions and transfer credits.

Supervision, Travel, and Additional Duties

• Directly supervise core faculty, contributing faculty, and academic support staff, and may oversee an assistant director or site coordinator as applicable.
• Perform additional responsibilities as assigned by leadership.
• Travel occasionally for professional development, recruitment, or multi-campus meetings, with a valid driver’s license and minimum state-required liability insurance.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Demonstrated effectiveness in teaching, scholarship, and academic leadership within higher education.
• Strong knowledge of programmatic accreditation processes.
• Proven leadership, communication, and team-building skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across departments and with external partners.
• Experience in fiscal management, strategic planning, and operational oversight.

Education and Experience

• Doctoral degree from an institution accredited by a recognized accrediting agency.
• Minimum of eight years of documented experience in occupational therapy.
• This experience should include clinical practice as an occupational therapist, administrative experience, and scholarship and research contributions.
• An understanding of the occupational therapy assistant role.
• At least four years of postsecondary-level teaching experience.

Licensure and Certification

• Must be an initially certified occupational therapist, licensed or otherwise regulated per applicable state or jurisdictional requirements.

Key Competencies

• Mission-driven leadership: demonstrates passion for student success and institutional values.
• Educational expertise: designs effective learning experiences and leverages pedagogical best practices.
• Collaboration and influence: works effectively across teams and partnerships to achieve shared goals.
• Communication excellence: adapts communication style to audience and context while fostering strong relationships.
• Student engagement: creates an inclusive, supportive, and challenging learning environment.
• Talent development: identifies, mentors, and develops faculty talent to build a high-performing team.

Who Thrives as an Academic Program Director, OT

This role rewards an occupational therapy leader who runs a program with discipline. The strongest candidates hold a doctorate, carry at least eight years in OT spanning clinical practice, administration, and scholarship, and are fluent in ACOTE-aligned accreditation. They own curriculum quality, program metrics, and accreditation reporting, and they keep all three aligned with institutional strategy.

It is also a faculty-leadership and student-success seat. People who do well here hire, develop, evaluate, and mentor core and adjunct faculty, partner closely with clinical education to keep fieldwork strong, and bring real care to advising and the student experience. A minimum of four years of postsecondary teaching is what the role calls for.

Finally, the position carries genuine management weight: budgets, compliance, committees, and a reduced teaching load alongside the leadership work. The best fit pairs operational and fiscal discipline with mission-driven leadership and a commitment to inclusive, high-quality OT education.

About Excelon Associates

Excelon Associates is a retained executive search firm founded in 2007, headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Florida. The firm recruits leadership and specialized talent across higher education, healthcare, financial services, and government, including academic program leadership in the health sciences.

This Academic Program Director search is managed by an Excelon recruiter who serves as the single point of contact through screening, interviews, and offer. You can explore the firm’s higher education recruitment practice, browse current open roles, or review recent campaigns to see the kinds of searches Excelon runs.

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Excelon does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, marital or veteran status, disability, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.