Institutional Effectiveness Specialist
Employer Info:
Skidmore College
https://www.skidmore.edu
Skidmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college with a student body of 2,500 located near the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Skidmore College
https://www.skidmore.edu
Skidmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college with a student body of 2,500 located near the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, in Saratoga Springs, New York.
- Job Name
- Institutional Effectiveness Specialist
- Posting Date
- 05/07/2018
- Brief Description
- Institutional Effectiveness Specialist (IES)
- Job Category
- Other
- Job Type
- Full-Time
- Education Level Required
- Masters
- Location City
- Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, United states
- How to Apply
- Must apply here: https://careers.skidmore.edu/postings/1996
- Direct Link
- Click here for more info
- Job Details
-
Position Summary:
The Institutional Effectiveness Specialist (IES) advances the College’s goals by coordinating effective and useful assessments of strategic goals and administrative functions in and across all divisions of the College, ensuring that goals are articulated; findings/data are gathered; reports are written, disseminated to all stakeholders, and archived; and recommendations are acted upon or considered. The IES supports data-informed decision-making across the College and thus provides a strategic and comprehensive institutional perspective that tells the institution’s story through sound data and analyses in support of the College’s mission, vision, and goals. We are particularly interested in candidates for the position from under-represented backgrounds who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of our academic community.
On matters of accreditation, the position works directly with the Faculty Director of Assessment (FDA), the Director of Institutional Research, and with designated representatives from all divisions of the College (VPs, staff, faculty, and administrators). The IES provides expertise, leadership and informed counsel to ensure that Skidmore conducts effective assessments across the College that are mandated for accreditation and serves as the institutional liaison to the College’s accreditor (Middle States Commission on Higher Education). The position will develop an organized, systematic, and sustainable data and document repository that both meets the needs of accreditation and also tracks evidence-based decision-making.
On matters of effectiveness and assessment, this position works with members of the Subcommittee on Institutional Effectiveness (SIE), Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC), Committee on Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP), administrative staff from all divisions (especially directors), and academic department/program faculty (especially chairs and directors). Working collaboratively, the IES will develop effective strategies to assess institutional effectiveness in support of the goals and outcomes for strategic planning, ensuring the quality of the student experience, and student learning goals. The IES works with leadership throughout the College on assessing any outcomes related to institutional effectiveness rather than directly to student learning; the Faculty Director of Assessment (FDA) has primary responsibility for coordinating academic departmental and general education assessments, and communicating the results of faculty assessments of student learning outcomes. Both collaborate as needed with Student Affairs and other divisions on matters related to student learning and development.
The IES works closely with the members of the SIE and the Faculty Director of Assessment to ensure that assessments are occurring in all divisions and offices at the College related to institutional, divisional, and/or departmental/office goals. The IES must thus understand in a complex and flexible way the goals of each of the offices on campus and how they interact to achieve the mission of the College and support the Strategic Plan. By offering advice and providing expertise regarding different models and approaches as well as collaborating on the implementation of various programs and projects, the IES supports efforts to ensure that findings or data are collected and used in decision-making. Both the IES and the SIE promote transparency and coordination in our decision-making throughout the College through dissemination of findings and reports and by facilitating conversations among staff, faculty, and administrators. The IES takes initiative to propose assessment projects and collaborations, and advises offices to use their assessment results for improvement. The IES is versed in using qualitative and/or quantitative methods as appropriate.
The IES is expected to have a continually-updated knowledge of contemporary assessment theory and best practices, the agility to learn and stay current on methodologies, the ability to integrate assessment efforts across divisions, and demonstrated effectiveness at leading and collaborating with others. This position reports to the Director Institutional Research.
Salary & Work Hours:
The position is .83 FTE and will work either: 12-months for 4.17 days (29.17 hours) per week or 10-months for 5 days (35 hours) per week. $53,000 - $58,000 commensurate with experience.
Qualifications:
Master’s Degree required. Degree, coursework, or experience in institutional effectiveness, assessment, measurement, research methods, qualitative methods, statistics, etc. Three to five years relevant experience in assessment/institutional effectiveness in higher education is required.
Excellent interpersonal skills, cultural competency, technical expertise, and a knowledge of contemporary assessment theory and practice is essential, as is the ability to shift gears and be flexible when presented with new information. Knowledge of accreditation processes, current practices and debates in the field, and administrative structures is required. Tact, diplomacy, and strategic thinking are critical. Commitment to the goals of a liberal arts education, and in particular to diversity and inclusion initiatives, is essential.
Must be able to communicate effectively across all types of departments/offices and levels, work with diverse groups of individuals, engage collaboratively across difference, and relate to others in a supportive manner. The individual must demonstrate the ability to gather information, analyze and critique findings, synthesize results, and communicate findings. An advanced working knowledge of spreadsheets, databases, statistical software, qualitative methods, and presentation tools is required. The IES works on a daily basis with Skidmore employees who are not direct reports, and the IES must be able to influence and inspire others to successfully complete the assessment/institutional effectiveness work required of the College.
Ph.D. preferred. Previous work in higher education either in the classroom and/or in an academic administrative role is highly preferred.