The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a top research university with an ethnically rich and culturally diverse campus community and is highly respected as a leader in providing access to underrepresented students. Recognized by Carnegie Classifications as a doctoral university with very high research activity, UIC is the city’s largest university and Chicago’s only public research university. The university offers more than 200 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs within 16 academic colleges including the highest-ranked undergraduate business program in Chicago, the nation’s largest medical school, and one of the top-ranked nursing programs in the U.S. UIC serves more than 34,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. With one of the largest colleges of medicine in the nation, and colleges of dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, social work, and applied health sciences, UIC is the principal educator of health professionals in Illinois and a major healthcare provider to underserved communities. 

Job Summary

This position leads a team responsible for the collection, analysis, interpretation, communication and maintenance of data, both internal and external, to drive institutional decision-making. Manages the operations of the Office of Institutional Research and is charged with the development and maintenance of an institutional data and analytics infrastructure; creation of university dashboards and reports; and handling all internal and external requests for institutional data, including governmental agency reporting requirements, ranking entities, IPEDS and all other accrediting or reporting agencies. Represents UIC on various task forces for coordinating statewide higher education data and performance measurement of institutional effectiveness.

Job Responsibilities (Essential Duties)

Strategic Planning, Goal Setting and Policy Development

•            Lead the development of program improvement and evaluation tools such as the dashboard, for colleges and administrative units. Work with senior academic and administrative leaders to utilize these tools to improve academic and administrative processes. Publish summary reports on program review.

•            Monitor implementation and achievement of University’s goals and objectives. Research success indicators and outcomes and publish progress reports for executive peers.

•            Work with senior management to use data for decision making in support of academic and administrative policies and procedures.

Institutional Research Activities and Data Management

•            Lead the development and review of complex University data systems (such as cost and salary study database). Use statistical methods, historical trend analysis, comparative and benchmarking methods, and software tools to analyze data to support strategic initiatives and executive decisions.

•            Provide leadership for staff engaged in data analysis and manipulation of large, complex data systems. Guide staff in designing student, faculty and staff surveys. Lead the analysis of survey results and report in writing and publications that support executive decisions in the organization.

 •           Prepare complex written narratives with integrated sophisticated graphical charts and tables for publication in various media formats.

•            Lead and conduct inferential analysis to develop and administer numerous institutional studies (such as salary and cost grant-related studies, student outcomes to measure students' retention and persistence rate.)

•            Investigate best practices in postsecondary educational field, including the accreditation process in higher education, student outcomes assessment, factors influencing student success rate, financial modeling and trend analysis, and inter-institutional data exchanges to apply within the organization.

•            Direct critical data projects requested by various internal and external individuals and organizations.

•            Supervise the development of intricate statistical reports and surveys at unit requests in support of academic programs, grant proposals and major quality enhancement initiatives.

•            Direct imports and exports among software applications to analyze and prepare for report writing.

•            Prepare institutional effectiveness reports for Board of Trustees and state and federal authorities.

Financial Management

•            Forecast, develop and administer short and long-term departmental budget. Authorize departmental expenditures.

Staff Management and Training

•            Manage daily operations in the Office of Institutional Research

•            Train University personnel in appropriate methods of documenting institutional effectiveness processes.

•            Plan, assign and review work of staff to meet group objectives. Hire, train, develop and manage staff to ensure timely completion of projects and user problem resolution.

•            Guide departmental staff in process of selecting most appropriate methodologies for data analysis. Conduct workshops and plan training sessions and seminars to ensure professional growth of staff.

•            Perform other related duties and participates in special projects as assigned.

Job Knowledge & Skills, Education, Experience

Master's Degree from a regionally accredited University in Statistics, Business, Education, Psychology, or another related field involving analysis – both quantitative and qualitative.

Eight years of demonstrated experience with research methods, statistics, data analysis including predictive modeling and hierarchical / longitudinal analysis, and strategic planning.

At least three years of administrative / supervisory experience in higher education leading, directing, and overseeing multiple functions, programs, and activities.

Excellent personnel management skills with the ability to mentor and develop new staff and promote teamwork.

Collaborative leadership style with a strategic and creative approach to issues, and exceptional problem solving and decision-making abilities.

Forward-thinking, innovative, and proactive in identifying problems and implementing evidence-based improvements.

Excellent interpersonal communication, written, and graphic presentation skills to effectively collaborate, develop, implement, and communicate data and recommendations with a wide range of stakeholders (board members, administrators, faculty, staff, and students).

Commitment to inclusivity and diversity, and ability to interact effectively with a variety of constituent groups.

Solid organizational and analytical skills to prioritize, take initiative, follow projects through to completion, and manage multiple task/ projects.

Ability to translate data report conclusions into usable information for decision making and policy analysis.

Strong computer system skills and a capacity to create dashboard reporting systems (SQ L & SAS desirable). Experience in data collection, storage warehousing, access, analysis, and usage for evidence based improvements preferred. Experience with IPEDS data reporting preferred.

Capacity to design and administer surveys and analyze and communicate results.

Expertise in student learning outcomes assessment, coordination of program review in higher education, evaluating degree program effectiveness, developing guidance materials and training faculty, and preparing reports for university and accreditation bodies preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience in Institutional Research in a college setting at a Director level or higher. Experience in educational assessment.

Experience with, or knowledge of The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Experience working with State and national accreditation agencies.

Experience with, or knowledge of higher education ranking requirements.

For fullest consideration, please apply at jobs.uic.edu  and include a letter of interest, current resume and the contact information for up to three professional references by May 13, 2022.

The University of Illinois at Chicago is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or status as an individual with a disability.

Offers of employment by the University of Illinois may be subject to approval by the University’s Board of Trustees and are made contingent upon the candidate’s successful completion of any criminal background checks and other pre-employment assessments that may be required for the position being offered. Additional information regarding such pre-employment checks and assessments may be provided as applicable during the hiring process.

As a qualifying federal contractor, the University of Illinois System uses E-Verify to verify employment eligibility.

The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit https://www.hr.uillinois.edu/cms/One.aspx?portalId=4292&pageId=1411899

University of Illinois faculty, staff and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not able to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, you may seek approval for an exemption in accordance with applicable University processes.