Career Center

This position offers a unique opportunity to spearhead creation of a new Master’s degree program in Genetic Counseling at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), located in the greater Kansas City area. The program will be housed in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) in the School of Health Professions (SHP) to leverage the strong departmental support system and infrastructure, collaborative opportunities for teaching and research, and an enthusiastic and collegial work environment. This will be the first genetic counseling program in the state of Kansas.

The program will provide academic and clinical education capitalizing on strengths of existing relationships with KU School of Medicine, KU School of Nursing, and an extensive network of providers in the greater Kansas City area including University of Kansas Health System and Children’s Mercy Hospital, and the active, collaborative community of genetic counselors in our region. The Kansas City area includes a network of experienced, certified genetic counselors who enjoy lively and collegial working environments, employed employed in a variety of care settings including prenatal, pediatrics, cancer, cardiology, and industry genetics.

The Founding Program Director will have primary responsibility in shaping the Program’s vision and curriculum, will lead and administer the program’s application for accreditation candidacy, and will be the primary liaison to the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC). The Program Director will be responsible for developing program activities contributing to the University’s mission and strategic plan for teaching, research, scholarly contributions, and service. The Program Director will also be involved with hiring additional full-time faculty members and a dedicated staff. An Assistant Program Director and administrative staff have been identified to initiate program development and to support onboarding and orientation of the Program Director.

The Program Director should possess qualifications to hold a tenure-track faculty rank of Assistant Professor or higher. The salary is highly competitive and the benefits are generous (https://www.kumc.edu/human-resources.html). This position is available immediately and applications will be reviewed until the position is filled.

KU Medical Center’s new 170,000 sq-ft Health Education Building opened in July 2017 and serves as the primary teaching facility for all KUMC academic programs. It includes a clinical simulation center, flexible learning spaces, and state-of-the-art technologies to support new models of teaching with an emphasis on interprofessional education.

Kansas City, also known as the City of Fountains, has numerous entertainment options including eclectic cuisines and noteworthy barbeque, a thriving arts and culture scene, jazz venues, extensive art and other museums, and sports venues including Arrowhead stadium (Chiefs professional football), Kauffman stadium (Royals professional baseball), Children’s Mercy Park (Sporting KC professional soccer) and Allen Fieldhouse on the nearby KU-Lawrence campus (Jayhawks Division I basketball).

Essential Job Duties:

• Provide strong and progressive leadership for the development of a new Master’s level Genetic Counseling program. Develop, review, and revise the program’s strategic plan, including mission, vision, goals, and philosophy in accordance with the mission and vision of KUMC
• Develop, revise, and teach curriculum in the MGC program within standards for accreditation and the demands/changes of the profession including multi-cultural dimensions within the curriculum; foster advanced and innovative teaching methods; coaching and mentoring students; provide academic advising, as well as monitoring, evaluating, and remediating student performance.
• Initiate application for program candidacy with the accrediting body; receive and maintain accreditation in compliance with standards; serve as the primary contact for communication with the accrediting body regarding standards compliance and programmatic changes.
• Develop a plan for recruitment, admissions, and retaining students.
• Develop partnerships and connections with local and regional health systems (KU Health System, Children’s Mercy Health System, and others) regional educational institutions, and the KC Metro community; establish and maintain affiliation agreements required for clinical placement of program students; oversee coordination of clinical placements for those students; establish, maintain, and integrate an Advisory Board in compliance with accreditation standards.
• Recruit and hire faculty and staff to support teaching, research, and service in the MGC program; foster the development of collaborative educational and clinical research initiatives.
• Evaluate faculty and staff performance; prepare budget requests and effectively use allocated funds for the benefit of the program and its educational programs; prepare and submit reports as necessary to meet administrative and accreditation demands; provide long-term planning to ensure the programs fiscal stability; create and maintain an environment of diversity in the department and in the
• Provide service responsibilities as assigned within School of Health Professions (SHP) and University committees; promote the SHP and KUMC mission and vision; participate in professional local/state/ and national committees and/or elected
• Other special projects and duties as assigned by the Department
• This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. It is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, duties, and assignments. Furthermore, job duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Required Qualifications:

• A master’s degree in the discipline of genetic counseling.
• A current certification in genetic counseling by the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) or the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG);
• At least five years of experience as a certified genetic counselor, a minimum of three of which must be in a patient-facing role (clinic or research);
• Fieldwork supervision experience for at least five genetic counseling graduate students, for a minimum of 500 total contact hours in the last 10 years;
• Completion of least 10 hours of training/coursework in curriculum design, assessment, evaluation, or principles of adult education within the last 10 years, or agree to pursue such training upon hire (financial support will be provided);'
• Experience as the course instructor / instructor of record for at least six credit hours of post-secondary education, or agree to participate in instruction of courses upon hire;
• Meet all other qualifications for the Program Director role as outlined in the Standards of Accreditation for Graduate Programs in Genetic Counseling;
• Ability to initiate and exercise independent judgment and decision-making and work comfortably with a diverse faculty, workforce, student body, and community partners.
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills;
• Ability to manage human and fiscal resources;
• Record of scholarly activity, administrative experience, and strategic planning;

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience as a prior Program Director or Assistant Program Director for an accredited genetic counseling program
• Experience with the ACGC accreditation process or as an ACGC evaluation team member for on-site visits
• Demonstrated record of leadership and scholarship in education, Genetic counseling, or related field
• Doctoral degree in a related discipline