Gilarie Vale Figueroa

Major Concentration: Instructional Technology and Distance
Education 

Major Concentration: Sport Training

Major Concentration: Prevention, Management and
Rehabilitation of Injuries 

• Participate in the development and execution of the institution’s strategic academic plan, aligning the mission and vision with academic objectives and long-term institutional goals.

• Monitor and evaluate compliance with key performance indicators related to educational quality, academic effectiveness, and institutional growth.
• Collaborate in the formulation of academic policies and in institutional decision-making that promotes sustainability and the advancement of the educational mission.
• Lead institutional-wide reviews and revisions of all academic offerings, ensuring alignment with educational quality standards, accreditation requirements, workforce relevance, and institutional priorities across all modalities.
• Supervise and coordinate the development of academic programs, ensuring curricular coherence and compliance with accreditation and regulatory standards.
• Lead the evaluation and continuous review of academic programs, promoting ongoing improvement of educational offerings.
• Direct the implementation, integration, and institutionalization of the institutional educational model within curricula, instructional design, assessment strategies, and academic governance structures.
• Design and develop curricula, learning designs, institutional certifications, and academic assessment tools aligned with institutional quality frameworks.
• Encourage and lead the professional development of teaching staff by planning training sessions, workshops, and coaching initiatives that foster pedagogical excellence and instructional innovation.
• Design, coordinate, and implement special projects that support institutional growth, innovation, and academic transformation.
• Lead special initiatives that contribute to institutional development, including the creation of new areas of study, expansion of academic infrastructure, and establishment of strategic partnerships.
• Oversee the development, design, approval, and implementation of new academic offerings, including the Associate Degree in Occupational Therapy and the Bachelor of Science in Speech and Language Therapy, from conceptualization through regulatory and accreditation alignment.
• Spearhead collaborative academic initiatives with public-sector partners, establishing educational pathways for high school students through agreements with the Municipalities of San Sebastián and Sabana Grande, supporting early college exposure and workforce readiness.
• Develop and manage strategic alliances with external educational partners, including Gersh Academy and the Puerto Rico Department of Education, focused on short-term academic programs aligned with workforce development needs.
• Manage financial, human, and technological resources to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of special projects and academic initiatives.
• Ensure that all academic programs and institutional projects comply with local, national, and international regulations, as well as accreditation requirements.
• Participate and lead institutional audits and accreditation visits conducted by ABHES and the Junta de Instituciones Postsecundarias (JIP).
• Lead the drafting, development, and review of institutional compliance documentation, academic policies, and regulatory reports.
• Promote research and the analysis of educational and technological trends that support academic development and innovation.
• Encourage a research culture among faculty and students, providing support for the development of research projects.
• Represent the institution in forums, conferences, and events related to higher education and academic leadership.
• Establish and maintain relationships with government bodies, educational institutions, and strategic entities to foster partnerships that benefit academic development and innovation.
• Facilitate collaboration agreements that expand academic, research, and workforce-aligned opportunities for the institution.
• Supervise the proper budget management of special projects and academic initiatives, ensuring responsible and efficient use of resources.
• Coordinate academic-administrative teams, setting clear goals and fostering a collaborative, high-performance environment.
• Prepare periodic reports for senior leadership on the progress of academic initiatives, special projects, and institutional academic affairs.

• Held full responsibility for the profitability and fiscal health of the campus, ensuring economic stability, sustainable growth, and alignment with institutional financial goals.
• Developed and executed strategies and work plans focused on enrollment growth, retention, net revenue, cost control, operational efficiency, placements, and long-term institutional sustainability.
• Planned and directed student recruitment efforts, ensuring compliance with enrollment objectives for new and continuing student populations.
• Led the recruitment, selection, and onboarding of campus personnel, ensuring appropriate staffing levels aligned with institutional goals and operational needs.
• Established income, expense, and funding projections and ensured strict adherence through continuous financial monitoring and controls.
• Planned, coordinated, and supervised all campus operations, integrating academic, administrative, student services, and operational functions.
• Oversaw campus infrastructure and facilities, ensuring operational continuity, safety, regulatory compliance, and alignment with institutional growth needs.
• Supervised and managed a multidisciplinary team of more than 60 employees, fostering accountability, performance, and a collaborative work environment.
• Implemented and ensured compliance with regulations governing academic and administrative processes at the campus level.
• Guided and supported the creation and development of administrative, academic, and student committees.
• Monitored, analyzed, and presented statistical and performance reports on institutional development indicators to senior leadership.
• Coordinated and supported accreditation-related activities, including self-studies, audits, and site visits by accrediting and regulatory agencies.
• Established and strengthened community relationships and promoted ethical collaboration with corporate, commercial, and community organizations.
• Led a strategic workforce-aligned partnership with CooperVision Caribbean Corp, resulting in the creation of a technical academy that graduated more than 450 employees through specialized certification programs.
• Developed and managed a collaborative alliance with the Puerto Rico Youth Challenge Academy (Puerto Rico National Guard), designing vocational courses that supported workforce readiness and led to the graduation of over 200 cadets.

