Position Title: Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research

Department: Office of the Chief of Staff/Executive Vice President

Reports To: Chief of Staff/Executive Vice President

Status: Full-time, Benefits Eligible

Job Summary

Wilberforce University seeks a Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research to provide leadership for institutional research, assessment, institutional effectiveness, accreditation, strategic planning support, and data-informed continuous improvement. The Director is responsible for developing and maintaining systems that produce reliable institutional data, document progress toward institutional goals, strengthen a University-wide culture of assessment, and support evidence-based decision-making. The position works closely with senior leadership, academic and administrative units, faculty, and staff to ensure that institutional planning, assessment, compliance, and improvement activities are systematic, documented, and aligned with University priorities and accreditation expectations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
• Provide leadership for the University's institutional effectiveness, institutional research, assessment, and accreditation functions, including systems used to evaluate the effectiveness and performance of academic and administrative units.
• Coordinate the University's institutional assessment process, including annual unit assessment, academic program assessment, program review, and documentation of continuous improvement and use of results.
• Develop, maintain, analyze, and communicate institutional data and performance indicators that support executive decision-making, strategic planning, accreditation, enrollment management, student success, resource allocation, and institutional improvement.
• Ensure the accuracy, consistency, integrity, and timely submission of institutional data for internal and external reporting, including federal, state, accreditor, association, and other required data requests.
• Be prepared to serve as the University's Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), including maintaining familiarity with HLC Criteria for Accreditation, Assumed Practices, policies, reporting requirements, monitoring requirements, and institutional obligations.
• When designated as ALO, coordinate institutional communication with HLC; advise University leadership regarding accreditation requirements and deadlines; support preparation of assurance filings, monitoring reports, substantive-change requests, and other required submissions; and help coordinate comprehensive evaluations and other HLC reviews.
• Maintain organized and accessible accreditation evidence and institutional documentation sufficient to demonstrate compliance, institutional effectiveness, and continuous improvement.
• Support accreditation and reaffirmation processes for academic programs and departments with specialized or professional accreditation, as appropriate.
• Facilitate academic program review and support the analysis of program vitality, student achievement, learning outcomes, enrollment trends, and other indicators of academic effectiveness.
• Support implementation and assessment of the University's strategic plan by assisting units with measurable objectives, performance indicators, evidence, progress reporting, and documentation of results.
• Provide training, consultation, and technical assistance to faculty, staff, administrators, and committees on assessment, institutional effectiveness, data interpretation, accreditation, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Assist with development of assessment and evaluation plans for externally funded grant proposals and, when requested, support assessment, evaluation, and reporting for funded projects.
• Chair, co-chair, or provide staff support to institutional committees related to accreditation, assessment, strategic planning, institutional effectiveness, data governance, and continuous improvement.
• Perform other duties related to institutional effectiveness, research, accreditation, assessment, and planning as assigned by the Chief of Staff/Executive Vice President.
• Serve as the University's primary coordinator for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), with responsibility for planning, compiling, validating, reconciling, certifying, and submitting all required IPEDS survey components accurately and by established deadlines.
• Maintain an annual IPEDS reporting calendar and coordinate data collection across Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management, the Registrar, Financial Aid, Human Resources, Finance, and other responsible offices to ensure timely and internally consistent institutional submissions.
• Conduct pre-submission validation and reconciliation of IPEDS data against Banner, audited or official institutional records, prior-year submissions, and other external reports; investigate material variances and document corrections, definitions, assumptions, and data sources.
• Maintain institutional IPEDS documentation, survey histories, data definitions, source files, validation records, and submission confirmations to support auditability, trend analysis, accreditation evidence, and continuity of reporting.
• Lead and coordinate required Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement ( ACTS ) reporting, including collection, validation, reconciliation, submission, and maintenance of supporting documentation; establish internal deadlines and work with responsible University offices to ensure complete, accurate, and timely reporting.
• Reconcile IPEDS, ACTS, and other mandated external reports to promote consistency in institutional definitions and reported figures, identify discrepancies before submission, and maintain a documented institutional source of truth for key data elements.
• Monitor changes to IPEDS, ACTS, and other federal, state, accreditor, and association reporting requirements; communicate changes to affected offices and revise institutional data-collection and reporting processes as necessary.
• Prepare institutional trend analyses, data summaries, dashboards, and executive reports using IPEDS, ACTS, and other official institutional data to support planning, benchmarking, accreditation, enrollment and retention analysis, and senior leadership and Board decision-making.
• Maintain a comprehensive institutional reporting calendar covering IPEDS, ACTS, accreditation, state and federal reporting, and other recurring external data obligations, with clear assignment of data owners, internal review dates, certification responsibilities, and submission deadlines.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Demonstrated knowledge of institutional research, institutional effectiveness, assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, and continuous-improvement practices in higher education.
• Ability to collect, validate, analyze, interpret, and clearly communicate quantitative and qualitative data to varied audiences.
• Strong knowledge of data integrity, reporting standards, documentation practices, and responsible stewardship of institutional information.
• Ability to translate institutional data and assessment findings into actionable information for planning, decision-making, and improvement.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple high-priority projects, deadlines, and reporting requirements simultaneously.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with demonstrated ability to prepare clear institutional reports, accreditation narratives, analyses, presentations, and executive-level materials.
• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with senior administrators, faculty, staff, committees, external agencies, and accrediting bodies.
• Proficiency with student information systems and institutional data tools; experience extracting and using data from Banner or a comparable SIS is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of federal and state higher-education reporting requirements and major institutional data collections is preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of IPEDS reporting requirements, survey components, definitions, data-validation procedures, and submission cycles; ability to reconcile IPEDS data across institutional systems and functional areas.
• Demonstrated ability to manage ACTS reporting requirements and other recurring external institutional data submissions, including establishing reporting calendars, coordinating data owners, validating submissions, and maintaining auditable supporting documentation.
• Advanced ability to identify and resolve discrepancies among institutional datasets and external reports and to establish consistent data definitions, documentation, and quality-control procedures.

Minimum Qualifications
• Master's degree in educational research, assessment, program evaluation, institutional research, higher education, or a closely related field required; doctorate preferred.
• Progressively responsible professional experience in institutional research, institutional effectiveness, assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, or related higher-education functions.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple projects and coordinating the work of individuals or teams responsible for institutional initiatives.
• Experience with data extraction, analysis, reporting, and interpretation in a higher-education environment.
• Experience with Banner or a comparable student information system.
• Experience with regional/institutional accreditation processes, preferably the Higher Learning Commission, is strongly preferred.
• Direct experience preparing, validating, and submitting IPEDS reports is strongly preferred; experience with ACTS reporting and comparable federal, state, accreditor, or association reporting systems is also strongly preferred.
• A background screening will be required.

All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. The University does not sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas for this position.