Director, Institutional Research and Assessment (Full Remote or Hybrid Eligible)

ABOUT SIMMONS

Located in Boston’s historic Fenway area, Simmons University has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons was founded for equality 125 years ago as one of the first higher education institutions dedicated to helping women become leaders. Today, our university continues to grow and evolve and now offers Boston’s only women’s undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all. 

You’re joining our community at an especially exciting time as we continue to innovate for the future. Simmons recently launched a six-school academic structure that leverages our expert faculty and longstanding expertise in professions that make our communities stronger. In addition, we continue to highlight our high-value education proposition that is delivering greater ROI to students and putting them on the fast track to career growth and success. You’ll find that people who work here truly believe in our mission of preparing students to become social justice-oriented leaders who excel in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace.

As a university that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

POSITION SUMMARY 

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment responds to data requests from internal and external stakeholders, provides information and analyses to support institutional decision-making, promotes institutional  effectiveness and planning, and supports assessment and accreditation efforts through data analysis and survey research. The Director oversees this comprehensive program of institutional research to support external reporting, college-wide planning, assessment, and accreditation.  

Reporting to the Associate Provost for Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation, the Director provides leadership and strategic direction to advance institutional  priorities and student success through the use of data. This position guides data collection, analysis, and interpretation to support accountability for mission fulfillment, strategic planning, development, and data-enabled decision-making.  Working closely with the University Leadership Team, the Director leverages data to provide analysis, insights, and recommendations related to all aspects of university operations, planning, quality improvement, and assessment to strengthen student learning outcomes and advance the University’s mission.  

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

• The Director leads and manages a team of three highly engaged and experienced research and data administration professionals to execute an integrated and strategic approach to accomplish a complex and dynamic set of projects with competing deadlines and priorities.  

• Participates in or delegates IR Office representation on University and School committees, task forces, work groups, etc.

• Collaborates closely with the Provost’s Office, the President’s Office, University Registrar, IT, HR, Finance, Marketing, Enrollment and Communication, and others as appropriate.

• Oversees reporting to ensure the University’s compliance with federal and local government data mandates.

• Coordinates the University’s responses to a variety of surveys and reports requested by  external agencies to ensure the University’s representation in ranking/guidebooks and positive public image.

• Collaborates with individual schools within the University on their data reporting needs. 

• Oversees the response to a wide range of internal and external requests for information about the University. Each year hundreds of data and analysis requests are received by the office from both internal and external audiences, including accrediting agencies and local, state, and federal government.  The Director assumes the lead role in prioritizing and organizing these projects and requests for the IR team, helping to solve reporting problems, recommending solutions, and resolving issues.  

• Oversees the preparation of various reports (such as Fact Book, NSSE summary, Retention and Graduation Dashboards) within the campus community and plans for and develops new data analyses/reports that present data of interest to the University community.

• Reports on quantitative and qualitative key indicators established by University leadership, to help assess and forecast progress towards institutional  goals. 

• Leads and/or supports qualitative and quantitative research efforts as needed for academic and administrative departments,  producing actionable written reports of research, and providing thought partnership and consultation on research and projects as requested by departments and faculty groups. 

• Oversees the administration, analysis, and communication of key stakeholder surveys, including review and analysis  of survey results; sharing survey results with senior administrators; using survey research  to promote informed decision-making at the University; and assisting with accreditation reporting.  

• Manages aspects of survey preparation, serving as a resource for members of the Simmons community regarding their design and administration of surveys. Works with stakeholders across campus to reduce survey burden and improve the quality of the information collected.

• Oversees course evaluation distribution and reporting processes for all courses, graduate and undergraduate, on the ground and online, ensuring consistency, security, accuracy, and completeness.

• Participates in strategic direction for data governance to ensure accuracy, consistency, and integrity of the  institutional data across campus to create and maintain a data environment where accurate and  consistent information is housed in a centralized information system and is readily available to support  evidence-based decisions and informed action at the University; sits on and will be a driving factor in the Data Governance Committee. Serve as the Provost’s Office liaison to the University’s Data Warehouse project.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in Educational Research, Higher Education, Policy Analysis, or a related field; 

• At least three years of Institutional Research experience, including management of professional staff; 

• Experience managing the federal reporting process preferred; experience contributing to data collection for this process required;

• Excellent communication (both oral and written) and interpersonal skills; strong collaborative skills; experience presenting data analysis to institutional stakeholders;

• Experience with both quantitative and qualitative research methods; knowledge of survey design and administration; knowledge of applied statistical analysis techniques; 

• Expertise with relevant software, for example, R and Tableau;

• Experience with student learning outcomes assessment;

• Skilled user of Microsoft Office products, most importantly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint;

• Experience with Workday helpful, but not required;

• Experience working with institutional data sets and databases; experience with data warehouse systems and student information systems strongly preferred;

COMPETENCIES

• Problem Solving

• Analytical and Strategic

• Customer Service Oriented

• Communication (Written, Verbal, Presentation)

• Commitment to Inclusive Excellence and Social Justice

• Teamwork

• Leadership

WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Position is eligible for hybrid or remote work

• 12 month position

• 40 Hours / week 

• Office environment

• If fully remote, travel to Simmons campus 1-3x per year 

Salary Grade

Instructions to Applicants: Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).

Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual’s community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.