Academic Program Coordinators

The primary responsibility for program integrity and coordination falls to the chair of the academic department in which the degree and/or concentration and/or minor and/or certificate is offered. The department chair appoints academically qualified coordinators for undergraduate programs in consultation with the academic dean. Faculty who coordinate baccalaureate degrees must minimally hold a master’s degree in the discipline. Graduate program directors are appointed by the department or college offering the graduate degree/certificate in consultation with the graduate dean and must hold the appropriate graduate faculty status. Where degrees have identified concentrations, the academic department chair appoints a designated coordinator for the concentration. Designated coordinators are also appointed to online and off-campus site programs. Directors are appointed for interdisciplinary programs (Women’s and Gender Studies, Africana Studies, and Aging Studies) by the dean of the college in which the interdisciplinary major/minor is located.

Responsibilities of Academic Program Coordinators/Graduate Directors 

Undergraduate Program Coordinators: 

 Undergraduate degree program coordinators are responsible for developing, reviewing, and updating curricula, identifying program and student learning outcomes, working with college advisors, and coordinating assessment processes for annual institutional effectiveness reporting, as well as for program management. They also engage in student recruitment, yield management, and enrollment activities, and may produce or review content for print and electronic publications. They lead program faculty in preparing documents required for external program reviews or specialized accreditations and implementing measures adopted in response to institutional assessment activities or external reviewer or accreditor recommendations.   

Reassigned Time: 

Deans and chairs may approve reassigned time for program coordinators. 

Graduate Directors: 

Graduate degree program coordinators are responsible for all aspects of graduate administration, including recruitment, admissions, advising, scheduling, and assistantship selection and assignment. They are also responsible for developing, reviewing, and updating curricula, identifying program and student learning outcomes, coordinating assessment processes for annual institutional effectiveness reporting, and developing content for print and electronic publications. They lead faculty in preparing  required documents for external program reviews or specialized accreditations and implementing measures adopted in response to reviewer or accreditor recommendations.  

Onboarding: 

Graduate Studies has created a course in MTSU’s Learning Management System for Graduate Director on-boarding that contains important information regarding processes and systems. Graduate Directors should contact them for access.  

Summer Compensation/Reassigned Time: 

Effective with Summer 2024, Graduate Program Directors began to receive summer compensation for the work they complete in the summer. The compensation is based on enrollment and differs for master’s and doctoral levels. They also receive standardized reassigned time in the fall and spring terms. Directors who are not able to serve in the summer may, in consultation with a chair/director and dean, assign summer work and pay to another faculty member in the program. For directors who hold fiscal year appointments, there is no additional summer pay for this work. 

Coordinators of Certificate Programs: 

Coordination of certificate programs involves oversight of curriculum in consultation with the related degree program’s coordinator and department/school curriculum committee and annual institutional effectiveness reporting. Deans, department chairs, and school directors should recognize these responsibilities in workload.