Assessment Strategist

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

5d•$88,600 - $132,900

About The Position

The Assessment Strategist reports to the respective school’s Director of Assessment and Curriculum and guides and supports the strategy, design, development, and maintenance of formative and high-stakes assessments within an assigned portfolio. The role collaborates with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure assessments meet university goals and follow assessment best practices. The Strategist oversees the full lifecycle of assessment products in the portfolio, ensuring alignment with assessment integrity policies, and manages the design, development, and continuous improvement of WGU’s online assessment content. The position works with stakeholders in academics, evaluation, technology, design, development, Program Development, and Psychometrics to inform assessment and technology changes and to improve student experience and outcomes. The role requires technical knowledge of high-stakes assessment development, practical understanding of teaching and learning, skill in training and explaining complex assessment policies, data analysis capabilities, relationship-building in a matrixed organization, and strong organizational and project-management skills. It involves prolonged desk and computer work, occasional lifting of up to 15 pounds, and occasional travel of up to 20%, including designated company summits, usually one to two per year.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
At least 3 years of relevant professional experience developing high-stakes educational or licensure assessments at the course or program level.
Experience with contemporary assessment practices and technology, such as adaptive assessment, competency-based assessment, psychometrics, technology-enhanced items, prototyping and validating new item types, and test designs.
Experience facilitating workshops.
Demonstrated technical knowledge of high-stakes assessment development practices.
Demonstrated ability to proactively and creatively solve problems related to assessment design and development.
Practical understanding of teaching and learning, educational trends, and research.
Skill in providing training and persuasively explaining complex assessment policy and best practices.
Ability to analyze data to identify trends and drive improvement.
Ability to build relationships and work effectively in a highly matrixed organization.
Excellent organizational and project management skills, including effectively handling multiple tasks and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

Ensure assessments align with best practices in competency-based education and WGU assessment integrity policies.
Provide thought leadership and strategic vision for improving student outcomes and the health and quality of assessments.
Ensure assessment traverses align with proficiencies, skills, and competencies in programs, courses, and non-degree offerings.
Translate requirements into clearly defined specifications and actions.
Contribute to models for formative and summative assessments.
Collaborate with internal and external partners throughout assessment design, development, and deployment.
Work with technology, design, and development teams to create and adopt flexible, valid, reliable, data-driven assessment tools.
Provide training, consultation, or guidance to team members and partners on assessment models, design and development practices, and data-driven, evidence-based assessment practices as required.
Consult with Program Development and Psychometrics teams on scoring methods, rubric development, and other assessment tools and models.
Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to identify innovations and improvements to student experience and processes using data, key performance indicators, current practice, and emerging trends.
Collaborate with peers across colleges to support continuity of assessment processes and strategy.
Monitor assessment portfolio health throughout the assessment lifecycle.
Achieve and report on critical assessment metrics.
Provide student-facing responses to student appeals.
Perform other related duties as assigned.