Academic Program Specialist

Job Summary:

The Academic Program Specialist under the guidance of the Program Director and Program Associate Director, supports the PNA strategic priorities through operations management and general program support. Supervises administrative support staff and work study students. Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders; and fosters nurse anesthesia residents’ attainment of the program’s learning outcomes and overall student success.

The Program of Nurse Anesthesia has been funded by the Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Program since 1993. The Academic Program Specialist position is contingent on funding.  

Duties and Responsibilities

An Asterisk (*) denotes an “essential job function” for ADA purposes.

*40% - Management of Support Staff

• Supervises program’s administrative support staff and work-study students.
• Provide training to the administrative support team assuring efficient and effective delivery of services to current/prospective students, program alumni, adjunct/regular faculty, SMU campus community, and other internal and external PNA stakeholders.  
• Develop/maintain electronic manuals for use by support staff as a reference guide for day-to-day PNA operations following SMU policy and procedures.
• Track and monitor support staff workflow, time management and quality of services and deliverables provided to support PNA.  
• Evaluate support staff yearly, identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement. Develop action plans to improve support staff performance and foster professional growth at SMU.
• Assign taking PNA meeting minutes to support staff as needed.
• Other duties as assigned

*60% - Operations and Project Management

• Provide direct support to the PNA Director and Associate Director in the operations of the program and the administrative functions of the department;
• In concert with Director and Associate Director, manage assigned projects or strategic initiatives, often simultaneously, that ensure fulfillment of program goals.
• Database systems: Design, implement and maintain a secure electronic repository for PNA legacy documents, student records that meets accrediting agency retention requirements. Maintain vendor relationships and product evaluation.
• Manage and coordinate the PNA master calendar, plan and schedule special events/workshops, schedule student orientation/interviews, coordinate the allocation of classrooms with the Registrar’s Office and Facilities, manage administrative team calendars and assignments as needed.
• In consultation with the PNA Director and Associate Director, assist in the budget planning process and manage the annual Program budget, including but not limited to monitoring expenses, reconciling invoices and P-card transactions through the S3 system, check requests, payroll adjustments, purchase requisitions, vendor payments, and reimbursements.
• Ensure Kaiser Community Benefit Grant invoicing requirements are met.
• Develop and evaluate the value of PNA vendors periodically. Identify, define and resolve PNA cost inefficiencies.
• Assist in all aspects of the preparation of documents and reporting to accreditation agencies. Develop work flows leading to the timely collection, analysis and reporting of outcomes and evaluation data. Additionally, work with the PNA clinical coordinator to ensure clinical sites meet accreditation agency requirements. Develop and manage student and faculty files as required for ongoing accreditation.
• Manage tracking of grant recipients, including demographic data.
• Assist students with reporting requirements for workplace injuries. Manage, maintain, and ensure content accuracy of PNA Clinical Rotation Manager Canvas course and Nurse Anesthesia Student Tracking (NAST) database. Facilitate NAST student portfolio setup. Manage and ensure site specific clinical privilege requirements are in compliance for clinical rotations. Maintain exposure reports and oversee dosimetry badge distribution for radiation safety monitoring program.
• Oversee and coordinate student housing leasing, maintenance and services for Central Valley clinical rotation. Procure future student housing as needed dependent on funding.
• Coordinate with Human Resources onboarding of newly employed faculty, ensure clinical credentials are updated in FETs.
• Maintain student clinical records to ensure compliance with site-specific requirements, assist alumni in obtaining claims history reports, coordinate and assist students with special projects and event planning. Develop, evaluate and manage national certification examination applications and facilitate California BRN nurse anesthetist initial licensure applications for licensure.
• Generates FIA’s
• Assist in preparation of grants including required data sets, contributions of written narrative, and annual reporting requirements
• Manage and coordinate updating PNA handbook, clinical policy and reference manual.
• Serve as a resource to program nurse anesthesia residents.
• Take meeting notes when support staff are unavailable
• Delegate tasks as appropriate to support staff
• Other duties as assigned

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Administrative Assistants
• Work Study Students (as needed)

Education and/or Experience

• Education and/or Experience
• Baccalaureate degree or higher preferred
• Demonstrate 3 years of progressive responsibility in administrative and 2 years of experience in coordinating, leading or managing processes or workflows
• Experience in reconciling budgets and tracking spending
• Grant management oversite desirable

Required Skills 

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Microsoft Office programs at an intermediate-advanced level (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• Excellent judgment and creative, critical thinking to solve daily problems
• Excellent writing skills
• Ability to analyze and interpret data
• Ability to organize and prioritize workload
• Attention to detail and follow through on action items
• Ability to delegate appropriate tasks and supervise personnel to ensure completion of tasks
• Ability to interpret budget spreadsheets and create accurate spreadsheets
• Ability to handle privileged information in a confidential manner
• Navigation of complex, ever-changing internal systems and processes to ensure smooth day to day operations

The University has an institution-wide commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We strive to build a welcoming and supportive campus environment, and acknowledge that diversity is an educational imperative to achieve excellence.