Associate Program Director, Hybrid Immersion, San Marcos, CA

Associate Program Director Role Overview

Excelon Associates is conducting a search for an Associate Program Director on behalf of a health sciences university. This is a campus-based role at the San Marcos, CA campus with a flexible arrangement that combines on-campus and virtual teaching responsibilities supporting the client’s Flex and Hybrid Immersion programs. Working in coordination with the Program Director, the Associate Program Director provides administrative leadership across all aspects of the DPT Hybrid Immersion and FLEX program operations.

The role also supports delivery of the expansion program, including teaching the curriculum in a way that meets program goals and learning outcomes and maintains consistency between the main and expansion programs. Physical therapy education operates within the accreditation and professional frameworks set by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the licensure standards of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership and Operations

• Implement strategies that advance program goals in line with the institution’s goals and policies.
• Collect, prepare, and provide outcome data and program information as required by the institution.
• Participate in the Program Director Council and contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures.
• Plan and take part in special events for the program.
• Support the Program Director in developing the local program budget and coordinate local resources for classroom and lab activities, faculty scholarship, and student needs.

Faculty Oversight and Development

• Oversee core and contributing faculty in areas tied to the professional program.
• Oversee and take part in the training, development, and supervision of core faculty.
• Lead and participate in the recruitment and hiring of contributing faculty and lab assistants.

Clinical Education and Student Affairs

• Oversee the local clinical education office, including its responsibilities, policies, and organizational development.
• Work with local facility managers, other program leadership, and student services to support student satisfaction and consistent communication across departments.
• Supervise program students and handle student matters such as complaints, appeals, and misconduct.

Teaching, Scholarship, and Service

• Carry a reduced teaching workload not to exceed 0.5 FTE.
• Contribute through service and scholarly activity.
• Participate in marketing activities and represent the institution at related events.
• Take on other duties as management determines from time to time.

Supervision and Reporting

• Direct and supervise faculty, students, and staff for the program, and coordinate with the Program Director on the main program.
• Reports to the Senior Academic Program Director or Academic Program Director.
• Supervises core faculty, contributing faculty, academic program assistants, and student workers.
• Travel to other campuses may be required, with a valid driver license for the state of residence and at least the minimum state-required liability insurance.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• State licensed, or license-eligible, therapist in the relevant academic program.
• An advanced doctoral degree or terminal doctorate with proven scholarship, service, and committee activity.
• Demonstrated leadership ability.
• Prior entry-level therapy education teaching experience required; graduate-level education administration strongly preferred.
• Experience teaching in remote or online learning environments, including effective use of learning management systems, virtual instructional technologies, and student engagement strategies.
• Demonstrated experience working in a hybrid immersion modality and environment.

Licensure and Certification

• Current state practice license, or license-eligible, as a therapist in the assigned academic program.

Required Skills and Abilities

• Strong communication, time management, and organizational skills with faculty, students, and outside constituents.
• Proven organizational ability along with strong communication, time management, and delegation experience.
• Demonstrated skill in data analysis and student outcomes.
• Experience with collaboration, facilitation, and team building.
• Ability to work independently across numerous projects with little or no supervision while also contributing within a team and promoting collaboration.
• Models core values, takes an active role in upholding institutional policies, interacts effectively with institutional support services, and manages change effectively.

Business Competencies

• Committed to mission and values: understands the institution’s mission and values, with a passion for facilitating learning and helping students manage their own learning journey.
• Contributes knowledge to the discipline: motivated to contribute through research, scholarship, professional practice, or creative work.
• Accountable: takes personal responsibility for goals and outcomes that support student success, sets clear expectations, follows through on commitments, and holds students accountable for performance.
• Collaborative: works cooperatively across the institution and beyond, including community and partnerships, while remaining inclusive and fair.
• Communicates effectively: adapts oral and written communication to the audience and message, and listens attentively.
• Drives engagement: makes students feel welcome, understood, and valued, and creates a compelling, challenging, and productive learning environment.
• Academic discipline expertise: holds the credentials, industry expertise, and experience needed to teach to required standards and qualifications.
• Education design: designs learning experiences tied closely to learning outcomes, with depth in pedagogy, andragogy, and learning effectiveness.
• Teaching delivery and learning facilitation: manages small, large, blended, hybrid, and online classrooms, ensuring participation and managing time and attention effectively.
• People leadership: leads by example in finding and developing talent, with a focus on talent acquisition, raising standards, and developing high-potential talent.

Who Thrives as an Associate Program Director

This role rewards a licensed therapy educator who is ready to lead operationally. The strongest candidates hold an advanced or terminal doctorate, carry a current state practice license (or are license-eligible) in the relevant discipline, and bring entry-level therapy education teaching experience. They run program operations in partnership with the Program Director and keep the main and expansion programs consistent.

The hybrid immersion model is central here. People who do well bring real experience teaching across on-campus and virtual formats, use learning management systems and virtual instructional technologies fluently, and know how to keep students engaged in blended, hybrid, and online classrooms. Comfort working with outcome data and student outcomes is part of the job.

Finally, this is a people-leadership and clinical-education seat. The best fit oversees and develops core and contributing faculty, leads the local clinical education office, handles student matters with fairness, and carries a reduced teaching load while contributing through scholarship and service, all grounded in the institution’s mission and values.

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 Associate 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 Associate Program Director Role

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