Director of Foundational Curriculum Operations

About the Job

Position Overview:

The Director of Foundations Curriculum Operations leads the delivery of the Foundations Phase of the MD program, the fi rst 16 months of the curriculum, across all three campuses of the University of Minnesota Medical School. The Director supervises the Course Management team, oversees curriculum delivery, and manages ongoing curricular changes. The Director works as a peer to the instructional design team and in close partnership with the Associate Dean for Foundational Curriculum, who holds responsibility for curricular content, faculty governance, and faculty performance. The Director reports to the Associate Dean for Foundations Curriculum. This is a hybrid position, with 2-3 days per week expected on one of the Medical School campuses (Twin Cities, Duluth, or St Cloud) with occasional travel to the other campuses.

55%: Team leadership and course operations management

• Directly supervise the tri-campus Foundations course management team, including hiring, onboarding, goal setting, coaching, and performance evaluation, with authority to make hiring decisions in collaboration with other leaders and to initiate corrective action in consultation with Medical School Human Resources
• Set priorities, make staffing assignments, and balanced portfolios across course managers so that every course is built, scheduled, and delivered on time on all three campuses.
• Establish and maintain standard operating procedures for running a course, including Canvas setup, gradebook configuration, student communication templates, and grade reporting timelines in keeping with Medical School Policy, and hold staff accountable for meeting these standards.
• Direct ongoing course management huddles within and across each campus.
• Serve as the final decision-maker on operational concerns in courses and threads, resolve escalations from course directors, faculty, staff, and students, and route faculty, policy, and content questions to the Associate Dean
• Design and adjust the staffing model for course management, including position descriptions, workload standards, and cross-campus coverage, and recommend changes in staffing levels and structure to the Associate Dean
• Manage the Foundations curriculum operations budget, including platform, vendor, and operational expenses, and monitor spending against plan

25%: Strategic planning, project, and change management

• Develop and lead a multi-year operational plan for the Foundations Curriculum team, aligned with UME priorities, the Foundations Committee’s continuous quality improvement goals, and LCME standards, and advise the Associate Dean on organizational design, staffing, and resource needs
• Translate decisions of Medical School leadership and governance committees into project plans with owners, timelines, and measures of completion, and direct their execution across all three campuses
• Lead implementation of curricular changes across campuses so that learning objectives, assessments, and structure remain comparable, and manage the approved exception process when local constraints require a difference in curricular delivery.
• Lead the cross-unit workflows for operations and changes shared by course management, instructional design, assessment and evaluation, student affairs, and the clinical curriculum team, and represent Foundations curriculum operations with these offices and with campus UME leadership
• Ensure, through the course management team, that course close-out meetings and annual course reviews are completed on schedule, and turn their findings into operational improvements

10%: Academic technology and platform oversight

• Hold operational ownership of the platforms that support the Foundations curriculum, including MedMap and MedMap Reporting, the question bank and audience response tools, and the exam performance dashboard, directing the staff who manage user access and annual rollover, and managing vendor relationships, contracts, and renewals
• Evaluate academic technologies each year for use, cost, and value, and make renewal, replacement, and investment recommendations to UME leadership
• Work with the Office of General Counsel of the University of Minnesota to ensure that third-party tools meet University security, privacy, contracting, and digital accessibility requirements before and after purchase
• Serve as the Foundations liaison to classroom technology and simulation services on each campus

10%: Accreditation, policy, and data operations

• Ensure the completeness and integrity of the operational records that LCME accreditation requires, including curriculum mapping data, course review documentation, and evidence of follow-through on action plans, and serve as the operational lead for the Foundations phase in LCME self-study and status report preparation
• Enforce adherence to curriculum policies with operational deadlines, such as grading timelines, resolve noncompliance directly with course teams, and escalate unresolved or faculty-related concerns to the Associate Dean
• Direct the collection and reporting of student feedback, evaluation, and exam performance data, and use these data with the Associate Dean and the instructional design team to set improvement priorities

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least six years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, health professions education, or a comparably complex organization
• At least three years directly supervising professional staff, including hiring and performance management
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-stakeholder projects from plan through completion
• Demonstrated experience leading a team or unit through a significant change in structure, process, or systems
• Clear written and spoken communication, including the ability to deliver difficult messages to staff and faculty

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree
• Experience in a medical school or other health professions program, and familiarity with accreditation requirements
• Experience working across multiple campuses or sites
• Experience administering learning management, curriculum mapping, or assessment platforms, and working with university security, privacy, and contracting review
• Experience with operating budgets
• Familiarity with University of Minnesota systems and policies
• Training or certification in project management or change management

About the Department

Committed to innovation and diversity, the Medical School educates physicians, scientists, and health professionals; generates knowledge and treatments; and cares for patients and communities with compassion and respect. We value excellence, inclusiveness, collaboration, and discovery.

The mission of the regional campus located in Duluth is to be a national leader in improving healthcare access and outcomes in rural Minnesota and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. In partnership with CentraCare, the regional campus in St. Cloud offers a wide range of patient experiences throughout students’ education in Greater Minnesota and prepares them to become exceptional clinicians and leaders for rural and immigrant populations.

Founded in 1888, the University of Minnesota Medical School has three campuses. A four-year MD program and the MD/PhD program are located on the Twin Cities campus in addition to MD programs at regional campuses in Duluth and St. Cloud.

Pay and Benefits

Pay Range: $92,000 - $105,000 annually; depending on education/qualifications/experience

Time Appointment: 100% Appointment

Work Location: Hybrid

Position Type: Faculty and P&A Staff