APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process (https://pennstateoffice365.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/KnowledgeBaseArticlesSharing/EfiwgKReZ4VAjprFZPKWUm0Bq_sU3KzTmERfpryq0esPKQ) . Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• CURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, please login to Workday to complete the student application process. (https://pennstateoffice365.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/KnowledgeBaseArticlesSharing/Eeys15Xva4hFokHVtbP1eGIB5i1WFLc-J3k9KHgrFYZ7mg) Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• If you are NOT a current employee or student, please click “Apply” and complete the application process for external applicants (https://hr.psu.edu/sites/hr/files/Application_Process_for_External_Applications_Non-Penn_State_Employees_.pdf) .

JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

The Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR) is the nexus of research, accreditation, assessment, and strategic planning that supports individual unit endeavors towards organizational excellence by making institutional data and strategic information easily accessible, clearly understood, and well-leveraged both within Penn State and across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Assistant Director of Assessment Research is an integral part of the assessment team in OPAIR. The team is a highly collaborative and dynamic group that oversees the University’s assessment process and a variety of institutional effectiveness studies. They serve as a resource for design, analysis, reporting, interpretation, and presentation of organizational and assessment studies.

The successful candidate will possess knowledge of, or a strong desire to learn about, current trends and issues related to student learning assessment, current and innovative practices in the development and assessment of institutional effectiveness, and current theory and practice in higher education research. The successful candidate will also have proven ability to design research, data collection and analysis plans, processes, and systems; identify analytical methods and integrate appropriate assessments to inform strategic initiatives.

This position reports to the Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment. The location of this position is flexible with options to be fully remote from most U.S. states, fully in-person at our University Park Campus, or in a hybrid model of both in-person and remote. Standard working hours are in the eastern time zone.

The Assistant Director for Assessment Research will:

• Design, produce, and present academic program assessment and institutional effectiveness research to a variety of audiences, turning data into knowledge that can inform strategic initiatives and improve student outcomes.

• Establish and document processes and procedures for extracting, compiling, analyzing, and presenting data related to student success outcomes, academic program assessment and institutional effectiveness.

• Prepare oral and written reports, with a strong focus on data storytelling and visualization, for internal and external audiences.

• Participate in a collaborative team environment within OPAIR and work collaboratively with University stakeholders.

• Liaise with colleagues and represent the assessment team in the Institutional Research Group (IRIG), Power BI Community of Practice, ad hoc committees, task forces, and University-wide initiatives.

Education and experience:

Minimally requires a master’s degree or higher plus six years of experience in higher education, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required qualifications:

• Commitment to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion as demonstrated through past research and reports.

• Demonstrated ability to think creatively and innovatively to design studies that address complex strategic and operational issues.

• Experience extracting and manipulating data from a variety of enterprise systems.

• Expertise in basic statistics including sampling, descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency, and inferential statistics.

• Expertise in using statistical software including R to clean, format, analyze, and visualize complex data.

• Experience building reports and dashboards in Power BI or similar software.

• Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, problem solving, and time management skills, as well as attention to detail.

• Strong written, oral, and visual communication skills.

• Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and manage projects.

Preferred qualifications:

• A professional or educational background in learning outcomes assessment.

• Familiarity with the characteristics and structures of human resources, student, and learning data, as well as the systems that store them.

• Experience creating and implementing surveys.

• Experience using Python to automate tasks.

• Experience building surveys in Qualtrics or similar survey software.

Application instructions: For full consideration, please submit a resume and cover letter describing how your work experience and background fit the qualifications for this position.

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability in all of its forms. We embrace individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusion that supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverage the educational and institutional benefits of diversity in society and nature, and engage all individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusion as a core strength and an essential element of our public service mission.

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades is:

$68,200.00 - $102,300.00

Salary Structure (https://hr.psu.edu/current-employee/compensation/staff-salary-grades-and-leveling-matrix) - additional information on Penn State's job and salary structure.

CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS:

Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here (https://police.psu.edu/annual-security-reports) .

Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.

EEO IS THE LAW

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.

Federal Contractors Labor Law Poster (https://affirmativeaction.psu.edu/files/2022/01/Federal-Contractors-Labor-Law-Poster.pdf)

PA State Labor Law Poster

Affirmative Action (https://policy.psu.edu/policies/hr11)

Penn State Policies

Copyright Information (https://www.psu.edu/copyright-information)

Hotlines

University Park, PA