(Full-time) Research Specialist

Description of Basic Functions and Responsibilities

OVERVIEW:

The Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District (Shasta College) sits at the northern end of the Sacramento Valley, surrounded by mountains to the north, east, and west. The area provides a wide array of outdoor amenities and activities with miles of hiking and biking trails, national parks, two lakes, and the Sacramento River. The main campus is located in the city of Redding, population 90,000. The area is characterized by excellent schools with high graduation rates, low traffic, and low housing prices (Zillow average 393,000 vs. California state average of 770,000).

Shasta College is committed to providing its diverse student population with equitable education outcomes, contributing to the social, cultural, intellectual, and economic development of our communities. The college has been recognized as a leader in developing and implementing innovative education programs to increase student success, including accelerated pathways for high school students to achieve a bachelor's degree and for returning students to complete their Associate and Bachelor's degrees. Shasta College enrolls more than 11,000 students annually and provides educational services to students with a wide range of skills and abilities.

Our ideal candidate is motivated to join a campus community prioritizing the success of our racially and socio-economically diverse staff and student population. Providing equitable outcomes so all members of our community may enjoy safe, healthy, and vibrant educational and employment environments is critical to our success.

Classified positions in the California Community College system offer a unique opportunity to contribute to the empowerment of our students seeking to improve their lives and communities. Our classified staff engage with a diverse employee and student populations, facilitating equitable outcomes for all by implementing and supporting our various employment and academic programs. As a classified staff member at Shasta College, you will join a vibrant community of professionals and educators working together to provide a positive, healthy educational environment where our students experience diverse academic and cultural perspectives. A career in classified service at Shasta College offers a highly rewarding and enriching employment experience.

DESCRIPTION OF BASIC FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Research Specialist distributes, collects, presents, maintains, and processes various research data and records in support of the District’s Office of Research. The incumbent performs support, including entering information into computer systems, planning, analyzing, and in collaboration with IT design systems and applications in support of a wide variety of assessment, research, and planning functions. Employees in this classification receive limited supervision within a standard policies and procedures framework. Employees in this classification may train, monitor, and review the work products of other staff for timeliness, accuracy, and compliance with established procedures. This job class is responsible for working collaboratively with other District departments in designing, building, and maintaining workflows and procedures related to assessment and planning processes and plays an important role in the distribution, collection, interpretation, and processing of research data and reports within established policies and procedures.

CLASSIFICATION: Range 45 on the current Classified Salary Schedule, 40 hours per week, 12 months per year. Work assignment hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. This is a classified position with a default CalPERS retirement.

SUPERVISOR: Director of Institutional Research or designee

Typical Duties, Knowledge and Ability

Essential Functions:
• Exercises independent judgment; relieves a mid-level administrator of actions not requiring their immediate attention.
• Serves as a liaison between assigned office and those divisions/departments reporting to it.
• Prepares reports from compiled data and records within established policies and procedures.
• Establishes and maintains a variety of office records, logs, and filing systems pertaining to assigned area(s) of responsibility.
• Receives, reviews, and verifies documents, records, and forms for accuracy, completeness, and conformance to applicable rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Designs, codes, tests, and implements pages and programs for Institutional Research; creates timelines and documentation as needed.
• Designs and develops online forms, and Excel worksheets for the collection, dissemination, and maintenance of needed information for specialized programs and functions within Institutional Research.
• Designs, develops, analyzes, and maintains applications that support functions related to SLO/SAO reporting and analysis, evaluations, Annual Updates, Program Reviews, and any additional strategic planning needs.
• Designs, develops, and maintains dashboards and other data visualizations for Institutional Research.
• Performs special reports and research issues as requested.
• Assists in distributing, collecting, processing, preliminary evaluating, presenting, and maintaining college research projects and operations data and information.
• Manages data and processes for student opinion surveys in support of evaluation and other institutional processes.
• Assembles and assists in collecting and preliminary interpreting data relative to state and federal reports.
• Coordinates research requests, follows up on current status and facilitates timely completion.
• Locates and extracts information from various reports and literature to fulfill and document Research Office requests and projects.
• Monitors and documents data collection procedures and processes.
• Prepares and processes a variety of forms, documents, records, questionnaires, and surveys related to research projects; receives, tallies, and/or logs documents received.
• Provides technical assistance and information to users for the Assessment Management System and other research tools (Area Plans, SLO’s, student opinion surveys).
• Represents users' interests during research-related requirements analysis and development tasks.
• Works collaboratively with users to define reporting and data analysis needs.
• Develops and maintains relevant technical specifications, user manuals, technical bulletins, and other user documentation for the assigned unit.
• Develops and designs user-friendly application interfaces and ensures they meet user requirements within established policies and procedures.
• Develops SQL queries and reports for research reporting and data request needs within established policies and procedures.
• Creates scripted procedures and/or programming to automate support functions for the research office.
• Coordinates and independently initiates operational and system improvements to increase efficiencies and simplify administrative applications within the research office's responsibility.
• Provide training to the campus community and stakeholders on relevant projects, data requests, and dashboards.
• Works with vendors to resolve problems and provides vendors with enhancement requests.
• Consults with administrators in developing reports of varying complexity and analyzes and provides input on system and application issues to the appropriate departments and personnel.
• Collaborates, consults and keeps IT up to date on systems and applications being utilized by research to ensure IT can support the Office of Research when needed.
• Documents and tracks all software applications and systems used by Research, including manuals.
• Ensures all data being accessed, extracted, reported, and utilized in Research systems, applications and processes are protected under FERPA, GLBA and HIPPA compliance.
• Collaborates with IT on system processes and applications developed by the Research Office.
• Performs other related duties similar to the above in scope and function as required.

