Executive Director of Accreditation and Evaluation (HEALTH PROFNS EDUC MGR 2)

The Executive Director of Accreditation and Evaluation provides strategic leadership, oversight, and operational management for the School of Nursing's accreditation, educational effectiveness, assessment, program evaluation, regulatory compliance, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) enterprise. Reporting to the Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, the position serves as the School's senior authority on accreditation, educational quality, and evidence-based program evaluation, ensuring compliance with national, state, university, and professional accreditation requirements while advancing a culture of continuous improvement and academic excellence.

The Executive Director leads the development and implementation of an integrated framework for accreditation readiness, educational assessment, outcomes evaluation, and quality improvement across all academic programs. Utilizing advanced program evaluation methodologies and qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessing educational effectiveness, the position oversees the systems, processes, and performance measures used to evaluate program quality, student success, faculty effectiveness, and institutional outcomes.

The Executive Director serves as the School's primary liaison with accrediting and regulatory agencies, including:

• California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN/CABRN)
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
• Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs
• Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant

Working collaboratively with School leadership, Program Directors, faculty, staff, campus governance bodies, and institutional partners, the position directs accreditation planning, institutional reporting, curriculum and programmatic change implementation, and educational quality initiatives to ensure ongoing compliance and successful program outcomes.

The Executive Director develops and maintains an integrated framework for accreditation readiness, assessment, outcomes evaluation, and continuous quality improvement across all educational programs. The position collaborates closely with school leadership, program directors, faculty, staff, and institutional partners to ensure ongoing compliance, data-driven decision-making, and educational excellence.

As the School's senior non-executive leader responsible for accreditation and educational effectiveness, the Executive Director plays a critical role in safeguarding accreditation status, advancing educational quality, supporting student success, informing strategic planning, and ensuring the successful implementation, continuation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of existing and future nursing and health professions programs. Through the leadership of subordinate managers and professional staff, the position directly influences institutional reputation, program viability, operational excellence, and the School's long-term strategic growth.

Apply By Date

Sunday, October 25, 2026 by 11:50p PDT; screening and selection can begin any time

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in nursing, education, higher education administration, health professions education, public administration, organizational leadership, public health, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Extensive, progressively responsible leadership experience in higher education administration, accreditation, educational assessment, institutional effectiveness, academic affairs, regulatory compliance, or a related field.
• Significant experience supervising professional staff and/or managers, including responsibility for organizational planning, performance management, workforce development, and resource allocation.
• Demonstrated experience leading successful accreditation, regulatory compliance, or institutional review activities for multiple academic programs or a complex academic enterprise.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and overseeing comprehensive program evaluation, educational assessment, and continuous quality improvement frameworks, including the use of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to evaluate program effectiveness and inform strategic decision making.
• Experience developing and implementing organization-wide systems, policies, and processes supporting accreditation, educational quality, assessment, evaluation, or continuous quality improvement.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives involving faculty, academic leadership, administrative units, and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and strict regulatory or accreditation deadlines.
• Expert knowledge of higher education administration, health professions education, accreditation, and shared governance. Demonstrated understanding of accreditation standards, regulatory requirements, academic governance processes, curriculum approval pathways, and continuous quality improvement principles within complex academic and health professions education environments.
• Exceptional strategic leadership and organizational management skills. Demonstrated ability to establish organizational vision, develop long-range strategies, lead organizational change, and achieve institutional objectives through subordinate managers and professional staff while effectively managing multiple complex priorities and organizational resources.
• Advanced expertise in educational assessment, program evaluation, data analytics, and evidence-based decision making. Demonstrated ability to design and oversee comprehensive evaluation frameworks; apply qualitative and quantitative methodologies; interpret statistical analyses and educational outcomes data; assess program effectiveness; identify trends, risks, and opportunities; and translate complex findings into strategic recommendations that improve educational quality and organizational performance.
• Exceptional relationship management, collaboration, and influence skills. Demonstrated ability to build productive partnerships and foster consensus among faculty, academic leadership, administrators, accrediting agencies, campus governance bodies, and external stakeholders while successfully navigating complex organizational and shared governance environments.
• Outstanding written, verbal, and executive communication skills. Ability to prepare complex accreditation self-studies, executive reports, policy documents, and institutional communications; present information to diverse audiences; facilitate discussions among senior leaders and faculty; and effectively represent the School with accrediting bodies, university leadership, and external organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead continuous improvement and organizational excellence. Ability to develop sustainable systems, policies, and operational processes that promote educational quality, regulatory compliance, data-informed decision making, accountability, and continuous improvement across a complex portfolio of academic programs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctoral degree (PhD, EdD, DNP, DrPH, or equivalent) in nursing, education, health professions education, higher education, public health, organizational leadership, or a related discipline.
• Experience within an academic health center, school of nursing, medical school, or other health professions education environment.
• Experience supporting or overseeing multiple professional health programs with differing accreditation and regulatory requirements. Particularly, experience with one or more of the following accreditation and regulatory agencies: California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN/CABRN), Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA), Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA)
• Experience collaborating with shared governance bodies and university academic approval processes, including Academic Senate, Graduate Council, curriculum committees, and related governance entities.
• Experience leading curriculum approval, substantive change, degree proposal, or academic policy development processes.
• Experience using statistical methods, survey design, data visualization, and evaluation software to support educational assessment, accreditation, and institutional decision making.

