Associate Director for Data Science Supporting Student Success - Center for Education Innovation & Learning in the Sciences (CEILS)
University of California Los Angeles


Requisition Number: JPF05973

Academic Administrator IV, Fiscal Year Associate Director for Data Science Supporting Student Success in the Center for Education Innovation & Learning in the Sciences (CEILS)
The Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (CEILS) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites applicants for a position of Academic Administrator IV, hereafter referred to as the Associate Director for Data Science Supporting Student Success. This position is a full-time, 12-month appointment, with a start date of January 1, 2021. Salary range is from $78,205 to $94,437, commensurate with experience.
Overview of the Position:
The CEILS Associate Director for Data Science Supporting Student Success will have expertise in data science and will advance assessment and data analytics initiatives in collaboration with faculty, advisors, and academic department leadership in Life and Physical Sciences to enhance teaching excellence, improve inclusivity, and support student success. The Associate Director will systematize the efforts of faculty stakeholders teaching STEM courses to develop collaborative, individual faculty projects that yield useful, actionable data to inform scalable strategies aimed at closing equity gaps in undergraduate bottleneck courses while increasing persistence and timely degree completion of direct-admit and transfer students. The Associate Director will be knowledgeable of evidence-based, student-centered teaching practices and proficient in methods to effectively collect, analyze, and visualize data towards the goal of tracking and assessing changes in student learning, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and other cognitive and affective measures of student success. This individual will promote the use of educational technologies to better support direct and reflective assessment practices in the classroom. The successful candidate will facilitate professional development, such as workshops and faculty learning communities, provide consultation services for diverse stakeholders, and engage in partnerships with other campus assessment and institutional research professionals.

This position will report directly to the Director of CEILS.
Responsibilities:

• Conduct large-scale database analysis and survey research in an educational setting
  • Develop assessment instruments, including creation of meaningful content, variables, and scales
  • Administer surveys using optimal sampling strategies, timing, and incentives
  • Devise and implement data analysis plan, merging institutional data with responses from assessment instruments, conducting descriptive and inferential statistical analysis and predictive modeling, engaging in appropriate data reduction techniques, and identifying patterns of success or failure
  • Author SQL code to access data from campus information systems, including the student records system and learning management systems, and structure results from such queries for statistical analysis using appropriate tools (such as R, SPSS, SAS, or Stata)
  • Generate visualizations and dashboards with data using software such as Excel and Tableau
  • Produce reports/summaries of research findings to support data-driven decision-making processes at faculty, department, and campus levels.
• Work with CEILS team to design, implement, and facilitate professional development programs and workshops for faculty and instructors in the Life and Physical Sciences, imparting knowledge about effective assessment practices and providing access to educational technologies designed to support these practices.
  • Use education research and data analytics (including campus dashboards) to inform departments and encourage faculty to transform and make more inclusive and equitable their instructional practices, particularly in gateway and bottleneck STEM courses.
  • Motivate faculty to participate in learning outcomes assessment to support Academic Senate program review self-study expectations and assist in conducting studies of student learning and success for that purpose.
• Foster faculty learning communities within and across departments that engage instructors in inquiry about student success through a view of the student experience provided by thoughtful and contextualized analysis of institutional data and survey research.
  • Utilize the collective expertise of all members of the CEILS team, including Instructional Consultants, when engaging departments, faculty, and advisors in data-driven efforts to reform courses/curricular structures, improve pedagogical practices, and modify advising strategies to drive student success.
• Provide consultation services for individual faculty, instructors, and academic departmental advisors in Life and Physical Sciences, sharing expertise in the design and implementation of direct and indirect assessment practices used to measure student learning, engagement, persistence, etc.
• Collaborate with CEILS director and associate directors in the development of grant proposals for extramural funding; efforts will include project conceptualization, providing data relevant to the proposed project, and grant proposal writing.
• Assist with implementation of grant-funded projects, including coordinating and executing the assessment and reporting activities.
• Engage collaboratively with campus partners in assessment and institutional research offices to promote utilization of existing campus dashboards and support new and emerging digital solutions for learning analytics and assessment.
• Represent UCLA and CEILS by participating in regional, national, and international educational conferences.
• Publish scholarly work related to education research.
• May engage in undergraduate or graduate student teaching.
• Act as a liaison for CEILS by attending campus meetings and events and serving on campus committees.

Qualifications and Application Instructions:
The successful candidate must have a PhD and demonstrated experience in data science, in student learning assessment in higher education, and in creating, updating, and maintaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Human Subjects applications. Must demonstrate advanced knowledge of software for descriptive and inferential statistics and ability to conduct large-scale database analysis and survey research in an educational setting. Must exhibit skill in engaging university faculty and other nontechnical audiences in meaningful discussion about data and statistical results as it relates to teaching and assessment of learning. Must possess excellent organizational, interpersonal, and verbal/written communication skills; English fluency is required. Must exhibit ability to interact effectively in professional development programs involving faculty, staff, and students of differing social, educational, economic, technical/nontechnical backgrounds. Must also demonstrate ability to work independently and be a productive, collegial contributor to diverse teams of professionals in pedagogy, assessment, institutional research, and educational technology. Prefer experience with instructional technology and other digital classroom tools.

To apply, candidates should submit a 1-2 page cover letter expressing their interest in the position, a curriculum vitae, a two-page teaching statement summarizing experience in teaching at the university level that includes a description of pedagogical approaches and educational assessments used, a one-page diversity statement, and the names and contact information for three professional references online to: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF05973.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: UC Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Policy (http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct).


To apply, please visit: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF05973


The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy, see: UC Nondiscrimination & Affirmative Action Policy, https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/DiscHarassAffirmAction


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