HEAD SPECIAL PROJECTS

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMING AND DELIVERY DIVISION

 

GENERAL

 

1.The University of the West Indies, Open Campus serves the following English-speaking Caribbean countries:

 

Anguilla

Antigua & Barbuda

Bahamas, The Commonwealth of

Barbados

Belize

British Virgin Islands

The Cayman Islands

The Commonwealth of Dominica

Grenada

Jamaica

Montserrat

St. Christopher & Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Vincent & The Grenadines

The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

 

              

2.The University began teaching in 1948 at Mona in Jamaica as a University College affiliated with the University of London, and became independent in 1962.  The University is now a dual mode institution offering teaching by distance education as well as face-to-face teaching.  The University has campuses at Mona in Jamaica, St Augustine in Trinidad and Cave Hill in Barbados, and University Centres in the above countries.  The UWI on campus student population is currently over 30,000 full-time equivalent students.

 

3.In a major initiative to grow our student population and service the widely dispersed needs of country partners, the University has launched Open Campus; an entity that is built on our success in distance education and continuing studies throughout the Caribbean.  The current population of our distance students and continuing education students is over 20,000 today and it is hoped to grow to over 40,000 Open Campus students by 2012. Open Campus currently employs a wide variety of distance delivery methods and has 52 education centres in 16 different English speaking countries and a staff of almost 400 professionals to support our growing student population.

 

OPEN CAMPUS

 

4.The UWI Open Campus works with faculty on the three campuses, as well as with other tertiary institutions and development agencies throughout the Caribbean to design, develop and deliver quality programmes by distance to meet the learning needs of the people of the Caribbean.

 

5.The office of the Director of the Academic Programming and Delivery Division is located at the Cave Hill campus in Barbados. Other Open Campus faculty and staff are also located on the Mona campus in Jamaica and St Augustine in Trinidad. Open Campus centres in Non-Campus Countries and off-campus Sites in campus territories are managed by Heads of the Centres or Site Coordinators in collaborating institutions.

 

6.There are four functional areas within the Open Campus Academic Programming and Delivery Division:  Pre-University and Professional Development; Undergraduate Studies; Graduate Studies and Special Projects.  The three academic departments are responsible for the planning and designing new programmes, managing existing programmes, developing and producing courseware employing a variety of distance and classroom formats and methods, managing the delivery of courses, supervising part-time faculty engaged in the learning environment and evaluating the quality of our programmes, courses and faculty supporting our students.  Department Heads are involved in all aspects of the learning process and will take the lead in one or more academic disciplines supported by their academic department.

 

REQUIREMENTS

 

7.The successful applicant should have a PhD in one of the following disciplines:  Instructional Systems; Distance Education; Open and Distance Learning; Instructional Design; Instructional Technology; or a similar degree programme.  The Head Special Projects should also have formal certification as a project manager. 

 

  1. The Head Special Projects must have been exposed to a variety of increasing administrative and leadership responsibilities in an academic institution or corporate environment that supports distance delivery and continuing and professional education programmes.  In addition, the Head must have experience working in a distance education environment and ideally designed and delivered online courseware.

 

9.The Head Special Projects will work with and seek out external funding agencies, non-profit organizations, corporate sponsors, other tertiary institutions, and our internal UWI Faculties to create innovative educational programmes or support educational technology that will benefit the Caribbean as a whole.

 

10.  The Head Special Projects will be required to manage, administer and collaborate with Open Campus staff, external contractors, sponsoring agencies and supporting professionals who are responsible for procuring, implementing and executing external contracts on behalf of Open Campus. 

 

  1. Ideally the Head Special Projects will have knowledge of and experience with different academic institutions throughout the developing and developed world.

 

ACADEMIC LEVEL

 

12.  Senior Lecturer or Professor depending on qualifications and experience.

 

WORK LOCATION

 

13.  The Head Special Projects will be required to regularly travel throughout the Caribbean and North America in support of the external contracts and contractors administered by Open Campus.  Therefore the Head Special Projects can live and work from any location in the Caribbean that has a reliable Internet connection, telecommunications service and airport hub.  Location will be negotiated with the successful candidate.

