AIAM / Adult education leadership
Building programs and the support students need.
As Director of Adult Education and Academic Dean, I led licensed program development, brought practitioners and employers into advisory committees, hired key staff, and expanded student resources during a period of growth.
Read the executive briefRead this case
Start with the brief or explore the work and decisions.
Executive brief
What does a school need around a new program for it to work?
- My contribution
- I led licensed program development, formed advisory committees, hired key staff, and carried faculty, reporting, and accreditation responsibilities.
- A resource decision
- I funded a librarian and expanded student resources when accreditation identified the library as a weak area.
- Outcome and evidence
- The school expanded its licensed offerings, and the library contributed to a positive reaccreditation review.
Follow the evidence
How the evidence fits.
Select a step to inspect its source and what it supports.
Program growth
New licensed programs required staffing, operating capacity, and student support.
- Source basis
- My account of leading adult education at AIAM.
- What to inspect
- Read the program scope and operating responsibilities.
01 / The question
What does a school need around a new program for it to work?
AIAM was expanding from its existing massage and acupuncture offerings into additional licensed programs. Growth meant more than developing curriculum. We needed qualified staff, practitioner and employer input, student resources, and the administrative work required to operate regulated programs.
Leadership & practice
I connected the academic work with the operating decisions.
I led program development that included a master’s degree in acupuncture, expanded massage offerings, medical assistant education, and a new nursing arm with LPN and RN programs. I created advisory committees and hired key people, including a nursing administrator. My responsibilities also included hiring and faculty administration, federal reporting, and accreditation.
Bring the right people together
Advisory committees included practitioners, employers, and public members. Their perspectives connected the programs to the work graduates would be expected to do.
Build the operating capacity
I hired key staff and handled the faculty and administrative responsibilities that supported a growing set of licensed programs.
Invest in student support
When accreditation identified a weak library, I found room in a tight budget for a librarian, additional computers, tutoring, and student resources.
What changed
Growth needed an organization behind it.
Program development
A wider set of licensed offerings
The school expanded its programs across acupuncture, massage, medical assistant education, and nursing. My role connected that development with staffing, advisory input, and operating requirements.
Resource judgment
A library students could use
The library grew from a very limited setup into a staffed space with several computers, tutoring, and learning resources. It contributed to a positive reaccreditation review.
The approach
How we put it into practice.
- 01
Define the program need
Connect academic plans with the requirements of a licensed program and the work expected of graduates.
- 02
Listen to the field
Bring practitioners, employers, and public members into the advisory process.
- 03
Staff and support the program
Hire key people and provide the resources faculty and students need.
- 04
Keep the school accountable
Carry the reporting, faculty administration, and accreditation responsibilities alongside the academic work.
Have a question about this work?
Email Dennis