How To Become An Academic Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is an academic director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An academic director is in charge of overseeing several aspects of education quality and teaching delivery in an institution. They direct all academic programs, evaluates performance and handles the administrative tasks in the school. They also develop curricula, mentor students and address all concerns regarding academic processes. Their ultimate objective is to enhance the quality of education offered in the institution.

An academic director works closely with stakeholders such as the students' parents, the faculty, deans, teachers, community leaders and specialists in order to effectively achieve their objective. They typically work in universities, colleges, private schools and technical schools. A successful academic director should have leadership skills, administration skills, analytical skills, organization skills, attention to detail and decision-making skills.

Academic directors work 40 hours a week Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. Their work schedule depends on the school operating hours. They may work long hours or off-site whenever they have meetings away from the school.

ScoreAcademic DirectorUS Average

Salary

8.2

Avg. Salary $122,669

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 4.32%

Black or African American 10.51%

Hispanic or Latino 14.04%

Unknown 4.00%

White 66.43%

Gender

female 52.13%

male 47.87%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an academic director

Explore academic director education requirements

Most common academic director degrees

Bachelor's

55.3 %

Master's

30.0 %

Doctorate

6.1 %

Start to develop specific academic director skills

Skills	Percentages
Professional Development	13.16%
Curriculum Development	9.08%
Student Performance	7.28%
Academic Programs	6.97%
Staff Development	6.06%

Complete relevant academic director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New academic directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an academic director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real academic director resumes.

Research academic director duties and responsibilities

Manage and track individual sorority members monthly study hour requirements.
Devise process improvements that lead increased operational efficiency and persistence.
Lead project management team in development/execution of conferences and enduring CME -accredite programs.
Help in various fund raising activities for PTA

Get academic director experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become an academic director. The most common roles before becoming an academic director include teacher, instructor team lead and director.

Prepare your academic director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your academic director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an academic director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable academic director resume templates

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