Universities of Wisconsin · 3 days ago
Director, Office of Assessment & Institutional Research
Milwaukee, WI
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$115K/yr - $130K/yr
6+ years expThe University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) is Wisconsin’s second-largest university, recognized for its dual mission of access and research. They are seeking a Director for the Office of Assessment & Institutional Research who will provide strategic leadership in institutional research, assessment, and data governance to support student success and institutional effectiveness.
Higher Education
Responsibilities
Provide vision and direction for OAIR’s institutional research, assessment, and data governance work
Lead the transition from static reporting toward modern, interactive, automated, and self-service data solutions
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on data-informed planning, policy, and institutional effectiveness
Advance a culture of assessment and continuous improvement across academic and administrative units
Represent UWM with UW System Administration and external agencies regarding official reporting and data policy
Oversee timely, complete, and accurate submissions for all state, federal, UW System, and accreditation reporting
Coordinate institutional responses to external data requests, surveys, and public accountability requirements
Ensure data integrity and adopt QA/QC processes to reduce errors and improve repeatability
Lead the development and interpretation of analytical studies on enrollment, retention, and graduation, student learning and success, academic program review and assessment, resource planning and instructional capacity analysis, strategic initiatives and university-level KPIs
Partner with academic and administrative units to design analyses that inform decision-making
Provide oversight and analytical support for unit budget preparation, monitoring, and resource planning in collaboration with Academic Affairs and campus partners
Oversee the development and maintenance of institutional dashboards and collaborate with data custodians and technical teams to shape and document institutional data definitions and semantic-layer structures
Collaborate with data custodians to improve data quality and reduce inconsistencies
Implement best practices in metadata, lineage, documentation, and data governance
Champion automation, reproducibility, and modernization of IR workflows
Provide leadership for campus-facing dashboards, reporting tools, and data portals
Ensure analytical products are accessible, visually clear, equity-aware, and designed for non-technical users
Improve data literacy across campus through trainings, workshops, and consultative support
Lead campus assessment operations, program review data support, and institutional learning outcomes work
Manage data collection and reporting to support regional accreditation (HLC) and discipline-specific accreditors
Partner with academic affairs leadership to embed assessment and continuous improvement practices
Supervise OAIR staff, fostering a collaborative, supportive, and growth-oriented work environment
Develop staff expertise in analytics, BI tools, assessment practices, and emerging technologies (e.g., AI)
Lead change management and cross-unit coordination to reduce institutional silos
Qualification
Required
Master's degree (or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience)
At least six years of progressive experience in institutional research, analytics, policy analysis, assessment, or related fields
Demonstrated experience extracting, analyzing, and interpreting data from large, complex datasets to inform evidence-based decision-making
Experience supervising professional staff
Experience developing data visualizations or dashboards using tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar
Experience communicating analytical findings to non-technical audiences, including senior leadership, to support strategic planning and student success
Experience working in institutional research or higher education assessment setting, contributing to initiatives that shape the future of the institution through data-driven insights and continuous improvement
Preferred
Deep knowledge of issues facing public urban research universities
Experience with student success research, enrollment modeling, and academic program assessment
Advanced expertise with SQL, Python, R, SAS, or data-manipulation tools
Proficiency designing and deploying dashboards in Power BI and/or similar BI platforms
Demonstrated success improving data governance, quality, or cross-unit data alignment
Experience with data warehousing concepts, semantic modeling, and automation of data workflows
Strong understanding of accreditation processes, assessment of student learning, and program review
Ability to lead collaborative processes and foster shared ownership in decentralized environments
Experience leveraging modern technologies—including automation, API pipelines, and responsible AI applications—to enhance efficiency, data quality, and institutional insight
Experience working within a R1 research university environment
Familiarity with QS and other international ranking methodologies and their implications for institutional strategy
Evidence of excellent organizational, communication, and change-management skills
Company
Universities of Wisconsin
13 universities. 1 mission. To make Wisconsin...Future Ready. For All.
10001+ employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$7MKey Investors
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
2019-01-01Grant· $7M
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