Director Of Learner Success - Academic Affairs, Research and Student Success - UT System Administration

University of Tennessee•Knoxville, TN

11d

About The Position

The Director of Learner Success serves as the UT System's lead strategist for retention, persistence, and credential completion for postsecondary students enrolled in all types of programs. This role operates at the system level and has the exciting opportunity to build the infrastructure, evidence base, and cross-campus coordination necessary to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of student success professionals at all UT institutions. The Director does not work directly with students but instead ensures that the people and systems closest to students are well-supported, data-informed, and strategically aligned. The Director of Learner Success collaborates with academic and student affairs professionals at each UT institution and serves as a key liaison with campus chief student affairs and student success leaders. As one member of the Learner Success team in AARSS, the skills of the incumbent are complimented by team members who have responsibilities for access and affordability, work-integrated learning, and the economic outcomes of program completers. The Director of Learner Success primarily focuses on the student experience between enrollment and completion, ensuring that every learner who enters a UT institution has the strongest possible chance of persisting and completing their desired credential.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a field related to higher education administration, education, liberal studies, or communication.
5 years or more in leadership roles requiring organizational change management expertise in a postsecondary setting.
Experience communicating the impact of various learner success strategies.
Deep knowledge of evidence-based practices and research on student retention, persistence, and completion.
Knowledge of evidence-based student support interventions (e.g., proactive/intrusive advising, early alert systems, learning communities, supplemental instruction, caseload management models).
Familiarity with research on wrap-around supports and their relationship to persistence (e.g., basic needs insecurity, mental health, childcare, transportation, non-academic barriers).
Understanding of developmental education and remediation reform models (e.g., corequisite remediation, multiple measures placement, accelerated developmental sequences) and their outcomes.
Knowledge of stop-out and re-engagement research.
Understanding of how multi-campus university systems operate, including system offices vs. campus-level administration.
Understanding of how federal and state financial aid policy intersects with student persistence and completion.
Ability to translate broad institutional goals into specific, operationalizable strategies with clear milestones and accountability structures.
Skill in designing frameworks that are coherent at the system level but flexible for campuses to adapt.
Ability to distinguish between system-level problems and campus-level problems.
Knowledge of key metrics used to measure student success (retention rates, graduation rates, credit accumulation benchmarks, DFW rates, time-to-degree, equity gaps).
Understanding of institutional research practices, student information systems, and data infrastructure for predictive analytics and early warning systems.
Skill in analyzing quantitative student success data.
Ability to read and critically evaluate published research and translate findings into practical recommendations.
Skill in constructing dashboards, progress reports, and data narratives.
Ability to move from descriptive analytics to diagnostic and prescriptive recommendations.
Working knowledge of how credential completion connects to workforce outcomes (e.g., microcredentials, stackable credentials, industry-recognized certifications).
Understanding of labor market alignment concepts.
Knowledge of credit for prior learning (CPL) and prior learning assessment (PLA).
Knowledge of how inconsistencies in readiness manifest in student success outcomes, including disparities by race/ethnicity, income, first-generation status, and geography.
Familiarity with equity-minded data practices.
Skill in translating between different professional cultures (student affairs, faculty, institutional researchers, senior administrators).
Ability to listen deeply to campus stakeholders and incorporate their input.
Skill in building trust-based relationships with campus-level student success leaders, provosts, deans, and student affairs professionals.
Ability to manage upward effectively.
Ability to use data to surface inequities and hold the system accountable for closing gaps.
Skill in convening and facilitating working groups, communities of practice, and collaborative initiatives across campuses.
Ability to build shared ownership of system-level goals through influence, evidence, and persuasion.
Skill in identifying and amplifying promising practices and creating mechanisms for peer-to-peer learning.
Ability to assess campus readiness for new initiatives and tailor support.
Ability to hold multiple, sometimes competing priorities simultaneously.
Strong written communication skills, including the ability to produce polished strategy documents, policy briefs, board presentations, and grant narratives.
Ability to present complex data and research findings clearly to non-technical audiences.
Ability to operate as a capacity builder rather than a direct service provider.
Willingness to seek out and learn from failure and build a culture of evidence and honest assessment.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives at different stages of maturity.
Skill in designing and managing pilot programs, including establishing clear evaluation criteria, managing campus selection, and determining go/no-go decisions for scaling.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated knowledge of change management in postsecondary learner success.
Experience problem-solving, multi-tasking, or producing quality work with a team.
Seven to ten years of experience with increasing levels of responsibility in the education sector.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate with others in ways that inspire improvement.
Familiarity with campus and system organizational dynamics.
Knowledge of grant-funded initiatives and reporting requirements.
Knowledge of student success challenges and needs.
Knowledge of the structure of and key organizations involved in Tennessee public education.
Prior experience supporting the growth and development of teachers, educators, and K-12 administrators.

Responsibilities

Lead system-level retention and completion strategy adaptable to institutional contexts and student populations.
Identify and analyze system-wide patterns in learner stop-out, drop-out, and time-to-completion, translating findings into actionable strategy recommendations.
Develop re-engagement strategies for learners who have stopped out, including system-level policies and processes that reduce barriers to return.
Ensure retention and completion strategies are inclusive of all learner populations served by UT (traditional undergraduates, adult learners, graduate students, transfer students, and learners in non-degree pathways).
Collaborate closely with campus leaders to promote evidence-based learner support models and emerging best practices in persistence and completion.
Lead or coordinate system-wide pilots of promising learner success interventions.
Learn about digital solutions that support student success and develop avenues for knowledge sharing and realizing economies of scale among campus partners.
In coordination with campus leaders, advance objectives related to credential completion and student progression aligned to the UT System strategic plan.
Identify structural barriers to progression such as remediation bottlenecks, stop-out triggers, and milestone failure points.
Develop, expand, or socialize strong practices around credit for prior learning and work-based learning, requiring strong partnership development across internal and external stakeholder groups.