Position Summary:  The Director of Institutional Research provides information and analytic support to the University's administrative decision makers in order to facilitate strategic planning, policy-making, resource allocations, enrollment projections, and other processes requiring sound strategic analysis. The Director is responsible for meeting reporting requirements of external agencies and organizations. In this capacity the Director works closely with offices throughout the university to determine and meet their needs for timely and accurate information. Additionally, this position works closely with data owners and the university's Data Standards and Information Access groups to develop, maintain, and support database decisions. The Director of Institutional Research reports to the Associate Provost and Chief Information Officer with an understanding of direct responsibility for assignments and support to the President, Provost, and other Vice Presidents.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

 • Collects, extracts, manipulates, organizes, and analyses data from multiple sources. Provides reliable, relevant, quality data. Reviews data to ensure accuracy.

• Leads analytical, technical, and support staff. Assists Office of Institutional Research (OIR) staff in completion of all reports and studies, when needed.

• Ensures accurate and timely completion of mandatory federal and state reports and data collections.

• Plans, organizes, develops, and analyzes institutional research studies and reports that support UCA's academic programs and institutional decision making.

• Provides analytical and technical support to departments, committees, faculty, staff, and administrators. Collaborates with Information Technology and data owners (Registrar's Office, Admissions, Financial Aid, etc.) to develop policies and procedures to ensure institutional data quality and integrity. Serves as a member of the Data Standards and Information Access Oversight Group and of the Banner Team.

• Proactively scans the environment for new trends in higher education. Maintains knowledge of institutional research with particular respect to such organizational datasets/surveys as Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board (AHECB), IPEDS, NSF/NIH, AAUP, CUPA, and US News and World Report.

• Actively participates in state, regional, and national organizations relevant to the work of the OIR.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree with training in mathematics, statistics, operations research, or other quantitative social science/research related field. Preferred: advanced training in Institutional Research or appropriate equivalent experience.

• Relevant experience in applied statistics, survey research, data management, data analysis, and project management. Experience in academic environment compiling, analyzing, and effectively communicating statistical/research data for internal and external purposes. Relevant experience with a statistical package (SPSS experience preferred).

• A minimum of three years of experience in Institutional Research at a public four-year college or university required, with a preference for experience at an Arkansas public four-year institution of higher education.

• Knowledge of higher education principles, practices, and procedures.

• Demonstrated ability to work as a team player, to maintain a high level of confidentiality, to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, to maintain a high level of accuracy, and to work collaboratively with a variety of individuals. Must be able to work effectively, individually and in a team environment.

• Strong communication skills, insight, persistence, and motivation to develop relationships with various stakeholders in university assessment processes .

• Extensive experience working with complex relational databases and a high degree of proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Access & Excel, and a higher education ERP system, with preference given to candidates with experience in Banner.

• Understanding of and ability to write SQL. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience with a relational database reporting tool.

• Understanding of basic student financial aid data.

For more information about this position, email Jonathan Glenn, Associate Provost and CIO, at jona@uca.edu.

To apply, submit a letter of application, a current resume/curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information for three current professional references by email to provost@uca.edu, with the subject line IR Director Search, or by postal mail to:

IR Director Search

ATTN: Carol Daves

Office of the Provost

University of Central Arkansas

Conway, AR 72035

Applications received by November 30, 2012, will receive full consideration. The starting date for the successful candidate will be negotiable.

The University of Central Arkansas is an AA/EOE employer.