Director of Institutional Assessment and Effectiveness

University of St. Thomas

Office of Academic Affairs

The University of St. Thomas, (www.stthom.edu), a private Catholic university located in Houston, Texas is seeking a high energy, experienced professional to serve as Director of Institutional Assessment and Effectiveness. This position reports to the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Director of Institutional Assessment and Effectiveness will play a key role in leading the university to achieve its objectives as an institution of higher education committed to the liberal arts and to the religious and intellectual tradition of the Catholic faith. The Director will provide the effective leadership needed in the generation, analysis and dissemination of academic and administrative data for use in planning, policy-formulation, decision making, and budgeting to ensure that there is reliable evidence that the University and all academic and administrative units achieve the objectives required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Plays a leading role in all activities related to compliance with the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation, including preparing for reaffirmation and developing the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).
• Provide expert consultation to academic and administrative units on outcomes articulation and assessment, research methodology, data management, and data analysis and interpretation for their own programs of self-study, planning and assessment activities.
• Assists in developing and implementing academic assessment efforts including the core curriculum, program reviews, and outcome assessment plans.
• Direct the development and implementation of UST and national academic surveys.
• Ensure all accreditation reports are completed as required and submitted in a timely
• Design or identify, collect and maintain university-wide assessment results, analyzing and interpreting data to support evidence-based decision making.
• Supervise the staff of the Office of Institutional Assessment and Effectiveness, including staff that work on grant-related assessment projects.
• Conduct special studies as requested by senior leadership of the University.

Experience and Requirements:

• Minimum five years' experience directly involved and managing an academic assessment and effectiveness function including the design and implementation of planning, research, and other related activities.
• Demonstrated thorough knowledge of SACSCOC requirements including experience with compliance certification and the development of a QEP.
• Demonstrated knowledge of statistical software (such as SPSS) with proficient quantitative and analytical skills.
• Demonstrates a strong attention to detail.
• Experience with on-line survey, evaluation, and assessment tools.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively utilize integrated databases and spreadsheets such as Excel and Access.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills as well strong organizational and interpersonal skills,
• Demonstrated effective presentation skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage a complex set of projects with tight deadlines and priorities with a sense of urgency.
• Demonstrates a familiarity with current trends in general education assessment, planning, and implementation.
• Documented experience working effectively with faculty, staff, and administrators.
• Demonstrated ability to embrace, uphold, and support the University's stated mission.

Education:

• Master's degree in program evaluation and measurement or a related field required, PhD preferred.

Interested candidates must provide a comprehensive resume and cover letter, and three professional references. With their cover letter, candidates should also submit a statement demonstrating a firm commitment to advance the mission of Catholic higher education as it is articulated in Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Applicants should read Ex Corde closely and consider the following questions:

How does the vision outlined in Ex Corde Ecclesiae reflect your understanding of (1) the nature of the human person, (2) the integration of faith, reason, and the integration of the branches of knowledge, (3) confidence in the knowability of truth about nature, the human person, and God, (4) the essential characteristics of a Catholic university, and (5) the relation between the university and the Church.

The University of St. Thomas is committed to hiring staff who can help it not only fulfill its integrated mission - the formation of the whole person for flourishing in this life and the next - but also advance it in new ways. The University's Catholic identity is the center of this mission, a Catholicism expressed for our own age by the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope St. John Paul II's Ex Corde Ecclesiae. The University asks all candidates applying for this position to consider these documents to ensure their professional goals and practices can align with them. While applicants need not be Catholic, they must be able to support the University as it seeks to be faithful to and embody the riches of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

The University of St. Thomas is an Equal Opportunity Employer