Summary Statement
An incumbent provides strategic leadership for student success initiatives and the Office of Research and Analytics, delivering data-informed insights that advance equitable student outcomes, academic planning, regulatory reporting, and institutional decision-making.
Nature and Scope
The incumbent reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and leads strategic initiatives to advance equitable student outcomes and institutional student success priorities. The position provides leadership for the Office of Research and Analytics, overseeing external regulatory and accreditation reporting and directing research and analysis that inform academic planning, enrollment management, program review, and institutional decision-making. The incumbent supports continuous improvement and innovation efforts across the College and serves as the institution’s primary liaison to national student success networks and thought leaders. The role collaborates closely with Academic Affairs, Finance, Information Technology, Instructional Design and Technology, Business Services, the Registrar, and Institutional Effectiveness to provide data-informed guidance for policy, planning, budgeting, and decision-making.
Principal Accountabilities
1. Provide leadership and vision for the College’s student success framework, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities, equity commitments, and emerging trends.
2. Oversee the Office of Research & Analytics, establishing data governance standards and ensuring the integrity, accuracy, reliability, and ethical use of institutional data, including accessible reporting tools and actionable insight to support strategic decision-making.
3. Ensure accurate data, analysis, and reports are maintained in College information systems and provide guidance to College staff for system changes to maintain data integrity.
4. Lead cross-campus student success strategy development, including coordination with academic affairs, student affairs, advising, faculty leadership, and operational departments.
5. Serve as the primary institutional liaison to national and state reform organizations, representing the Office of Research and Analytics and the interests of the College in working with other higher education institutions, the State of Delaware, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, federal and state agencies, and other stakeholders.
6. Provide expertise in and oversight of the design, administration, analysis, and reporting of internal and external research instruments. Develops and designs surveys to collect student and stakeholder feedback. Analyze reports and make recommendations based on results.
7. Support planning and assessment processes, which include overseeing, producing, and maintaining data for Mission Goal Assessment, the College website, and internal reports available to faculty, staff, and administrators on the portal.
8. Coordinate implementation, monitoring, and refinement of transformational student success initiatives.
9. Direct development and monitoring of key student success performance indicators, including but not limited to recruitment, retention, progression, equity gap analysis, and completion outcomes.
10. Lead professional learning communities and faculty/staff capacity-building focused on data-informed, evidence-based strategies for continuous improvement including timely interventions for curriculum enhancements and content delivery.
11. Oversee compliance and external reporting obligations, including accreditation support, IPEDS and federal/state reporting, financial aid data, and grant-funded initiatives.
12. Provide executive-level guidance and interpretation of institutional research and analytics for senior leadership, preparing and delivering high-impact reports, dashboards, and executive presentations to Board of Trustees, President’s Council, and other internal audiences.
13. Manage project timelines, budgets, and resource allocation for student success strategies, ensuring responsible stewardship and alignment with institutional priorities.
14. Supervise and mentor the Office of Research and Analytics team, fostering collaboration, professional development, and a high-performance culture.
15. Champion a collegewide culture of data-informed practice, including responsible use of predictive analytics, equity-focused evaluation, and transparent communication of findings.
16. Monitor national policy trends, research, and innovation in student success, including efforts at peer institutions, to advise senior leadership on strategic implications, competitive positioning, and future initiative development.
17. Performs other related duties as required.
Knowledge Skills and Abilities
- Knowledge of strategic student success leadership and instructional planning.
- Knowledge of effective higher education institutional research practices and data sources.
- Knowledge of current higher education issues and challenges.
- Knowledge of the relationship between the Office of Research and Analytics’ function and organizational operations and requirements.
- Knowledge of advanced statistical analysis and data management, including relational database systems (SQL, PL/SQL, Oracle) and statistical software packages (R, SAS, SPSS, Stata, and Excel) to conduct analysis and generate reports to support decision-making.
- Knowledge of evaluation and measurement techniques including survey design and analysis.
- Skill in project leadership and coordination in change management for student-centered strategies.
- Skill in high-stakes compliance and external reporting.
- Skill in the collection, analysis, and presentation of data from a variety of sources.
- Skill in oral and written communication.
- Skill in the interpretation and application of applicable federal and state laws and College policy.
- Proficiency in the use of learning management systems (LMS), student information systems (SIS), and other trending technology.
- Proficiency in the use of word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software programs to create presentation materials (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Power BI).
- Proficiency in using artificial intelligence and understanding its ethical and appropriate use related to data.
- Ability to supervise staff, work independently, and with others in a team approach.
- Ability to use sound judgment and reach logical conclusions.
- Ability to identify and analyze issues, assess their impact, and make recommendations.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with College/campus administrators, supervisors, employees, and the public.
- Ability to effectively communicate sophisticated data analysis and complex conclusions in writing and orally in a clear and concise manner to non-technical and diverse end-users.
- Ability to effectively communicate and relate to a diverse population in a multicultural environment.
Minimum Qualifications
- Master’s degree required; Doctorate preferred in higher education leadership, analytics, or a related field.
- Five (5+) years of progressively responsible experience in higher education research, student success strategy, analytics, and/or leadership.
(Rev. 7/1/2026)