Director, Academic Assessment

Job Title

Job Description

The Director of Academic Assessment is responsible for leading, developing, encouraging and managing the College’s academic assessment of student learning processes to support faculty efforts for continuous improvement of student learning and achievement. The Director provides expertise and support for faculty to design and conduct meaningful, manageable, and effective assessment; coordinates routine program reporting of results on student learning outcomes; develops and facilitates professional development workshops and other opportunities for faculty to understand and grow excited about continuous improvement efforts; works closely with faculty and other academic leaders to integrate continuous improvement efforts based on these results; prepares analyses and summaries of the College’s academic assessment and other quality evaluation efforts; and communicates these to various internal and external stakeholders as needed. The Director will play a key role in supporting accreditation processes related to academic assessment. The Director fosters a culture that values and promotes academic program improvements through data-informed decision-making.

Job Responsibilities:

• Guide and teach faculty and staff members on faculty-driven assessment of student learning, assessment design, and assessment techniques; advise department personnel on developing assessable program goals, learning outcomes, success outcomes, and assessment measures; embed assessment of student learning that focus on pedagogy, curricular, and educational technology, including the use of online learning, to further the understanding of how those efforts contribute to student learning and satisfaction.
• Provide consultations, workshops and trainings on implementing evidence-based learning strategies; assist faculty in the development and implementation of assessment of student learning, especially in regards to course-, program- and institutional-level outcomes, but also for other dimensions of academic quality as needed; help departments and academic leaders understand how to integrate assessment findings in a productive way into their scholarly, instructional and planning activities.
• Coordinate and provide a high-level of input and support for College-related accreditation activities that require familiarity with regional accreditation requirements and processes; knowledge specific to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) preferred.
• Supervise the Institutional Research Department including the Research Analyst; serve on the Provost Leadership Team; represent the IR department in College meetings, conferences or professional organizations, taking a leadership role where appropriate; co-chair the College’s Assessment Committee, attend executive-level team meetings to provide leadership information to assist in identifying a solution or providing insight to strategic planning.
• Develop and produce relevant, timely and accurate institutional reports for College faculty administrators, the College community, and external agencies; supervise the administration of College surveys, their analyses, and the presentation/publication of results (e.g. Fact Book); ensure that all data reports are of highest quality and useful for decision-making by College leadership; use strong quantitative and analytical skills to work collaboratively with internal and external teams to create data visualizations, dashboards, and reports to extract insights.

Minimum Qualifications:

Master’s degree required, doctoral degree strongly preferred. Experience in Higher Education, Educational Research, Data Analytics or other research-related field and

a minimum of three (3) years of assessment experience and academic leadership in a post-secondary institution

• Strong understanding of higher education policies and practices.
• Well-developed research skills, statistical skills, and analytical abilities.
• Advanced skill using SPSS for data analysis and experience using various relational databases (e.g., Oracle, Access) desired.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as a team-member, both inside department and with overlapping or related departments as well as external constituencies.
• Knowledgeable of strategic planning, faculty-driven academic assessment concepts and experience with program or institutional accreditation.
• Experience in data collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting, including technical reporting and the procedures of institutional research.
• Demonstrated facility in both quantitative and qualitative methods with the ability to implement mixed model research designs and consult on data analysis.
• Excellent communications skills, including the ability to effectively communicate technical information in verbal, written, and graphic form to a variety of audiences
• Advanced skills in the use of several software and specialized data and presentation packages such as ACCESS, EXCEL and SPSS.
• Knowledge of assessment principles and tools in higher education and experience in design of variety of assessment tools, such as surveys, focus groups, rubrics and bench-marking.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Earned Doctorate in a higher education, research methods, or related field.
• Post-secondary classroom teaching experience.
• Expertise in data visualization.

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Kaplan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All positions with Kaplan are paid at least $15 per hour or $31,200 per year for full-time positions. Compensation for specific positions are based on job level, skills, years of experience, and education, among other factors. Additionally, certain positions are bonus or commission eligible.