Assistant Director of Field Experience

Job Summary

Reporting to the Dean of the Lurie College of Education receives work direction from the Director of Field Experience with a dotted line of reporting to the Department Chairs for Teacher Education and Special Education. The Assistant Director of Field Experience will provide overall program management and oversight to field education in the Teacher Education and Special Education Departments at San José State University. The Assistant Director of Field Experience will serve as the Departments’ primary resource for planning, supporting, and implementing a comprehensive field education program for credential candidates that aligns with the College’s mission, vision, and strategic plan.  The Assistant Director will collaborate with the Office of Field Experience, Department Chairs, faculty, and others on projects related to improving field experiences for credential candidates. 

The Assistant Director will oversee, assign, and support field supervisors and work closely with faculty to provide an integrated approach to student teaching and intern experiences in alignment with the College’s strategic plan and each Program’s learning objectives. They will also collaborate with the field placement coordinator to meet placement needs. This may include establishing new district partnerships and strengthening existing ones to support the quantity, quality, and variety of field placements needed so that SJSU remains a high priority for partner school districts.

The Assistant Director will collaborate with relevant SJSU Departments’ faculty members and supervise field supervisors to support any needed course design or redesign to support practice. The Director will also collaborate with Lurie’s faculty and partner school districts to develop professional learning opportunities for those engaged with supporting the field experience within and across programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Use of substantial judgment and collaboration in the analysis, interpretation, development, integration, and application of the Departments’ field experience policies and practice in a cycle of continual improvement to align with Program Learning Outcomes and the Lurie College’s mission, vision, and strategic plan.
• Maintain a strong student support focus across the Departments using existing practices with a humanizing and transformative approach.
• Collaboratively develop, maintain, and monitor departmental field experience policies and practices related to program and student learning outcomes.
• Manage a webpage presence and periodically convey field experience updates via a newsletter.
• Lead monthly supervisor meetings; design and facilitate professional learning for supervisors to support and deepen their understanding of mentoring novice teachers and updated credential requirements.
• Organize/assign caseloads for supervisors.
• Revise the content of student teaching courses to align with Lurie College’s mission, vision, strategic plan, program learning objectives, and accreditation needs and requirements.
• Prepare MOUs for teacher candidates transitioning to a substitute position during their field placement
• Maintain high-level and diverse contacts within the university, regional school district partners, CSU, CTC, CCTE, AACTE, and other professional organizations.
• Serve as a key advisor providing expertise, oversight, and leadership to the Departments’ Leadership Teams, faculty, and staff which have broad policy and pedagogical impact on program structure, curricula, and advising; accountable for developing and evaluating short- and long-term goals and objectives.
• Maintain close relations with the Director of the Student Success Center to facilitate support for teacher candidates.
• Responsible for the oversight of adherence to CTC field experience requirements for student teaching, internships, and other field experiences.
• Represent the Lurie College at local, state, and national meetings and conferences related to field experience design, assessment, development, integration, and impact; engage in continuing education activities to support college-wide and system-wide field experience initiatives.
• Work with the Director of Field Experiences and the Center for Faculty Development to identify and develop resources for mentoring and facilitating the development of supervisors and any related clinical faculty.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• In-depth knowledge and experience in field experience research, policies, and practice
• Proficiency in understanding and analyzing complex problems from a future-oriented and broad interactive perspective, with a readiness to develop proactive solutions
• Strong problem-solving and creative thinking s