Assistant Director of Assessment
About The Position
The Assistant Director of Assessment is an integral part of the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR) assessment team, which oversees and supports the University-wide learning outcomes assessment process for undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, and General Education at all Penn State locations. In addition, the Assistant Director supports the assessment of complex strategic and operational functions of the University. The successful candidate will possess knowledge of, or a strong desire to learn about, current trends and issues related to student learning assessment, current and innovative practices in the development and assessment of institutional effectiveness, and current theory and practice in higher education research. The successful candidate will also have experience designing data collection and analysis plans, processes, and systems; identifying analytical methods, and integrating appropriate assessments to inform strategic initiatives. This position reports to the Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment and offers flexible work arrangements: fully remote from most U.S. states, fully in-person at the University Park Campus, or hybrid. Standard working hours are in the Eastern Time Zone.
Requirements
- Experience and/or demonstrated knowledge of program assessment
- Experience designing and implementing surveys
- Experience analyzing data to address performance and improvement questions
- Ability to review and provide feedback on academic program assessment plans and reports
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including preparation of reports for varied audiences
- Experience developing and delivering presentations, workshops, or training materials
- Ability to build and maintain collaborative working relationships with faculty, administrators, and campus partners
- Experience working in a collaborative team environment
- Master's Degree
- 6+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted
Nice To Haves
- Experience in a higher education context
- Experience leading university-wide or large-scale assessment projects
- Experience supporting accreditation processes and documenting institutional effectiveness efforts
- Experience and/or demonstrated skills in data visualization and data storytelling
- Experience extracting data from enterprise systems using queries
- Experience collaborating across multiple academic units in a complex higher education environment
- Technical proficiency with R, Python, PowerBI, or similar data analysis and visualization tools
- Experience building surveys in Qualtrics or similar survey software
Responsibilities
- Support learning assessment activities in undergraduate, graduate, certificate programs, and General Education programs
- Design and implement faculty, staff, and student surveys
- Develop and maintain strong working relationships with campus and college assessment leaders, program coordinators, and academic administrators
- Lead and support University-wide assessment projects
- Analyze assessment data to address key performance and improvement questions
- Develop and deliver assessment resources, presentations, and workshops
- Review and provide feedback on academic program-level learning outcomes assessment plans and reports
- Represent OPAIR on committees, task forces, and University-wide initiatives
- Prepare oral and written reports, with a strong focus on data storytelling and visualization
- Participate in a collaborative team environment within OPAIR and across university stakeholders.
- Support and document institutional assessment efforts to maintain regional accreditation and foster a culture of continuous improvement
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Robust retirement plans
- Substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time
- 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
