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Program director vs chairperson

The differences between program directors and chairpeople can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a program director and a chairperson. Additionally, a chairperson has an average salary of $125,944, which is higher than the $80,664 average annual salary of a program director.

The top three skills for a program director include oversight, social work and patients. The most important skills for a chairperson are curriculum development, alumni, and scholarship.

Program director vs chairperson overview

Program DirectorChairperson
Yearly salary$80,664$125,944
Hourly rate$38.78$60.55
Growth rate8%7%
Number of jobs82,8105,178
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4047
Years of experience66

What does a program director do?

Program directors are employees who oversee all aspects of a specific program in the company. They usually work in nonprofit organizations or are assigned to a department doing corporate social responsibility activities. Program directors ensure that the program is in line with the company's goals. They also ensure that the resources assigned to the program are properly managed and that all finances are accounted for. They create strategies to ensure the success of the program and communicate these to everyone involved. They lead the implementation and evaluation of the program.

What does a chairperson do?

A chairperson is responsible for managing the overall business team, ensuring everyone's compliance with the company's strategies and processes to reach the highest business goals and objectives. A chairperson's duties also include monitoring the staff's performance, analyzing the committee's performance and decisions, providing reports and updates during meetings, improving the current policies and procedures as necessary, and facilitating committee's programs and special events. A chairperson must have excellent leadership and communication skills to lead the team towards its organizational success.

Program director vs chairperson salary

Program directors and chairpeople have different pay scales, as shown below.

Program DirectorChairperson
Average salary$80,664$125,944
Salary rangeBetween $50,000 And $129,000Between $46,000 And $338,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CANew York, NY
Highest paying stateGeorgiaNew York
Best paying companyMayo ClinicSummit Health Oregon
Best paying industryTechnologyFinance

Differences between program director and chairperson education

There are a few differences between a program director and a chairperson in terms of educational background:

Program DirectorChairperson
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Program director vs chairperson demographics

Here are the differences between program directors' and chairpeople' demographics:

Program DirectorChairperson
Average age4047
Gender ratioMale, 41.4% Female, 58.6%Male, 46.8% Female, 53.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage14%16%

Differences between program director and chairperson duties and responsibilities

Program director example responsibilities.

  • Manage personnel performing SAS programming, technical document preparation and quality assurance.
  • Manage program budgets and supervise staff to ensure that immunization and registry activities are successfully implement.
  • Manage direct support professionals serving adult populations for persons with mental health, developmental disabilities and children with autism.
  • Manage day-to-day oversight and management involving planning, programming, execution, distribution, and analysis for assign organizations budgets.
  • Implement client ADL, ISP, and behavior plans in a group home.
  • Organize schedule for swim lessons and kids camp.
  • Show more

Chairperson example responsibilities.

  • Manage both individual and organizational achievements for the members through involvement with the community, philanthropies, campus involvement, and scholarship
  • Provide oversight relate to the overall strategic plan, marketing/outreach initiatives and external communications.
  • Develop service classes for sql server to replace code after migration.
  • Update the by-laws and standard operating procedures for day to day operations.
  • Create and become the captain of the intramural soccer and volleyball society teams.
  • Direct and run annual auction, raising more than $20K each school year.
  • Show more

Program director vs chairperson skills

Common program director skills
  • Oversight, 9%
  • Social Work, 6%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Mental Health, 5%
  • Program Management, 5%
Common chairperson skills
  • Curriculum Development, 10%
  • Alumni, 10%
  • Scholarship, 8%
  • Professional Development, 8%
  • Strategic Plan, 6%
  • Community Outreach, 6%

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