Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness

Overview and Responsibilities

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota is seeking candidates who are eager to contribute to its Lasallian Catholic mission of awakening, nurturing, and empowering learners to ethical lives of service and leadership. We invite individuals to help transform lives through education, inspired by the Catholic Intellectual Tradition’s quest to understand the human experience through faith and reason and its embrace of all who are dedicated to learning from one another through authentic conversations in search of the truth. We are especially interested in and give preference to candidates who demonstrate a vision to create and nurture initiatives that will advance our mission within the scope of their duties and who will foster a culture of dialogue that, with respect for all people, supports the search for meaning and purpose in pursuit of excellence.

Job Summary

The AVP oversees a program of institutional effectiveness designed to support the mission of the university, to promote continuous improvement, and to inform decision-making and planning. The AVP works with university leadership to ensure quality in alignment with institutional mission, the strategic plan and strategic objectives. The AVP actively builds and facilitates a culture of evidence and continuous quality improvement and contributes knowledge of evaluation and improvement approaches based on best practices. The AVP supervises the areas and staff of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, which includes accreditation and compliance, data analytics, institutional research, and assessment of student learning functions, and staff of those areas. The AVP serves as the Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission, working closely with the vice president of academic affairs and the president to manage that relationship.

This position may be filled at either the Winona or Minneapolis campus.

Salary Range: $80k - $95k

Main Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and lead a system of institutional effectiveness planning, evaluation, and reporting for academic and non-academic units to measure progress toward university objectives; work with units to provide support for the development, discussion and analysis of improvement metrics
• Manage a data governance program in collaboration with data governance and technology planning committee; chair the data governance council made up of primary data stewards.
• Develop new ways to provide and communicate data to university decision-makers, including developing and improving data analytics capability, providing meaningful data visualizations, and developing dashboards
• Serve as the Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission; coordinate reaccreditation processes; review all change requests and report submissions; complete all required notifications on program changes; complete annual institutional update; serve as the subject matter expert to the university community on institutional accreditation
• Serve as the primary contact for academic compliance to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, NC-SARA, Illinois Board of Higher Education, Colorado Commission on Higher Education; collaborates on Department of Education submissions, as required; assure compliance with regulatory requirements and quality expectations; complete required annual registrations and reporting
• Support institutional research and analysis activities, including the oversight and/or development of surveys and other methods of data collection, in conjunction with relevant departments and the IRB, to ensure consistency in the analysis and use of survey data across university departments

Other Duties & Responsibilities

• Manage processes and cycles of assessment and academic program review
• Cooperate in specialty accreditation program submissions, reporting requirements and visits.
• Participate on the institutional committees and other workgroups as needed
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned or requested.

Qualifications

Experience and Education Requirements

• Knowledge and application of evaluation and continual improvement principles, tools and best practices in higher education
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research methods and design, data collection, statistical analysis and reporting skills, including ability to tailor reports to a variety of stakeholder audiences; demonstrated ability to interpret and disseminate institutional data
• Excellent interpersonal and oral communication skills, including ability to communicate complex issues to a variety of internal and external audiences, with emphasis on translating data into meaningful and actionable plans
• Ability to build relationships and work productively with faculty and staff from across an organization
• Strong computer skills and fluency in a variety of job-related software programs
• Superb writing skills
• Excellent organization skills, self-direction, and the ability to work both independently as well as leading a team
• Attention to detail and high degree of accuracy in all work products; ability to work in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, and respond rapidly to change 
• Ability to apply systems thinking to complex issues

Essential Knowledge & Skills

• Master’s degree required from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning required; doctorate preferred.
• Commitment to innovative, authentic and practical evaluation and improvement efforts
• Proven experience in the design, organization and management of complex projects
• A record of successful service leading an organizational unit, committees and shared governance groups
• A minimum of 5 years of experience with institutional accreditation 
• A minimum of 7 years of leadership experience in higher education; knowledge of higher education operations and best practices in evaluation

Physical Demands

• Sedentary work. Sedentary work involves lifting no more than 10 pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying articles like docket files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary job is defined as one which involves sitting, a certain amount of walking and standing is often necessary in carrying out job duties. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required occasionally and other sedentary criteria are met.

Physical Hazards – Health and Safety Concerns

• General office environments
• Ergonomics
• Noise

Application Requirements

Apply online at https://www.smumn.edu/about/offices-services/human-resources/employment-opportunities/ and include a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota believes inclusion and human dignity contributes to a robust academic and work environment and is critical to achieving the University's mission in an increasingly diverse society. Individuals with expertise and diverse skills from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The successful candidate must support, respect, and advance the mission of Saint Mary's University as a Lasallian Catholic institution.

Saint Mary’s offers a comprehensive benefit package including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, flexible spending, retirement pension plan, and both undergraduate and graduate tuition remission plans.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.