 

WORK ENVIRONMENT

 

14.  The Head Special Projects must be able to work in a virtual team environment.  The Head will live and work in one country and manage and collaborate with others located throughout the Caribbean.  The incumbent must be able to engage others in team meetings, developing ideas, and supervise the work of others using a variety of ICT and collaborative web tools.  Extensive experience in managing distance projects and working in virtual project teams is a requirement; and excellent computer skills are essential.

 

REPORTING

 

  1. The Head Special Projects is responsible to the Director of the Academic Programming and Delivery Division for the effective execution of his or her duties and responsibilities. 

 

TENURE

 

  1. Appointment will be for three years in the first instance.      

OPEN CAMPUS JOB DESCRIPTION: HEAD SPECIAL PROJECTS 

The Head Special Projects provides the entrepreneurial thrust and innovative cutting edge for the Academic Programming and Delivery Division and Open Campus. The Head solicits and undertakes curriculum development and instructional design consultancies and grant-funded projects for online and/or blended learning programmes designed, developed and delivered from within or from outside of the University.

 

The Head Special Projects acts as a technical and professional resource to the Director, other Department Heads and the PVC.  The Head provides expert advice and guidance to the Curriculum Development Specialists and others involved in the design, production and delivery of online and face-to-face courses and academic programmes.  As such the Head ensures that a common pedagogical and curriculum development approach is defined, documented and employed throughout Open Campus.

 

The Head of Special Projects researches and proposes standards and new technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the curriculum development, instructional design, programme delivery and material production functions within the Academic Programming Area. 

 

The Head Special Projects oversees the internal professional development needs and manages the professional development programmes required by Open Campus to enhance the skill, knowledge and professionalism of Open Campus personnel.

 

The Head of Special Projects is also the senior manager responsible for the Production Unit and virtually manages the production process and widely scattered personnel and contractors employed throughout the Caribbean and other locations to produce all Open Campus courseware and other learning materials.

 

The Head Special Projects will be responsible for the completion of the following duties and tasks.

 

Duty:  Department Management

  1. Manage a consulting and external services department consisting of Project Managers, Curriculum Development Specialists, Web Advisors, Administrative Assistants and Clerical Assistants.
  2. Manage the Open Campus Production Unit.
  3. Recruit and manage contractors employed in support of external projects or in support of the Production Unit.
  4. Produce and manage budgets required to support the operation of the Special Projects Department.
  5. Contribute to the Open Campus strategic and operational planning process.
  6. Participate in Academic Programming and Delivery Division and Open Campus committees and project teams.
  7. Work with other members of the Academic Programming Programming and Delivery Division to ensure the success of Open Campus.

Duty:  Consultancy and Contract Management Services

  1. Seek out and procure external international development funds and corporate donations to support the growth and build the capacity of Open Campus.
  2. Manage all external projects assigned to the Academic Programming and Delivery Division.
  3. Work with external partners and funding agencies to ensure Open Campus services are delivered in a timely and professional manner.
  4. Manage the design, development and delivery of contracted academic programmes to support the target audience defined in the contract/MOU.

 

Duty:  Instructional Design, Technology and Pedagogical Research and Foundations

  1. Research the impact of current distance learning best practices, emerging technologies and instructional design/pedagogical strategies and methods on the instructional design and delivery methods used by Open Campus to support its learners and faculty.
  2. Produce instructional design and delivery manuals to guide Open Campus personnel in the design and delivery of UWI Open courseware.

 

Duty:  Professional Development

  1. Manage the Open Campus professional development and career development programme to meet the needs of the Open Campus staff.
  2. Collaborate with Open Campus senior managers to develop an annual professional development and career development plan.
  3. Manage the annual professional development budget.

 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE NEEDED

The successful applicant should have:

 

  • Project management skills.
  • Contract management skills.
  • Producing proposals to procure funds and support from international development agencies and potential corporate and other academic partners.
  • Knowledge of emerging technologies and their use in distance education.
  • Knowledge of instructional design models, instructional theory and learning theory and their impact on distance learning environments.
  • Plan, design, deliver and implement academic programmes.
  • Manage large and complex virtual academic and production teams.
  • Budget preparations and budget management.
  • Use of microsoft office and a variety of web collaboration tools.
  • Work with a changing technical environment.
  • Motivate and lead personnel under pressure to succeed.
  • Meet tight timelines and respond appropriately to changing circumstances.
  • Effective communications skills.
  • Effective customer management skills.
  • Innovative entrepreneurial skills and abilities.