Director of Academic Learning and Progress - School of Medicine

Why Work at BYU

At Brigham Young University (BYU), your work is an opportunity to contribute to a distinctive educational mission rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ and to make a meaningful difference in the lives of students.

As the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU strives to be among the exceptional universities in the world. We are devoted to our faith, our students, and the University's Mission: "To assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life."

We seek staff members who enthusiastically embrace and advance this unique mission. Across the university, staff bring their expertise and talents to work that helps students learn, grow, and thrive. A culture of covenant belonging, weekly devotionals, meaningful opportunities for learning and growth, and a beautiful and historic campus make BYU a distinctive and inspiring place to build a career.

Belonging Statement

United by our common primary identity as children of God, BYU values and embraces the variety of individual characteristics, life experiences and circumstances, perspectives, talents, and gifts across the BYU community. This richness strengthens our shared efforts to create and support an environment of covenant belonging centered in Jesus Christ.

Employment Requirements

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are required to hold and be worthy to hold a current temple recommend to be hired and to remain in any position at BYU.

In hiring decisions, Brigham Young University lawfully gives strong preference to qualified, faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All employees are required to abide by the university's Honor Code and Dress & Grooming Standards. Successful candidates are expected to support and contribute to the academic and religious missions of the university, which are aligned with the principles and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Equal Opportunity

Brigham Young University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability or protected veteran status.

Director of Academic Learning and Progress - School of Medicine

The Director of Academic Learning and Progress provides strategic and operational leadership for the academic progress infrastructure of the BYU School of Medicine within the Office of Student Progress. The director establishes the systems, programs, partnerships, staffing model, and continuous quality improvement processes that help students progress successfully from matriculation through graduation while meeting the academic, professional, and technical standards of the medical program.

The director leads the development of a proactive, developmental, data-informed, and mission-centered academic support system. This includes oversight of academic-success strategy, early-alert and student-progress processes, remediation monitoring, Student Progress Committee operational follow-up, professional-progress support, staff supervision, resource allocation, and cross-office coordination. The director ensures that students receive timely and coordinated support while preserving the distinction between supportive advising, formal assessment, promotion and progression decisions, and disciplinary processes.

The director reports to the Associate Dean of Student Progress and works closely with the Lead Academic Learning Specialist, Learning Specialists, Tutoring Coordinator, Director of Career Advising, Office of Student Experience and Well-Being, Registrar, Office of Analytics and Evaluation, curriculum and assessment leaders, course and clerkship directors, faculty advisors, and the Student Progress Committee.

A successful candidate will be highly organized, proactive, adaptable, anticipate needs, and contribute to a culture of collaboration and spiritual enrichment. This role will play an important part in supporting and fostering a spiritually enriching environment where employees and students can deepen their testimonies of Jesus Christ while preparing students for a lifetime of service as Christ-centered physicians.

This position is critical to the success of the BYU School of Medicine, a newly established organization within the university. As the school continues to launch and grow, a successful candidate must demonstrate adaptability and a willingness to take on evolving responsibilities and assignments to support its effective implementation and ongoing operations. 

What you'll be doing in this position

Academic Progress Strategy, Program Development, and Continuous Quality Improvement

• Lead the development and ongoing refinement of the School of Medicine's academic-success and progress-support infrastructure across all phases of the curriculum.
• Establish a longitudinal academic-support strategy, programming calendar, service standards, and measurable outcomes in collaboration with the Associate Dean of Student Progress and relevant OSP partners.
• Build and refine innovative, evidence-informed programming for academic success, early intervention, academic recovery, remediation monitoring, board-examination readiness, professional progress, and transition points in medical education.
• Use student performance, assessment, milestone, utilization, engagement, and student-feedback data to identify individual and class-level trends, equity concerns, barriers to progress, and opportunities for improvement.
• Lead CQI cycles for OSP academic-learning and progress services; document findings, implement improvements, monitor outcomes, and communicate recommendations to the Associate Dean and appropriate committees or leaders.
• Ensure programs are developmentally appropriate, accessible, mission-aligned, and responsive to the evolving needs of a new medical school.

Early Alert, Remediation Monitoring, and Student Progress Committee Follow-up

• Oversee the operational design and review of student-progress dashboards, early alert criteria, referral pathways, outreach expectations, escalation thresholds, and follow-up processes.
• Review academic progress information and referrals to ensure appropriate coordination and follow through of appropriate support pathways.
• Coordinate operational matters related to Student Progress Committee cases, including case readiness, referral status, documentation, follow-up needs, action-item tracking, and appropriate communication with involved parties.
• Translate Student Progress Committee recommendations into clear, coordinated support and monitoring plans when appropriate; track completion of required meetings, tutoring, learning plans, professionalism support, accommodations implementation follow-up, or progress check-ins.
• Coordinate with learning specialists, course and clerkship leaders, the Registrar, Career Advising, OSEW, and other authorized partners after committee review while protecting confidentiality and preserving governance boundaries.
• Escalate persistent non-engagement, concerning patterns, complex cases, or matters requiring formal review through the appropriate pathway.
• Maintain a clear distinction between support and formal decision-making; the director does not independently determine academic or professional standing, promotion, progression, dismissal, or graduation.