Knowledge of:
• Standard English vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation, typing, and filing procedures.
• Modern office procedures, methods, and practices.
• Functions and operations of computer database, word processing, and spreadsheet software.
• Research methods (quantitative and qualitative).
• Research design and survey development, descriptive statistics, and analytical research strategies.
• Publicly available data sources commonly utilized in community college research.
• Database structure and maintenance, data extraction, SQL queries, and programming.
• Data visualization software, Visual Basic, HTML, Java Script, Microsoft PowerApps, etc.
• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience, and courtesy.
• FERPA and other regulations relevant to data use in higher education.

Ability to:
• Effectively communicate orally and in writing.
• Maintain confidentiality of sensitive data/information.
• Work independently, organized, and detail-oriented. Work effectively on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Develop and review SQL statements.
• Serve as a project lead for assignments.
• Analyze user needs and develop effective systems.
• Apply critical thinking skills in analyzing and interpreting data.
• Use software manuals effectively to learn new procedures and troubleshoot issues.
• Learn district policies and procedures related to research activities and operations.
• Perform quantitative calculations accurately within established timelines.
• Establish and maintain cooperative and effective working relationships with others, including those from diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, and ability backgrounds.
• Collect and organize pertinent data and information.
• Operations, equipment, procedures, and formats used in information processing.
• Microsoft Office Suite programs.
• Principles, practices, and techniques of training and providing technical instructions to stakeholders.
• Learn from errors, determine appropriate corrective action, and prevent repeated occurrences.

Experience/Education

Education Required:
• AA degree or equivalent education, training, and experience.

Experience Required:
• Three years working with SQL databases and script development.
• Demonstrated sensitivity to, and understanding of, the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds of staff and students, as well as staff members and students with physical and/or learning disabilities.

Additional Information

Online Application with Additional Preferred Materials to be attached to application:Cover letter addressing criteria listed in the position announcementCurrent resumeCollege transcripts, if applicable (unofficial will be accepted at the time of application)

Attention Applicants:After application has been submitted, all application materials will be screened.Internal candidates must also submit all required materials to be considered.Candidate evaluations will not be considered.Reference letters from any member of the Hiring Committee or Board Members will not be considered.Interviews will be by invitation only.Interviews may be by Zoom.The District does not reimburse for new hire moving expenses.New Classified Appointments will be placed at Step 1 on the Classified Salary Schedule and will graduate to the next step on July 1st if the hire date is before February 1st, with subsequent steps annually thereafter to a maximum 21st step.

The Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District ("Shasta College") does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religious preference, age, disability (physical and mental), pregnancy (including pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity, sexual orientation, genetics, military or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law in admission and access to, or treatment in employment, educational programs or activities at any of its campuses. Shasta College also prohibits harassment on any of these bases, including sexual harassment, as well as sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.