Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness

Function of Position:

The Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness leads, oversees, or supports research and reporting for decision support, assessment (e.g., curricular, co-curricular, institutional), program review evaluation, accreditation, and compliance requirements at the state, regional and federal levels. The director works closely with information technology stakeholders to ensure that campus data systems can appropriately maintain and provide accurate data to support the college’s institutional research needs. The director promotes a philosophy of continuous improvement and seeks to foster a culture of data-informed decision-making, and plays a key role in enabling individuals, and therefore Wartburg College as a whole, to be continually student-centered, relevant, agile, effective, sustainable, and contributing to a greater good.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

I. Evidence-based Data-Analysis and Planning (50%)

• Collaborate across the institution to encourage a culture of strategic planning and continuous quality improvement. Provide reliable, relevant, and quality data, analysis, information, and recommendations to facilitate planning, budgeting, accountability, accreditation, program evaluation, assessment, and development of policy decisions. Support the president and other college leaders in developing and presenting data from multiple sources to internal and external stakeholders. Meet requests for institutional data from faculty and staff. Identify emerging issues, challenges, and opportunities, anticipating questions through review of data, information, and research and policy studies, including those related to institutional, state, national, conversations around higher education. Support pre- and post-award grants management through collection, assessment, analysis, and reporting of data. Working with the Data Governance Group, other information technology stakeholders, and end users, oversee the organization, storage, and accessibility of institutional data. Operate a variety of software packages used for data management, statistical and predictive analysis, and visual display of data and learns and applies emerging technologies as necessary. Ensure institutional compliance with external government and private reporting requirements.

II. Assessment (20%)

• Support the Assistant Dean for Assessment in developing, implementing, and updating a campus-wide assessment plan, in coordination with the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and other key personnel. Serve as primary liaison to Information Technology Services in the implementation of assessment software. In collaboration with the Assistant Dean for Assessment, support training and use of the assessment software by faculty, staff, and students. Act as a liaison to academic and non-academic departments and programs in developing and implementing program assessment plans and academic program review. Work with the assessment committee to implement a comprehensive program to develop faculty for the work of assessment. Interact with external entities, including the Higher Learning Commission, regarding assessment activities.

III. Accreditation (20%)

• Assist in collecting, organizing, and uploading data to appropriate websites in support of reaffirmation of accreditation activities. Support the Assistant Dean for Accreditation in preparing reaccreditation submission materials to include data and accompanying narrative. Work with academic departments in support of program accreditations, including, but not limited to, education, music, social work, and music therapy. Prepare routine annual reports and other submissions to institutional and programmatic accreditors.

IV. Academic Program Administration and Review (10%)

• Attend faculty committee meetings and others as assigned. Facilitate the integration of assessment in academic program review and related projects. Coordinate program review process for programs in Academic Affairs.

Supervision:

The Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty. In collaboration with the vice president, the director is responsible for determining their work assignments. The director exercises discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance directly related to the management or general business operations of the college, referring to policies and general objectives for guidance and conferring with the vice president regarding unusual matters. The director supervises a small institutional research staff and provides limited, operational coordination of the Assistant Dean for Accreditation and Assistant Dean for Assessment, who formally report to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Minimum Qualifications:

Candidates for the position must demonstrate, at a minimum, the ability to:

• Perform qualitative and quantitative research including advanced statistical and predictive analysis at a level typically, but not exclusively, associated with graduate study; Collect, extract, aggregate, and report data accurately according to a wide range of possibly conflicting third-party standards; Prepare written, oral, and visual reports in a variety of formats appropriate to different audiences of varying technical backgrounds; Use statistical analysis software and data visualization software to aggregate, draw conclusions from, and communicate data; Extract data from enterprise information systems using database management software; Establish rapport and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders; and Effectively manage the operations, personnel, and budget of an administrative organization.

Outstanding candidates will also demonstrate the ability to establish the overall direction of key functions within a higher education institution, comprehensive knowledge of the issues facing contemporary higher education, the ability to connect research findings to those issues as they present themselves to the college, and a vision of institutional research that is compatible with the college’s mission and values especially with respect to DEI considerations and data ethics.

Typically, qualified candidates who demonstrate these skills will have:

• a graduate degree (preferably a terminal doctorate) in a field emphasizing social research or organizational administration; five years’ previous experience in higher education administration, institutional research and effectiveness, assessment, or accreditation; and two years of organizational or team project management experience.

Candidates with other combinations of experience and education that clearly demonstrate the above skills and those who can demonstrate the ability to rapidly acquire the skills necessary to fill limited gaps in their qualifications will be considered as appropriate and are encouraged to apply.

Application Procedure:

Send letter of application which includes the qualities you offer within the context of the Wartburg College mission, curriculum vita or résumé, and contact information for three references electronically to: hr@wartburg.edu. Finalists will need to provide copies of transcripts for qualifying education before hire. Wartburg College requires a criminal background check for position finalists. See http://www.wartburg.edu for further information about the college. Screening begins immediately and continues until position is filled.