Staff Leadership, Supervision, and Resource Management

• Provide formal supervision and performance accountability for assigned Office of Student Progress staff, including the Lead Academic Learning Specialist, Learning Specialists, and Tutoring Coordinator, and provide organizational oversight for learning-support staffing and workflow.
• Set expectations, establish annual goals, conduct performance evaluations, support professional development, and address performance or capacity concerns in accordance with BYU practices.
• Delegate operational leadership appropriately to the Lead Academic Learning Specialist, including day-to-day coordination, learning-specialist mentoring, calibration, coverage, and implementation of academic-support workflows.
• Develop staffing plans and allocate personnel, budget, technology, and other resources to meet student needs and program priorities.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, accountable, and mission-centered team culture that normalizes help-seeking and supports compassionate standards-based student development.
• Establish and maintain clear communication, documentation, confidentiality, referral, and escalation expectations across the academic-learning and progress team.

Cross-Office Partnerships, Professional Progress, and Mission-Centered Formation

• Partner with curriculum leaders, course and clerkship directors, assessment personnel, faculty advisors, and OSP and OSEW leaders to identify barriers to student success and coordinate appropriate responses.
• Coordinate professional-progress and professional-identity support plans assigned by the Student Progress Committee or Associate Dean of Student Progress, including appropriate follow-up and documentation.
• Align academic-support and professional-development programming with curricular goals and objectives to help students integrate knowledge, skill, character, service, accountability, reflection, discipleship, and professional responsibility in keeping with the BYU School of Medicine mission.
• Coordinate with the Director of Career Advising when academic performance, self-assessment, professional identity, or progress concerns intersect with career development. The Director of Career Advising retains operational ownership of career advising, specialty advising, residency application advising, and Match preparation.
• Coordinate appropriate referrals and handoffs with OSEW, the University Accessibility Center, the Registrar, institutional offices, and other partners without duplicating their responsibilities.
• Support a no-wrong-door student-support model in which students are connected to the right resource through coordinated handoffs and clear ownership.

MSPE, Documentation Governance, and Reporting

• Coordinate the academic and professional-progress information needed for MSPE preparation in partnership with the Registrar, Director of Career Advising, clerkship directors, and the Office of Analytics and Evaluation.
• Ensure that supportive advising records, academic-support documentation, formal assessment records, and promotion/progression records are appropriately distinguished and handled according to policy and confidentiality requirements.
• Prepare aggregate reports, dashboards, summaries, and recommendations for the Associate Dean, authorized committees, leadership, and accreditation or quality-improvement purposes.
• Monitor the completeness, timeliness, accuracy, and appropriate use of academic-progress and support documentation; identify and correct process gaps.
• Maintain compliance with FERPA, institutional privacy requirements, BYU School of Medicine policies, Student Progress Committee fair-process expectations, and applicable accreditation standards.

Institutional Service, Representation, and Professional Development

• Represent the Office of Student Progress and the School of Medicine on committees, workgroups, accreditation activities, and institutional initiatives as assigned.
• Remain current in medical education, academic success, learning science, remediation, student progress, professional identity formation, board preparation, accessibility, and CQI practices.
• Build appropriate relationships with internal and external partners to support the development of a high-quality academic-progress system.
• Perform other duties as assigned that are consistent with the purpose of the role and the mission of the BYU School of Medicine.

What qualifies you for this role

Education/Experience

Minimum Required:  

• Master’s degree in education, psychology, learning sciences, counseling, health professions education, or related field AND 4 years of progressively responsible experience academic support, student success, advising, medical education, or health professions education, including at least 2 years of supervisory, program leadership, or management experience.   

Preferred:

• Doctoral degree or graduate certificate in education, counseling, psychology, learning sciences, health professions education, or a related discipline;
• Experience in medical education or a professional health program.
• Experience building a new program
• Experience with LCME accreditation, CQI, student progress, academic remediation, or educational data systems.

Skills, abilities, knowledge, licenses, certifications:

Required:  

• Strategic and operational leadership in a complex academic environment
• Knowledge of adult learning, academic success, learning science, remediation, advising, and professional student development
• Ability to build effective systems in a new or changing program, lead through ambiguity, and adapt services through CQI.
• Ability to supervise, develop, and hold staff accountable while maintaining collaborative relationships and clear role boundaries.
• Excellent written, oral, interpersonal, facilitation, organization, and project-management skills
• Sound judgment regarding confidentiality, FERPA, student support, escalation, referral, and separation from formal decision-making

Preferred:

• Experience designing and evaluating longitudinal academic-success or student-progress programming.
• Experience with medical school curriculum, NBME/USMLE preparation, medical student remediation, or student progress committees.
• Experience with dashboards, early alert systems, outcome measurement, and data-informed intervention.
• Experience coordinating with accessibility services, registrars, curriculum/assessment leaders, and well-being offices.
• Experience supporting professional identity formation, professionalism, mission-centered formation, and diverse student populations.
• Certification in academic coaching, advising, learning support, or a related field.

What we offer in return:

This position comes with fantastic benefits, including:

• 401k. BYU automatically contributes 8% at no cost to you. Additionally, if you contribute 5%, BYU adds an additional 4% (Rehires may qualify for different retirement plans) 

• Excellent work-life balance: 13 paid holidays + 22 days paid vacation + 12 sick days, accrued annually 

• Employee assistance program, available to the employee and all members of their household 

• Tuition benefits for employees and eligible family members 

• Access to athletic facilities 

• Excellent medical/dental benefits 

• Short/long-term disability benefits 

• Paid parental and maternity leave 

• Wellness Program 

• Free on-campus parking 

• Free UTA passes for employees, spouses, and qualified dependents 

• Discounts at the BYU Store and for many events at BYU 

Pay Grade: 55

Typical Starting Pay: $94,000-$122,000

The actual compensation offered will take into consideration internal equity and may vary based on the candidate’s job-related experience, knowledge, skills, and other relevant factors. Candidates with very significant work-related experience may receive an offer higher than the posted typical range.