Key Responsibilities

Accreditation Leadership & Compliance (40%)

• Provides senior leadership and organizational oversight for accreditation and regulatory compliance activities across all academic programs within the School of Nursing.
• Working closely with Program Directors, achieves organizational accreditation, compliance, and quality objectives through the direction and management of subordinate managers, analysts, and professional staff responsible for accreditation operations, reporting, assessment, and regulatory activities.
• Establishes the School's accreditation strategy, priorities, infrastructure, and accountability framework to ensure ongoing compliance and accreditation readiness across multiple accrediting and regulatory bodies.
• Directs the planning and execution of accreditation reviews, self-studies, site visits, annual reporting, substantive change submissions, and regulatory communications.
• Oversees long-range planning of accreditation activities, campus academic and administrative reviews, and the associated readiness plans.
• Monitors evolving accreditation requirements and advises school leadership regarding implications for academic programs, policies, curriculum, and operations.
• Direct all aspects of accreditation site visit preparation and execution, including post-visit response activities and monitoring plans
• Serves as the School's principal liaison with accrediting and regulatory agencies and provides strategic guidance to program leadership to support accreditation success.

Educational Effectiveness, Evaluation & Quality Improvement (30%)

• Provides strategic leadership for the School's educational effectiveness, assessment, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement functions.
• Establishes organizational goals, standards, methodologies, and performance expectations and directs
• subordinate staff in the design, implementation, and maintenance of institution-wide systems for outcomes assessment, program evaluation, performance measurement, and quality improvement.
• Oversees the collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of educational outcomes data and ensures findings are translated into actionable recommendations that improve educational quality, student success, faculty effectiveness, and program performance.
• In partnership with Program Directors, faculty leadership, and School governance committees, facilitates the development, review, approval, and implementation of curriculum revisions, degree requirement changes, academic policies, bylaws, and other programmatic modifications.
• Directs and oversees the implementation of programmatic, curricular, and policy changes necessary to
• maintain academic quality, accreditation compliance, and program effectiveness.
• Collaborates with campus governance and oversight bodies, including the Academic Senate, Graduate Council, Office of Academic Programs, and other institutional stakeholders, to advance approvals and ensure compliance with university policies and academic regulations.
• Directs continuous quality improvement initiatives and promotes a culture of evidence-based decision making and accountability across all academic programs.

Strategic Advising & Academic Planning (20%)

• Serves as a strategic advisor to the Dean, Associate Deans, Program Directors, and other academic leaders on matters related to accreditation, educational quality, institutional effectiveness, and regulatory compliance. Collaborates with leadership to align accreditation, evaluation, and quality improvement activities with the School's strategic priorities and long-range goals.
• Leads organizational risk assessments and accreditation readiness planning efforts and identifies emerging issues that may impact accreditation status, educational quality, or program viability.
• Provides expert consultation regarding new program development, program expansion, substantive changes,