Director of University Assessment

Department Name:  Academic Success

Position Overview:  Reporting to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies (VP-AAGS), the Director of University Assessment works with the VP-AAGS to provide management and leadership for curricular outcomes assessment and program review to support the University’s mission, strategic initiatives, and resource planning.

Under the direction of the VP-AAGS, the Director works collaboratively with faculty, staff, and administrators to ensure the assessment of student learning outcomes for academic programs, including the KU Core, KU’s general education program. This includes the documentation and tracking of clearly articulated learning outcomes for all courses and programs.

The Director will collaborate with staff in the Center for Teaching Excellence, departmental chairs, faculty, academic administrators, Analytics, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness (AIRE), the University Core Curriculum Committee (UCCC) to build and implement assessment policies, practices, and systems, and link assessment activities with strategic planning. Along with the Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, the Director liaisons with the KU Medical Center to report assessment activities. The Director also works with staff in Student Affairs and Academic Success to support the assessment of co-curricular activities and provides guidance with co-curricular assessment activities to ensure assessments meet accreditor standards.

In collaboration with departmental chairs, faculty, academic administrators, AIRE, and campus stakeholders, the Director oversees and supports academic program reviews and related activities on a planned and recuring basis that demonstrate institutional effectiveness and provide input for strategic planning, analysis, and decision-making to determine if programs should be enhanced, maintained, discontinued,  or subject to further review.

The Director is responsible for ensuring assessment and program review practices meet requirements of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR), as well as expectations of the Association of American Universities (AAU). 

The Director will ensure that assessment and program review activities contribute to the University’s mission to promote social, economic, and environmental justice, and will be dedicated to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

This position is a full-time, 12-month position with an opportunity for a courtesy appointment in an academic unit that ties to the Director’s area of academic expertise.

Job Duties:  

80% - The Director will work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and administrators to:

• Plan, organize, coordinate, and monitor curricular assessment programs, projects, committees, and activities campus wide, with a focus on assessment of institutional learning outcomes and their integration with KU Core courses and academic programs. 
• Develop policies, practices, systems, and procedures that reflect best practices in assessment, including the integration of assessment results for continuous improvement.
• Implement assessment plans that promote student learning, degree attainment, and success after graduation. 
• Coordinate all assessment and program review activities and reports needed for compliance purposes and for Higher Learning Commission (HLC) accreditation, for compliance with KBOR policies and procedures, and to meet AAU expectations.   
• Liaison with Student Affairs and Academic Success for co-curricular assessment.
• Liaison with KUMC for curricular and co-curricular assessment.
• Ensure assessments have clearly articulated learning outcomes for all courses and programs.
• Plan, organize, coordinate and monitor program review. 

20 % - Oversee the collection, analysis, reporting, disseminating, and archiving of assessment data/reports/results to support accreditation, program review, and resource planning.  Manage the university’s assessment and program review website.

Position Requirements:  This position is required to work on-site at the University of Kansas, Lawrence campus.

Required Qualifications:

1. Earned master’s degree from an accredited institution.
2. At least ten years of progressively responsible academic and/or administrative experience in higher education.
3. Experience in assessment of learning outcomes in higher education. 
4. Supervisory experience.  

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Doctoral degree from an accredited institution.
2. Five or more years of professional experience in assessment of learning outcomes in higher education.  
3. At least fifteen years of progressively responsible academic and/or administrative experience in higher education working in assessment, accreditation, faculty development, and/or curricula development.
4. Experience collecting, analyzing, and reporting data to an accrediting agency or governing body, and monitoring compliance.  
5. At least five years of college-level teaching experience.

Contact information for Applicants:  Jennifer Roberts; jaroberts@ku.edu

Additional Candidate Instructions:  To see full announcement and to apply online, go to https://employment.ku.edu/staff/20523BR.  A complete application includes:  (1) a cover letter addressing how  the required qualifications are met; (2) a complete Resume; and (3) a list of three professional references.  Application review will begin Monday, November 8, 2021 and will continue until a qualified pool of applicants is identified.