Director of Online & Flexible Course Delivery

La Sierra University is seeking highly qualified and motivated candidates to serve as the Director of Online & Flexible Course Delivery.

The Director of Online & Flexible Course Delivery provides leadership and strategic oversight of online and hybrid learning activities, ensuring academic excellence, regulatory compliance, and alignment with the University’s mission. The Director works closely with deans, faculty members, IT staff, and other stakeholders to deliver high-quality, accessible, and efficient learning experiences. The director also coordinates with marketing to enhance the visibility of the University’s online opportunities. 

The director of this office must be a member, in good standing, of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.

Duties: 

• Direct and oversee the University's online and hybrid courses and programs, working in coordination with the Office of the Provost and departments/schools offering the courses. 
• Ensure that online and hybrid offerings reflect the university’s academic standards and accreditation requirements while maintaining consistency with the La Sierra brand.
• Ensure that online learning programs comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including those governing distance education and financial aid eligibility.
  • Monitor and manage state authorization requirements, including participation in NC-SARA and ensure institutional compliance for enrolling out-of-state students.
  • Maintain documentation for state-by-state compliance and prepare required reports for internal and external stakeholders, including accrediting bodies and regulatory agencies.
  • Track student location data to confirm state eligibility for enrollment and aid disbursement, in collaboration with the registrar and financial aid offices.
  • Stay informed about and ensure compliance with DOE guidance regarding regular and substantive interaction (RSI), Title IV requirements, and other key federal mandates affecting online education.
• Assist faculty members in the design and development of flexible and online courses.
• Collaborate with IT and academic leadership to establish protocols that protect student and faculty data within learning management systems and third-party tools, ensuring that online learning platforms and processes comply with FERPA and other applicable data privacy laws.
• Monitor the online learning budget to ensure that budget expectations are met.
• Interact and communicate effectively with University committees, faculty, and staff.
• Attend conferences and meetings that will enhance the University’s abilities to offer high-quality online learning programs.
• Serve as a liaison between athletics and the deans to facilitate the development of flexible and online courses and learning experiences.
• Serve as a resource to promote best practices in faith-informed online pedagogy and student engagement.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Provost that support the mission and strategic priorities of the University.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The Director will also know, or quickly and satisfactorily learn, the institution’s governance responsibilities and processes and will demonstrate a high degree of skill at interpersonal and committee relations.

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:

Master's degree or equivalent, doctorate degree preferred, with a minimum of three years of appropriate experience and/or training.

Language Ability:  

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret regulatory, accreditation-related, and technical documents. Ability to respond effectively to inquiries or complaints. Ability to write clear, coherent reports. 

Math Ability: 

Should be able to engage in computational tasks that will enable effective budgeting, reporting, and trend analysis. 

Reasoning Ability:  

Ability to resolve a wide range of practical problems while providing high levels of customer service to students and faculty members.

Computer Skills: 

To perform this job successfully, an individual should be highly skilled in the use and trouble-shooting of a wide variety of computer-related applications suitable to both PC and Apple computers. The director will also have the ability to coach students and faculty members, in person or remotely, to solve problems or to innovatively accomplish their objectives.

Supervisory Responsibilities:  

None at the present, but it is anticipated that, as the program develops, an online learning support staff may be added.

Alternatively, the director might coordinate the University’s efforts with a third-party online learning program host.

Work Environment and Physical Demands:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is required to stand; walk to various offices across campus; travel as needed to conferences and to University programs off-campus on occasion; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. 

Salary Range: $68,640 - $75,000 yearly, plus generous benefits including:

• Comprehensive health coverage available
• Tuition Assistance (spouse and dependent eligibility)
• 10 Paid Holidays
• FSA, Pet Insurance, Legal Services, Identity Protection Services, and more!