Director of Institutional Research

About the role

Reporting to the Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, the Director of Institutional Research provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Office of Institutional Research. The Director supervises professional staff, directs research and data analytics initiatives and ensures the delivery of accurate, timely, and actionable information to support institutional planning, assessment, decision-making and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and direction in the design, prioritization and implementation of institutional research and assessment activities in support of institution-wide decision making, planning and across the board performance measurement.
• Work with the Dean’s office and key stakeholders to determine primary benchmarks, key performance indicators, and measures of institutional success and high performance.
• Lead collaborative performance management for the school; including facilitating discussions of performance and outcomes data, as well as the development of new or enhanced reporting and dashboards to communicate data across the School, in support of decision-making and institutional self-assessment.
• Plan, lead, and manage data collection and analysis activities to support strategic planning, enrollment management, student persistence and graduation goals, post-graduation career outcomes, and accreditation and compliance processes, and other metrics as determined by the Dean. Ensure that institutional data collection and reporting processes are reliable, valid, ethical and systematic.
• Oversee survey functions of the School, including instrument development; annual survey schedule planning; survey distribution and data collection; and management of a data warehouse for survey results.
• Act as a liaison to University committees regarding institutional data, participate in institutional research professional organizations, and serve on the University Institutional Research Council.
• Regularly communicate relevant, timely, accurate and actionable institutional data to School stakeholders through accessible and compelling dashboards, data visualizations, and other data presentation tools; prepare presentations in a variety of formats to communicate research findings to the college community; and monitor the extent to which research findings are accessed and used by constituents to ensure appropriate distribution and promote data-driven decision making.
• Serve as a content area expert on research methods, data analysis, data integrity, quality assurance and common data definitions.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree and eight years' relevant experience required.
• Graduate degree in a relevant analytic or social science discipline (e.g., Data Analytics, Statistics, Psychology, Educational Psychology, Sociology) preferred.
• Experience working in an Institutional Research setting within higher education, preferably in an online learning environment (prior CUNY experience a plus), with an understanding of current issues in higher education, particularly those affecting online learners, transfer students, working adults, and underserved populations.
• Comprehensive knowledge of higher education data and reporting standards, including national IPEDS standards, as well as familiarity with Middle States Accreditation and other industry standards. CUNY-specific data and systems experience preferred.
• Demonstrated proficiency with core applications in three areas: 1) data access and querying tools (e.g., SQL); 2) data analytic software for manipulation of large datasets (e.g., R, SPSS, SAS, Stata); and 3) data visualization and business intelligence tools for working with complex data structures (e.g., Tableau).
• Demonstrated experience using programming and scripting languages such as Python and/or R to develop advanced data visualizations, interactive dashboards, and other dynamic data products that translate complex institutional data into clear, engaging, and actionable information for a range of audiences.
• Experience supervising and providing technical direction to staff engaged in data engineering, database development, programming, statistical analysis, and data visualization, including reviewing work for accuracy, quality, and adherence to established data standards and practices.
• Demonstrated experience designing and conducting rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses, interpreting findings, and translating results into actionable recommendations to support institutional planning and decision-making.
• Experience with large and complex datasets, including blending and analyzing data from multiple data sources; managing institutional data collection and reporting; preparing, formatting, validating, and cleaning research data to ensure integrity in analysis and reporting, and, with data warehouse environments, database queries; and using data to develop projections and support data-driven decision-making.
• Experience with survey development, administration, and analysis; understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Experience presenting and communicating technical information professionally, clearly, and effectively in oral, written, and graphic form to individuals with varying quantitative proficiency.
• Experience with providing briefings and trainings to enhance understanding of institutional research and data.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork skills, supervisory skills, and demonstrated ability to interact and collaborate professionally and build capacity among colleagues from culturally diverse backgrounds and in different project settings.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

CUNY Title Overview

• Directs institutional research programs and contributes to academic program planning, evaluation, and other activities related to the College's mission.
• Works collaboratively with senior management on issues of assessment, including general institutional effectiveness and measures of student success and learning.
• Designs and oversees research efforts with an institutional scope and assists departments and offices with focused research needs.
• Coordinates program reviews and accreditation reporting.
• Manages institutional research data systems and other resources.
• Maintains standard management information and official statistics for internal and external reporting.
• Develops procedures to support analytical, planning, and assessment functions in student and academic areas.

Pay

Salary commensurate with education and experience, from $126,478 – $141,325.

Benefits

• Range of health plans, competitive retirement/pension benefits and savings plans.
• Tuition waivers for CUNY graduate study.
• Generous paid time off.
• Access to academic, arts, and athletic programs on campus.
• Opportunity to participate in a lively, diverse academic community in New York City.

Until further notice, work will be performed in a hybrid manner with 70% onsite presence.