Academic Program Director Role Overview

Excelon Associates is partnering with a higher education institution to recruit an Academic Program Director for Physical Therapy in Austin, TX, providing academic leadership, operational oversight, and strategic direction for a campus-based academic program. This individual works closely with the Dean and faculty to ensure curriculum delivery, accreditation compliance, faculty development, and strong student outcomes, while serving as a key liaison between the program and broader institutional leadership.

The Program Director plays a central role in strategic planning, assessment, and cross-departmental collaboration. For Physical Therapy specifically, the program operates within accreditation and professional frameworks set by bodies such as the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Planning

• Provide leadership, vision, and structure for the academic program in alignment with institutional strategic and quality improvement plans.
• Assess and report on program metrics including faculty workload, scholarly activity, student satisfaction, graduation rates, and enrollment trends.
• Contribute to long-term planning initiatives related to program growth, effectiveness, and sustainability.

Program Operations and Academic Oversight

• Oversee day-to-day program operations to ensure effective workflows, quality curriculum delivery, and achievement of student learning outcomes.
• Collaborate with academic and administrative departments to coordinate initiatives and support institutional priorities.
• Foster a campus culture focused on academic achievement, professional development, and student engagement.
• Support educational effectiveness through reporting and participation in governance or management committees.
• Communicate effectively with students, faculty, and staff, including advising students and supporting issue resolution.
• Partner with clinical education teams to ensure high-quality experiential learning opportunities.
• Participate in student recruitment activities, including information sessions and outreach efforts.
• Ensure faculty alignment with departmental and institutional outcomes outlined in institutional effectiveness plans.

Faculty Leadership and Development

• Recruit, hire, develop, and evaluate core and adjunct faculty.
• Support faculty workforce planning and instructional coverage.
• Evaluate faculty performance using established standards and provide mentorship to support professional growth.
• Build a collaborative, accountable, and mission-driven faculty culture.

Scholarly and Professional Engagement

• Stay current with educational best practices, policy changes, and industry developments affecting the program.
• Maintain active engagement in professional organizations and scholarly activities.
• Support a culture of continuous improvement through research-informed practice and professional development.

Administrative and Compliance Responsibilities

• Lead program-level strategic initiatives and identify opportunities for innovation and improvement.
• Support internal and external stakeholder relationships with a strong customer service mindset.
• Develop and manage annual budgets related to the program, including oversight of expenditures.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and accrediting body requirements.
• Lead local participation in programmatic accreditation processes, including reporting and documentation.
• Participate in institutional meetings and leadership councils as appropriate.
• Maintain a teaching load of approximately 0.5 FTE.
• Approve prerequisite substitutions and transfer credit evaluations.

Supervision, Reporting, and Travel

• Provide direct supervision to core faculty, contributing faculty, and program staff, and may oversee an Assistant Director or Site Coordinator.
• Reports to the Associate Dean.
• Occasional local or overnight travel to other campuses may be required, with a valid driver’s license and state-required insurance.

Who Thrives as an Academic Program Director

This role rewards an academic leader who runs a program like an operation. The strongest candidates own day-to-day delivery and the numbers behind it, including faculty workload, student satisfaction, graduation rates, and enrollment, and they keep the program aligned with institutional strategy and quality improvement plans. Accreditation is central, so comfort leading programmatic accreditation, reporting, and documentation is essential.

It is also a faculty-leadership and student-success role. People who do well here recruit, develop, and evaluate core and adjunct faculty, build a collaborative and accountable culture, advise students, and partner with clinical education teams to keep experiential learning strong. For a Physical Therapy program, that clinical and CAPTE-aligned grounding matters.

Finally, the position carries real administrative weight: budgets, compliance, governance committees, and a teaching load of roughly half-time alongside the leadership work. The best fit balances operational discipline with scholarship and a genuine, mission-driven commitment to student outcomes.

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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How to Apply for This Academic Program Director Role

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