Position Type: Staff Full-time

Hours per week: 37.5   

Weeks per year: 52

Work Schedule: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Department Summary & Job Purpose:

Be part of a community that aims to support your personal growth and break down societal barriers to success. Following the opening of Mount Holyoke in 1837, the College’s founder Mary Lyon urged early graduates to "Go where no one else will go. Do what no one else will do." More than 180 years later, the college is still breaking barriers for women and underrepresented students. Mount Holyoke College is a highly selective, research liberal arts and science college for women that is gender diverse. Our community includes a diverse student body of over 2,300 students from over 80 countries and almost every U.S. state. Students study in 48 majors across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, and the College has a long history of national leadership in STEM education for women. The College’s educational mission and legacy of Mary Lyon, live on through the work of around 250 faculty and 700 staff who support an environment of intellectually adventurous learning and purposeful engagement with the world.

The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) leverages strategic and transformational data analytics to further the mission and key priorities of Mount Holyoke College. The College seeks an inquisitive, highly motivated, Director of Assessment and Academic Analytics to support the effectiveness and continuous improvement at the College, Division, Department, and Program level. In this role, you will also partner with faculty and academic leaders in leveraging data to make decisions that are both operational and strategic. You will conduct data-driven research, problem solving, and support faculty development through the systematic application of technology and educational research methods. Position deliverables include building efficient data management and analysis processes, interactive visualizations, presentations, and narrative reports. As the College’s Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) to the New England Commission for Higher Education (NECHE), you will coordinate accreditation efforts for the College and work to ensure compliance with federal and state standards. We are looking for candidates who are experienced in collaborating with academic units to establish systematic and evidence-rich improvement efforts, and can integrate assessment activities and results with regional accreditation processes.

Core Job Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Assessment of Student Learning
  • Provide leadership and expertise in building a culture of assessment within all academic units across the College. 
  • Communicate the purposes of student outcomes assessment, assist programs with the implementation of assessment plans, develop appropriate measures and methods for assessing student learning outcomes, and analyze and communicate the results of assessments conducted.
  • In collaboration with the Teaching and Learning Initiative (TLI), lead the development and delivery of assessment training, drop-in “help” sessions, and workshops for faculty, staff, and administrators. 
  • Provide technical and professional guidance, consultation, and support to programs regarding assessment, including development of curriculum mapping, assessment plans, interpretation of assessment findings, and appropriate utilization and application of results.
  • Consult with faculty and administrators in all stages of the continuous improvement process, including assessment plan development, measurement and data analysis, reporting of results, and use of results for improvement.
  • Collaborate with the Division of Student Success to assess the relationship of advising on student learning outcomes. 
  • Engage in professional development activities such as presenting research, attending training, or engaging in meetings and organizations related to best practices in higher education for assessment, evaluation, and analysis. 
• Accreditation and Compliance
  • Serve as the Accreditation Liaison Officer for institutional accreditation to the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations.
  • Develop in-depth knowledge of standards for accreditation through active engagement with materials, training, and meetings related to accreditation and advise College leaders on proposed revisions and changes.
  • Review proposed and existing academic program assessment plans, data, accountability, and evaluation programs for compliance with regional accreditation (NECHE) standards, as well as discipline specific programmatic accreditations and internal program reviews.
  • Maintain academic data pipelines to ensure consistent and accurate analysis and reporting of academic data to the College leadership, faculty, and external entities (NECHE, IPEDS, AAUP, etc.). 
• Data Analysis and Management 
  • Proactively identify, prioritize, and conduct independent analyses and project-related tasks that drive meaningful change on key objectives established by the academic leadership.
  • Assist in the design and analysis of experiments to test the effectiveness of interventions.
  • Assemble data sets from disparate sources and analyze using appropriate quantitative methodologies, computational frameworks, and systems. 
  • Independently identify key issues, patterns or deviations from norm.
  • Communicate findings clearly and concisely through narrative-driven presentations, reports and interactive data visualizations.
  • Promote a culture of excellence, data driven discussions, healthy skepticism, intellectual curiosity, knowledge sharing, and teamwork, while maintaining an environment that is upbeat and fun.
  • Incorporate a deep understanding of the higher educational context into analytical work: identify key questions, make the right assumptions, control for the right variables, and interpret results from the perspective of college stakeholders. 
  • Coordinate institutional data collections in support of academic assessment, such as, the Faculty COACHE survey, the Quantitative Reasoning
  • Assessment and the Student Course Map survey.
  • Coordinate across campus to ensure adherence to common data definitions and standards for academic data (e.g., faculty data warehouse).
  • Plan, transform, and migrate data between existing and future systems in conjunction with Library and Information Technology Services (LITS).
  • Records, stores, manages, and disseminates confidential and sensitive assessment data, as appropriate. 
• Leadership
  • Manage initiatives and activities to further the data and assessment efforts of Mount Holyoke College.
  • Attend faculty meetings and serve as a resource for faculty committees with regard to academic data, assessment, and accreditation.
  • Provide direction and supervision to the Assistant Director of Assessment with regard to assessment and accreditation related duties.
  • Provide mentorship to student staff in the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.
  • Serve on College wide committees. 

Qualifications: 

● Advanced degree in education, social science, or other related discipline.
● 5+ years engaging in faculty development related to assessment of student learning.
● 5+ years working with institutional or programmatic accreditation standards.
● 5+ years managing data (preferably in a higher education setting).
● Proficient understanding of assessment of student learning in a higher education setting.
● Exceptional problem-solving skills and readiness to learn new concepts, methods, and technologies.
● Proficient in data analysis using educational research methods.
● Exceptional attention to detail and ability to progress multiple analyses in parallel.
● Effective communication skills: Ability to “tell the story.”
● Ability to work effectively across functions, disciplines and levels.
● Commitment to mentorship and the development of the assessment profession.

Preferred Qualifications:

● Experience coordinating institutional accreditation (e.g., data collection, self-study narratives) with a regional accreditor in higher education (NECHE preferred).
● Knowledge of higher education data and reporting standards related to faculty, course, and student data (AAUP, IPEDS, CDS, etc.).
● Ability to manage data reporting and data visualization through College systems (e.g., Tableau, Informer 4/ Informer 5, SAP Business Objects, Colleague, etc.).
● Quantitative and qualitative research experience, including analyses using statistical tools and Excel.
● Awareness of high-impact assessment practices and survey research practices in higher education in areas, such as, general education assessment, program-level assessment, and diversity, equity, and inclusion assessment initiatives.
● Strong business acumen & demonstrated aptitude for analytics that incite action.
● Demonstrated respect and promotion of inclusion & diversity.

License/Certifications:

Compliance Requirements: 

Physical Demands: 

• The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; and extensive reading.
• Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound.
• Sufficient clarity of speech required includes those, which permit the employee to discern verbal instructions and communicate effectively in person and by telephone.

Working Conditions:

• Employee operates office equipment and computers to perform essential duties and responsibilities.  

Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

Special Instructions for Applicants: 

Apply online; application materials must include:

A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications

A complete resume or curriculum vitae

Contact information for 3 professional references

Mount Holyoke College is a women’s college that is gender diverse. The College is committed to providing equal access and opportunity in employment and education to all employees and students. In compliance with state and federal law, Mount Holyoke College does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, genetic information, sex, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, ancestry, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected status under federal, state or local law. The College does not discriminate on the basis of gender in the recruitment and admission of students to its graduate program.

Mount Holyoke College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.