Data Scientist, Student Success Analytics

James Madison University • Harrisonburg, VA

16h

About The Position

Student Success Analytics (SSA) at James Madison University is hiring a Data Scientist to help leverage data and technology to improve student success and retention. This applied analytics and research position transforms student-success data into ethical, actionable evidence for institutional decisions. Reporting to the Director and working alongside another data scientist and a data engineer, the role supports the strategic goal of developing data maturity that maximizes success outcomes for all students.

The Data Scientist will help shape the design, collection, and use of data and analytics, and will contribute to the university’s transition toward a student-success culture informed by data from its Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Learning Management Software (LMS), Student Information System (SIS), and other systems. The position collaborates with Student Affairs, Planning, Analytics, & Institutional Research (PAIR), Information Technology, The Graduate School, the Libraries, and other departments. It offers opportunities to help shape data ethics, analytics, and data-informed decision-making during an enterprise-wide system modernization program. The position is telework eligible.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Statistics, Computer Science, Operations Research, Mathematics, Physics, Finance, or another quantitative discipline.
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one statistical or general-purpose programming language, preferably Python or R.
• Experience using statistical methods and programming languages to manage data and generate insights from large datasets.
• Experience analyzing, summarizing, and clearly communicating information, including knowledge of open-source or commercial data visualization libraries or tools.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative and dynamic work environment.
• Awareness of and commitment to data privacy, security, and ethics.
• Awareness of and commitment to how data analytics can strengthen student success, retention, and graduation across student populations.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in higher education.
• PhD in Statistics, Computer Science, Operations Research, Mathematics, Physics, Finance, or another quantitative discipline.
• Experience creating and using advanced machine-learning algorithms and statistical methods, such as regression, simulation, modeling, clustering, and decision trees.
• Professional experience in equitable data management, data use, and data analytics.
• Experience working with relational and non-relational database systems.
• Experience using, building, and deploying generative AI tools.

Responsibilities

• Analyze data to generate actionable insights that empower the early student success team and other stakeholders.
• Design and evaluate descriptive, predictive, and, where appropriate, causal or quasi-experimental analyses; document assumptions, uncertainty, limitations, and differential performance across student populations.
• Communicate analytical insights through visualizations, presentations, written reports, publications, and other multimedia.
• Collaborate with Student Academic Success partners and colleagues across campus on data management best practices, data ethics and privacy, data-informed research questions, and the use of data.
• Advocate for data privacy, ethics, and equity in decisions about the design, management, and use of data for the early student success system, including through collaboration with campus colleagues.
• Explore and evaluate responsible uses of generative AI for analytical workflows, knowledge retrieval, documentation, and decision-support tools, with attention to privacy, accuracy, accessibility, and human oversight.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time