Associate for Institutional Research Survey Administration

Job Description:

The Associate for University Planning and Analysis, Survey Administration is a full-time position in the Office of Institutional Research and Data Analytics at SUNY System Administration in Albany, NY. Reporting to the Senior Assistant Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research and Data Analytics, the position leads and supports the full life cycle of SUNY-wide online survey research, from project planning, questionnaire design, sampling, administration, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval through data validation, statistical analysis, interpretation, reporting, and communication of findings. A central responsibility is producing scalable SUNY system-wide and campus-level reports with relevant benchmark comparisons and working closely with dashboard designers to prepare results for campus and System Administration constituents. Working independently and collaboratively, the incumbent will manage recurring and ad hoc survey projects, maintain the survey calendar and deliverables, and ensure accurate, accessible, and actionable results and data files that are delivered promptly across SUNY's 64-campus system following the close of each survey. As a member of the office, the incumbent will also serve as a liaison to an assigned group of SUNY campuses, support the review and troubleshooting of regular student-related data submissions, conduct ad hoc analyses in support of University priorities using survey data, SUNY Institutional Research Information System (SIRIS) data, and data from external sources, and gather timely campus insights on emerging areas of interest for SUNY leadership. The incumbent may also be responsible for New York State Education Department (NYSED) and/or Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) submissions, as assigned.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The incumbent will provide end-to-end leadership for survey research projects through an online survey tool and will be accountable for the quality, timeliness, and usefulness of each deliverable. This work requires expertise in questionnaire design, survey methodology, sampling, response-rate strategies, data quality, statistical analysis, research compliance, and clear communication of findings through written reports, slide decks, and presentations to internal and external audiences. The incumbent will use SQL and the office's Microsoft Access reporting environment to validate, integrate, analyze, and report data, while supporting the responsible transition of survey analyses and reporting to modern tools as appropriate. Intellectual curiosity is essential: the individual must be motivated to ask thoughtful questions, investigate patterns and anomalies, seek relevant context, explore new methods and tools, and identify insights or issues that may not be immediately apparent. The incumbent must exercise sound judgment and initiative, independently move multiple projects from initial concept through final reporting without step-by-step direction, and collaborate effectively with colleagues, dashboard designers, campus partners, and subject-matter experts.

The Associate for University Planning and Analysis will work in a highly regarded, supportive, and collaborative office environment and will contribute to a culture of inquiry, methodological rigor, shared responsibility, continuous improvement, and responsive service to SUNY leadership and campuses. The incumbent is expected to bring curiosity and initiative to individual assignments while openly sharing knowledge, seeking input, and contributing to collective problem-solving and office priorities.

Communication Specific:

• Lead communication and coordination across the full survey life cycle, establishing project scope, objectives, roles, timelines, review points, and final deliverables with SUNY System Administration partners and campus stakeholders.
• Produce clear, scalable SUNY system-wide and campus-level survey reports that include appropriate comparisons to system, sector, peer, historical, or other relevant benchmarks.
• Develop standardized reporting processes, templates, data structures, and quality-control procedures that support accurate and prompt distribution of survey results to constituents across SUNY's 64-campus system after each survey closes.
• Collaborate with dashboard designers to translate survey requirements and analytical findings into intuitive, accessible, and sustainable dashboards for campus and SUNY System Administration constituents.
• Validate dashboard measures, filters, benchmark logic, labels, and narrative context to ensure results are methodologically sound, consistent with published reports, and appropriate for constituent use.
• Prepare briefs, data visualizations, presentations, and campus communications that explain survey methodology, response patterns, key findings, benchmark comparisons, limitations, conclusions, and implications for decision-making.
• Present findings and methodological guidance to SUNY leadership, campuses, committees, and other audiences, translating complex analyses into concise, accurate, and actionable information.
• Serve as an Office of Institutional Research and Data Analytics representative on SUNY System and SUNY-wide committees and maintain effective working relationships with survey sponsors, subject-matter experts, dashboard designers, and campus partners.

Survey Research, Analysis, and Project Management:

