Post-Doctoral Research and Policy Analyst

This position serves the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (Commission) and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education (Council) whose offices are located at 1018 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, West Virginia.

Position Title: Post-Doctoral Research and Policy Analyst

Classification: Full Time, Non-Classified, Exempt, Benefits-Eligible ________________________________________________________________________________

Overview: Reporting to the Senior Director of Research and Policy, the Post-Doctoral Research and Policy Analyst will be responsible for gathering, analyzing, and interpreting West Virginia-specific higher education data in order to provide accurate and meaningful information to stakeholders such as West Virginia higher education institutions, researchers, the West Virginia Legislature, and other interested parties. This position will also be responsible for performing independent research that informs West Virginia education policy as well as updating statutorily mandated higher education reports.

Duties and Responsibilities: This position is responsible for fulfilling data requests from a variety of interested parties, such as internal Commission and Council staff, campus administrators, education researchers, and state legislators, as well as performing independent research studies that inform West Virginia education policy. Duties of the position involve synthesizing research needs into salient, specific data requests to internal data programmers, followed by analyzing, interpreting, and presenting the data in a meaningful manner.

Additionally, the incumbent of this position is responsible for the production of annual agency reports and data resources. These include statutorily mandated higher education reports, including but not limited to the West Virginia Higher Education Report Card, Graduation Report, Enrollment Report, and Financial Aid Comprehensive Report as well as the agency’s web-based data portal.

This position also serves as a liaison with external entities to which the Commission and Council provide regular data submissions such as Complete College America. The incumbent is also responsible for conducting general research (descriptive and inferential statistics, surveys, etc.) on topics related to student access and success as well as institutional effectiveness and then present findings to interested stakeholders and at conferences.

Knowledge, skills and abilities: Knowledge of higher education administration and information needs is required. Must be highly organized and detail oriented. Strong written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal acumen, and the ability to work productively in a team environment is a necessity. This position requires the ability to access and analyze a wide array of student-level, institutional, state and national datasets as well as the ability to complete diverse tasks ranging from long-term, multi-stage research projects to fast-paced legislative data requests. Familiarity with research design and data analysis, and intermediate statistics proficiency are requirements. The ability to use statistical and reporting packages such as SPSS, SAS, Strata, Tableau and Argos is desired. Knowledge of SQL and/or PL/SQL is preferred but not required. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office suite and the ability to learn new data analysis and reporting software is required.

Salary Range: Competitive salary, commensurate with experience.

Education and experience: An earned doctorate in higher education, public policy, or a related field. Candidates who have completed all requirements for a doctoral degree but have not yet completed the dissertation (ABD) may be considered. At least one year of applied or scholarly higher education research or institutional research experience is preferred.

Closing date: Position is open until filled. Priority consideration will be given to application materials received on or before June 21, 2019.

Application process: Qualified candidates must submit a letter of interest, a current resume, a professional writing sample, and titles, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for three professional references. Candidates may be asked to complete a performance task that demonstrates their ability to analyze a sample data set and articulate findings. Final candidates are subject to employment and credential verification, as well as, reference and background checks. Submit all information electronically via e-mail with “Post-Doctoral Research and Policy Analyst” in the subject line to: Ms. Vickie Hairston, HR Representative, Senior at hepc.hr@wvhepc.edu.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer/Veterans/Disabled

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia are equal opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. The Commission and Council provide a collegial, respectful and inclusive environment that values the diversity, creativity and contributions of its staff.