• Call official meetings between students-committee to discuss, clarify doubts, make decisions, offer feedback, among other matters related to mentoring.
• Support the student in the elaboration of the work plan.
• Resolve disagreements or differences in viewpoints, to achieve consensus of the recommendations, needs and requests presented.
• Verify throughout the process, from the preparation of the proposal, the development of the investigation and the elaboration of the chapters that compose the doctoral dissertation, that the student meets the academic standards, applicable ethical and legal.
• Advise the student during the writing of the chapters of the proposal of research and preparation of the final doctoral dissertation document.
• Actively participate in the process of assessing the capacities and student research skills, during the defense process Oral research proposal or doctoral dissertation.
• Monitor the process of collection, analysis and management of data or information collected.
• Coordinate the selection of the reader of the Oral Defense Committee, prior consensus with the members of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee and the student.
• Notify the academic direction of any matter related to progress student academic.

• Develop an analysis of the academic system of the educational
  institution to be able to execute the design, implementation and
  management of the conversion of traditional courses towards the
  modality of hybrid or online courses.
• Analyze and evaluate the implementation of an Instructional Design Models to develop the conversion of traditional courses to the modality of hybrid or online courses.
• Design, develop and establish a macro-design (Standard Core) for the instructional design of hybrid or online courses of the educational institution.
• Design, develop and implement an institutional certification focused on the design and management of hybrid or online courses according to the needs of the faculty and educational community.
• Develop research methods and assessments that identify if the
  instructional designs of the hybrid or online courses comply with all the requirements established by the educational philosophy and theoretical foundations of the institution.
• Analyze and evaluate the content management provided by the faculty staff in the hybrid or online courses.
• Develop and execute research methods and assessments on the
  courses that have been offered with hybrid or online modality.
• Establish parameters to measure variables such as: structure of the instructional design of the course, academic achievement, satisfaction levels, level of execution of the faculty staffs, retention, among others.
• Submitting recommendations to improve the practices of the online learning programs of the Department of Distance Education and educational institution.
• Implementing and executing action plans to work with the weaknesses and needs of the academic system of the Department of Distance Education to improve the educational quality of the hybrid or online courses.
• Suggesting institutional regulations for the design and development of hybrid/online courses.
• Develop cumulative documents and offer reports on possible conflict solutions to improve some of the problems or complaints that occur in the design and management of hybrid or online courses of the educational institution.
• Participate as a speaker in educational seminars and conferences.

• Supervise and participate together with the faculty staff in the design, curricular revision and development of the conversion of traditional courses towards hybrid or online courses.
• Evaluate that the instructional content of the hybrid or online courses comply with the syllabus, rules and curriculum of the different department of the educational institution.
• Evaluate that the hybrid or online courses comply with federal, state and institutional regulations (Copyright, Copyleft, ADA Law, ABET Accreditation).
• Verify that the hybrid and online courses comply with the “Guide for the Creation and Evaluation of Online Courses” to then submit them to the evaluation committee for begin the institutional process of course certification.
• Design and offer training programs to faculty staffs on: (a) instructional design of online courses, (b) multimedia education tools (c) learning management system and (d) online course management.
• Offer technical and instructional support to faculty staffs
  that offer hybrid or online courses.
• Collaborate in the selection and training of new educational software and multimedia programs.
• Create and develop appropriate instructional materials for training workshops and institutional certification courses. 

• Recommend and design syllabus and curriculum for different courses implemented in the School of Health of the educational institution.
• Design and develop classes according to the rules established by the educational institution.
• Offer different lectures and courses implemented in the School of
  Health of the educational institution.
• Design assessment tools according to the instructional objectives
  established in the courses.
• Employ the procedures established in the Curriculum Retention Plan according to the educational agencies of higher education (Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, ACICS).
• Develop strategies to improve retention and teaching methodology in the classroom.
• Keep a group retention greater than 70% according to the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).
• Create and develop different academic reports and weekly educational work plans.
• Attend to meetings, seminars, and training of the educational institution. 

• Design and develop course syllabus before the beginning of the
  academic semesters.
• Plan and develop the course schedule according to the course syllabus .
• Choose the appropriate teaching strategies according to the standards of the academic department.
• Design and offer learning activities to achieve the educational objectives of the courses.
• Supervise clinical practices offered by the educational institution of various academic programs focused on the Department of Health.
• Offer special guidance and counseling to help students achieve their academic and personal goals.
• Know the student needs according to personal problems and learning disabilities and refer students to institutional resources available for them to receive help.
• Establish assessment methods to determine and evaluate students according to the course requirements.
• Help first-term students expand and improve the quality of their
  academic experiences within the educational institution.
• Help the students to increase their technology skills to improve their learning strategies.
• Help improve student learning strategies, rates, student retention
  according with the policies of the academic programs of the educational institution.
• Direct and guide students for the development of their research
  projects.
• Offer seminars and conferences about the adaptation of university life.