Associate Director

The George Mason University Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning (OIEP) invites highly qualified candidates to apply for the position of Associate Director. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason’s academic and culturally inclusive environment.

About the Position:
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning (OIEP) is seeking an Associate Director to make data-informed strategic, operational, and tactical decisions by performing complex analyses, forecasting, and modeling. Using data from multiple internal, as well as external sources, analyses will focus on a variety of topics including:

• Identifying and analyzing factors that further student success and institutional effectiveness, e.g., retention, persistence, completion and graduation;
• Supporting the university’s strategic initiatives, e.g., the impact of modes of delivery, the targeted implementation of high impact practices, financial aid leveraging and policies, employment outcomes, curricular analytics, etc.;
• Analyzing institutional ranking and competitive positioning data including management of multiple external, national survey/university ranking tools, e.g., the Common Data Set, College Board, Petersons, THE Times Higher Education, and U.S. News and World Report; and 
• Developing and preparing policy reports and infographics to support planning initiatives.

Responsibilities:
Reporting to the Assistant Provost of Institutional Research, the Associate Director will:

• Conduct advanced statistical research. 
  • Identify, plan, and execute research analyses in support of university needs and in anticipation of planning efforts with school/colleges and university administrators;
  • Provide analyses in support of academic and program planning, reporting and decision-making;
  • Develop retention, persistence, completion and graduation studies for multiple student populations; and
  • Initiate studies based on current higher education developments.

• Develop and maintain an efficient and reliable system to complete national and international surveys and federal and state reporting mandates including key college ranking collections.
  • Design a survey completion framework and lead the survey efforts of OEIP; 
  • Construct ranking models to predict and explain Mason’s relative rank position; 
  • Ensure compliance with Federal and State reporting mandates; 
  • Work with units, such as Education and Mason Online, to fulfill Federal regulations; and
  • Supervise survey completion working with OIEP team members and providing technical leadership and training.

• Extract data from enterprise-wide systems and develop data visualizations. 
  • Develop standardized practices for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to ensure data accuracy and integrity in all reports that are created and disseminated;
  • Provide data-related technical and analytical support to multiple stakeholders across campus;
  • Design data visualizations and dashboards that will inform and advance strategic decision-making; and
  • Working with cross-functional teams, collaborate on the development of resources that bring together disparate data including space, fiscal, technology, etc.

• Other special and ad-hoc duties as assigned. 
  • Provide analysis and research for ad-hoc requests and special projects as directed by the Associate Provost; and
  • Develop awareness of industry developments and trends using multiple avenues including participation in professional development, scanning of online higher education sources, and active participation in meetings.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in quantitative disciplines such as Business Administration, Public Policy, Psychology, Statistics, Educational Research, or a related discipline with full-time professional experience of at least 5 years with at least 2 years in the institutional assessment/effectiveness/research area; or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Experience in using SAS, SPSS, or other comparable statistical analysis program for complex analysis and decision support;
• Knowledge of programming in SAS (preferred) or SPSS; 
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in statistical analysis including multivariate statistics and research design;
  *Ability to work with data from multiple internal and external sources; 
• Working knowledge of ERP such as Banner, PeopleSoft, SAP; 
• Knowledge of business intelligence and analytics tools such as Microstrategy, SAS Analytics/Miner, SAS Viya, Tableau;
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with limited supervision; 
• Strong critical thinking skills and ability to convey complex ideas to multiple audiences;
• Demonstrated ability to create meaningful visualization that clearly convey complex data and concepts;
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written; and 
• Knowledge of emerging trends and developments in higher education policy.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree; and 
• SAS certification 

Special Instructions to Applicants:
For full consideration, applicants must apply for position number FA14Hz at https://jobs.gmu.edu/; complete and submit the online application; and upload a cover letter, resume, and a list of three professional references with contact information.

George Mason University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, committed to promoting inclusion and equity in its community. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any characteristic protected by law.