JOB DESCRIPTION
POSITION TITLE:
Director, Institutional Research & Effectiveness
REPORTS TO:
Vice President for Mission
PRIMARY FUNCTION:
The Director of Institutional Research & Effectiveness (IR&E) oversees and coordinates the activities of
the IR&E office. The Director responds to external and internal requests for college data; aids the St.
Olaf leadership in evidence-based planning, decision-making, and public accountability by providing
appropriate institutional and national benchmarking data. The Director supports integration of
institutional information systems, data integrity, and appropriate access to data, as means of achieving
institutional effectiveness.
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:
1. Direct the institutional research and institutional effectiveness work of the college, overseeing staff
and budget for the IR&E office. Collaborate with the Registrar / Assistant Vice-President of
Academic Affairs for oversight of the work of the Associate Director of Educational Research &
Assessment (ER&A), as it relates to IR&E.
2. Analyze, summarize, and prepare reports on campus-wide surveys, selected archival institutional
data, and appropriate comparative national/peer group data, including collaboration with appropriate
staff on analysis and use of relevant data.
3. Communicate institutional data, reports, and information via the IR&E web site, as well as through
presentations and other electronic and/or written media.
4. Provide institutional and comparison benchmarking information to the St. Olaf leadership in support
of institutional planning; develop means of assessing progress towards institutional goals; and, when
appropriate, recommend actions based on institutional findings.
5. Prepare and submit responses to external and internal requests for college data and coordinate with
all offices that generate external reports or otherwise use institutional data.
6. Supervise the management of IR&E-administered surveys and other selected institutional data
collections.
7. Provide consultation and assistance on effective data collection and analysis, and use and
interpretation of institutional information, to St. Olaf offices and programs engaged in evaluation,
survey research and other forms of inquiry in support of institutional effectiveness.
8. Work with Information Technology staff and campus information managers to develop and maintain
policies and practices to ensure data integrity, facilitate the integration of information systems that
serve campus-wide analytic and reporting needs, and provide appropriate access to institutional
information.
9. Serve on the Institutional Review Board and manage the work of the as IRB as co-administrator.
10. Serve on the institutional Higher Learning Commission (HLC) reaffirmation of accreditation team.
Job Description: Director, IR&E, page 2
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Supervise the staff of the IR&E office, and provide work direction to student research assistants as
needed. Collaborate with the Registrar / Assistant Vice-President of Academic Affairs for oversight of
the Associate Director of ER&A’s work as it relates to IR&E.
CONTACTS:
Internal: Senior administration, deans, department heads, faculty and staff.
External: Professional organizations, survey and data collection administrators, other IR offices.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Essential:
Master's degree. Five years' experience in management information systems and institutional/educational
research in a higher education environment. Experience in organizing complex tasks, in written and oral
communication, and in working with minimal supervision.
Desirable:
Doctoral degree. Emphasis on policy, management information systems or institutional research.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES:
 Ability to clearly summarize quantitative issues for audiences with varied levels of numerical
literacy.
 Ability to organize raw data for public presentation in various forms (graphs, tables, words)
appropriate for various audiences.
 Knowledge of research design and analysis sufficient to oversee development of surveys and to
prepare analyses for diverse audiences.
 Ability to collaborate professionally with internal and external colleagues, effectively supervise staff,
and successfully oversee work and projects that span multiple areas of the college.
 Ability to maintain total confidentiality in working with college records.
 Intermediate to advanced skills in standard computer packages (word processing, spreadsheets,
relational databases), in web page design, in selected SaaS applications, and in transformations
among these several packages and systems.
PREREQUISITES:
Criminal background check
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
none
WORKING ENVIRONMENT:
normal office environment
WORK SCHEDULE:
FTE: 1.0 - full-time
Term: 12 months
APPROVAL:
Jo Beld, VP for Mission
DATE:
August 24, 2015