Executive Director Of Institutional Research, Planning, And Effectiveness

Job Description:The Executive Director of Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness (IRPE), oversees and coordinates the University's Institutional Research initiatives that support and inform campus decision-making. The Executive Director will manage an office that facilitates the use of data and analysis for institutional planning, assessment, and Effectiveness; prepares reports and surveys to ensure compliance with federal and national reporting obligations; supports institutional, department, and program accreditation requirements; provides internal reporting; and conducts survey research. The Executive Director engages in key strategic planning and assessment and reports to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Executive Director supervises two dedicated staff members-an Associate Director for Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness and a Data Management Specialist. The Executive Director will collaborate with multiple other Directors in and outside Academic Affairs on student success initiatives.The Executive Director is a member of the provost's leadership team and serves as a member of the President's Cabinet.Responsibilities Include:

Manage institutional projects and activities for decision-support by conducting research initiatives related to student success (e.g., analysis of first-year student retention), institutional planning (e.g., enrollment projections, campus master plan survey); overseeing institutional survey operation including homegrown and national surveys; and communicating and interpreting research findings through the creation of dashboards, visualizations, and reports.Provide information on institutional effectiveness by conducting research and analyses on graduation rates and post-graduate outcomes; updating metrics on institutional strategic goals, supporting the institutional assessment of student learning outcomes; and collaborating with academic and administrative units on program evaluation. Specific examples include providing data and information for institutional and regional accreditation (SACSCOC); program accreditation; comprehensive academic program review; and peer benchmarking.Supervise internal and external reporting requirements by working with the IRPE team to meet publication and submission deadlines, ensure data completeness and accuracy, and build and maintain relationships with departments and offices. Examples of internal reporting include the Fact Book, retention/graduation rates, Common Data Set (CDS), and Eligible but not Registered reports. Examples of external reporting include Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), US News and World Report, and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).Serves as a member of the President's Cabinet and engages in key strategic planning and leadership on campus-wide task forces/committees and working groups to provide data and analytic support to strategic planning working groups, coordinating, and monitoring key performance metrics, communicating, and sharing results to campus and Cabinet members.Manage data tools, electronic resources, and technology in conducting IR activities using the institutional enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and reporting tools to obtain data and create reports. Oversee the administration of the institutional license to Qualtrics (survey software) and Tableau (visualization software). These tasks entail writing queries, creating reports for end-users, providing training resources, troubleshooting problems, and effectively using cloud-based technology (Google Drive).Oversee data management by maintaining institutional database files, including census and cohort files. Work with the Data Management Specialist to pre-process, analyze, and archive historical data files. Collaborate with information technology and other departments on institutional data governance, data collection guidelines, and data access issues.Represent Academic Affairs on institutional committees and task forces by assisting in problem-solving and decision-making; provide research consultation to key university constituency groups for conducting major research projects related to institutional effectiveness; and serve as educator, trainer, and coach to the campus community on data collection, data use, and data understanding.Supervise and assist with managing and coordinating the student course evaluations for the university each semester/term.

Requirements:Ph.D. or Ed.D preferred, Master's degree required, in an appropriate discipline and five or more years of work experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, in an Institutional Research or analytics-related context, responsible for data analytics and using data in higher education.Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:We recognize that different candidates will have strengths in different areas, and we are open to candidates with various backgrounds and experiences.

Ability to understand, manage, interpret, and ensure the quality of complex data sets from multiple sources, including highly confidential data.Proven project management, organizational, multi-tasking, problem-solving, and time-management skills; Extraordinary attention to detail; Excellent oral and written communication skillsAble to influence people, solve problems, troubleshoot, think creatively, and resolve conflicts; Experience training and managing staff; Ability to assign, monitor, and review the work of others.Expertise in statistical analysis, the use of statistical/analytical software applications, data visualization, and Microsoft Office; Knowledge of external data sets, such as IPEDS and the National Student Clearinghouse; Experience with survey design, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and evaluation strategies; and Knowledge of higher education administrative organization, policies, procedures, and practices for Institutional Research-oriented roles including accreditation.Proficiency with common software tools and strong ability to learn new software; Springfield College currently uses Microsoft Office, Tableau, Argos, SQL, SPSS, Google Suite, and Qualtrics and is transitioning to the BANNER system; Knowledge of emerging technologies relating to data collection, querying, visualization, and reporting.