• Design and refine survey questionnaires in collaboration with subject-matter experts, institutional research staff, and campus constituents, using established principles of survey methodology, including clear item construction, appropriate response scales, logical flow, accessibility, and alignment with research objectives.
• Create, update, and maintain survey instruments in SUNY's online survey tool, a platform comparable to Qualtrics and SurveyMonkey, and in other applicable formats.
• Develop project plans and administration protocols; monitor participation and response rates; review campus participation files for accuracy, consistency, and completeness; assess nonresponse, coverage, measurement, and other sources of survey error; and recommend strategies to strengthen data quality and representativeness.
• Independently or in collaboration with other team members, plan and conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey results, including coding and synthesizing open-ended responses, identifying patterns, trends, and themes, interpreting findings within appropriate methodological and institutional contexts, and developing meaningful, evidence-based conclusions.
• Develop system-wide, campus-level, and comparative analyses that enable campuses to understand their results in relation to SUNY benchmarks, sectors, peer groups, prior survey administrations, and other appropriate reference points.
• Use SQL, Microsoft Access, and other analytical tools to extract, integrate, validate, transform, and analyze survey and administrative data; document reproducible procedures and quality-control checks.
• Design reporting datasets and repeatable production workflows that can efficiently generate accurate, consistent reports and dashboard-ready data for SUNY System Administration and all participating campuses.
• Support the evaluation and responsible transition of recurring survey analyses and reports from the existing Microsoft Access environment to modern, sustainable analytical, dashboard, and reporting tools.
• Use approved artificial intelligence (AI) tools, when appropriate, to support research, analysis, documentation, reporting, and project-management activities; apply these tools responsibly and in accordance with institutional policies, data-privacy and confidentiality requirements, and established quality-control practices; and independently review and validate AI-assisted outputs to improve the timeliness, accuracy, and quality of deliverables.
• Coordinate the research approval and modification process with the Human Research Ethics Board (HREB), including preparing and managing applications, amendments, renewals, supporting materials, and approval documentation; stay abreast of HREB requirements and ensure survey activities follow applicable research protocols, privacy requirements, and institutional policies.
• Own and maintain the survey calendar and independently manage concurrent projects, including schedules, dependencies, stakeholder reviews, revisions, approvals, administration, analysis, report and dashboard production, and final delivery.
• Plan backward from required release dates and coordinate analysis, validation, design, review, and production activities so that reports and dashboards are available promptly after survey close.
• Approach research and operational questions with curiosity and initiative; investigate unexpected findings, seek relevant context, test assumptions, identify opportunities for improvement, and anticipate project needs and risks. Independently resolve routine methodological and operational issues and advance work without detailed direction, while recognizing when collaboration, consultation, or escalation is needed to ensure high-quality and timely results.

General Office:

• Serve as the Office of Institutional Research and Data Analytics liaison to an assigned group of SUNY campuses, developing effective working relationships with campus institutional research, data, and reporting contacts.
• Assist assigned campuses with the review of regular student-data submissions, including enrollment, degree, financial aid, and other student information, and help identify and resolve submission errors, data-quality concerns, and reporting issues.
• Coordinate with campus counterparts and office colleagues to troubleshoot data submission issues, clarify reporting requirements, and support timely, accurate, and complete submissions to SUNY System Administration.
• As assigned, prepare, validate, and complete New York State Education Department (NYSED) and/or Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) submissions, ensuring consistency with federal and state definitions, reconciliation with SUNY data, and adherence to reporting deadlines.
• Conduct ad hoc analyses in support of University priorities and leadership requests using survey data, SUNY Institutional Research Information System (SIRIS) data, other institutional data sources, and data from external sources; apply appropriate methods and communicate findings, assumptions, and limitations accurately.
• Scope, design, and complete analyses that inform University priorities, such as student access, success, completion, affordability, and post-graduation outcomes; work with requestors to clarify research questions, identify appropriate data sources and methods, and deliver timely, decision-ready findings, briefs, and visualizations for SUNY leadership.
• Identify, obtain, and integrate data from external sources, such as IPEDS, NYSED, the National Student Clearinghouse, U.S. Census Bureau, and state or national labor market data, with SUNY data; evaluate definitions, comparability, quality, and limitations to support sound benchmarking and contextual analysis.
• Develop and administer targeted ad hoc inquiries using Microsoft Forms or other appropriate methods to gather timely information on campus perspectives, practices, and contextual factors relevant to SUNY leadership priorities.
• Synthesize responses to ad hoc campus inquiries, assess response completeness and limitations, and provide leadership with concise summaries of campus insights and emerging themes.
• Contribute survey research, analytical, documentation, data-validation, and campus-support expertise to broader office initiatives and recurring institutional reporting responsibilities.
• Maintain organized project files, methodological documentation, data definitions, code, approval records, submission-support materials, and reporting materials to support continuity, transparency, and reproducibility

Requirements:

Required Qualifications:

• Master's degree or higher in survey research, social science, statistics, institutional research, public policy, education, or a related field.
• A minimum of three (3) years of professional experience managing or conducting survey research, evaluation, institutional research, or applied quantitative research.
• Experience with online survey distribution and data collection tools, e.g., Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, or others.
• Demonstrated experience across the survey research life cycle, including questionnaire design, sampling, survey administration, response-rate monitoring, data-quality assessment, statistical analysis, interpretation, and reporting.
• Knowledge of survey methodology and common sources of survey error, with the ability to select and explain appropriate methodological and analytical approaches.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, including coding and synthesizing open-ended responses, identifying trends and themes, interpreting results, and writing accurate, meaningful conclusions for technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Experience producing standardized, scalable reports for multiple organizations or constituent groups, including organization-level results and comparisons to relevant benchmarks.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with dashboard developers by defining reporting requirements, preparing and validating dashboard-ready data, and reviewing measures, filters, labels, and visual presentation.
• Experience using SQL and relational databases to query, integrate, validate, and analyze complex data.
• Experience with Microsoft Access or a comparable database and reporting environment, as well as experience using statistical software such as R, Python, SPSS, or SAS, including the ability to understand, maintain, and improve existing analytical processes.
• Experience preparing research protocols or Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions and applying research ethics, privacy, confidentiality, and compliance requirements.
• Excellent written, oral, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills, including experience developing effective presentations and the ability to explain methods, findings, benchmark comparisons, limitations, and implications to diverse stakeholders.
• Strong project-management, organizational, and follow-through skills, with demonstrated ability to independently establish work plans, manage multiple c