Director, Institutional Effectiveness
Department: Institutional Planning and Assessment
FTE: 1.0 FTE
Status: Permanent
Competition No.: 13081-E
Salary Information: The salary range is $82,761 to $136,503 per annum (Leadership, Phase 2). The starting salary will be commensurate with education and experience.
Primary Purpose:
The Director, Institutional Effectiveness, provides senior leadership for the
university in the identification, development, implementation, and ongoing
evaluation of institutional metrics, key performance indicators and reports in
support of the university’s objectives, including quality assurance and
accountability.
The Director champions the university’s framework for assessment including the Achievement Record, key performance indicators and metrics, national and international benchmarks and comparators, and assessments of program, unit or function performance against goals and plans.
As assessment initiatives become more integral to the university, the Director provides leadership in developing and supporting institution-wide understanding and application of institutional effectiveness/assessment/accountability initiatives to a variety of activities.
The Director oversees the university’s quality assurance and accountability frameworks and is expected to carry out the following activities/roles:
- Presents to and consults with various senior University committees in the development and ongoing maintenance of the University’s Framework for Assessment: Beyond Systematic Program Review. The committees include (but are not limited to) the Provost’s Committee on Integrated Planning (PCIP), the Planning and Priorities and Academic Programs Committees of University Council, and various administrative committees including Deans’ Council.
- On behalf of PCIP, oversees and adapts the Framework for Assessment for institution-wide quality assurance and accountability.
- Performs a general advisory role for senior management on assessment and quality assurance initiatives.
- Coordinates assessment and institutional effectiveness activities for the office of Institutional Planning and Assessment (IPA) with other offices within the senior administration and throughout the university and maintaining on-going communications regarding these initiatives and outcomes.
- Identifies exemplary practices in assessment and evaluation and facilitates the development of appropriate strategies.
- Serves as a resource and professional support to the Provost and PCIP, facilitating informed operational and strategic decision-making.
- Prepares information and decision items for PCIP and advises and assists Deans and administrative unit heads, as required, on the processes for evaluation initiatives (eg., Achievement Records, unit reviews).
- Serves as the alternate primary contact for the U15 Data Exchange for the University of Saskatchewan.
- Serves as a resource person for the University Council’s Academic Programs Committee.
The Director, Institutional Effectiveness, shares leadership accountability with the leadership team of the IPA and is responsible for leading a cross-functional, multi-talented, team of specialist professionals in assessment and evaluation techniques, processes, and applications.
Nature of Work: Reporting to the Assistant Provost, Institutional Planning and Assessment, the Director will work closely and collegially with the Provost and Vice-President Academic, the leadership team within the IPA, senior leaders of the university (Deans and Associate Vice-Presidents), and with government and other partners. The Director also works closely with the data warehouse group, ICT Data Services, to ensure that definitions and data are appropriately provisioned for multiple purposes.
The position is highly complex with a broad range of responsibilities requiring timely and innovative responses to shifts in policy and direction. The Director advises the university and PCIP regarding exemplary practices in higher education assessment and evaluation, with an emphasis on developing strategies to ensure institutional outcomes and plans. The Director works with qualitative and quantitative data to identify trends and patterns and communicates these to the university community.
Judgment, decision making, implementation and creating change are on a university wide basis. Projects and initiatives will be delegated by the Assistant Provost and have broad impact across the university. The work may be stressful given the high volume of work, tight deadlines and competing interests where priorities may shift. The Director must be able to negotiate boundaries and manage projects to positive outcomes. Working from a broad local and national perspective, the Director routinely addresses internal complexities affecting the delivery of service and deals with emerging and unpredictable events in a time-sensitive and efficient manner.
Accountabilities:
Planning
- Design comprehensive and inclusive evaluation tools/methods to measure the university’s progress towards meeting institution-wide goals and plans
- Development, implementation and oversight of initiatives closely linked to the Integrated Plan and to inform university-wide planning
- Conduct environmental scans of exemplary practices in evaluation and accountability and identify opportunities to introduce these to the university
Operational
- Lead, develop and plan policy and program development and assessment activities
- Establish, oversee, and evaluate appropriate benchmarks, performance
indicators, and metrics to assist in the long-term evaluation of the
university’s performance against its goals and plans
- Develop evaluation tools to provide recommendations on alignment and progress for programs across campus
- Leads the review of quality assurance processes at the University of Saskatchewan in collaboration with government (Quality Assurance Board)
- Design and utilize analytics to anticipate future trends and areas for institutional priority
- Implement and oversee the university approved assessment frameworks to measure the return on investment through outcomes of the college/unit plans
- Supervise and monitor institutional wide and unit/programs/functions evaluation processes
- Establish measures and processes to identify and quantify the return on investment of university resources arising from its plans and goals
- Act as university primary contact for U15 (top research intensive universities in Canada) data exchange
People Resources
- Contribute to overall success of the IPA as a leader and key member of its Leadership Team
- Create healthy, respectful, fun and productive work and learning environments
- Ensure the success of direct reports by providing mentorship, leadership, and guidance
- Ensure direct reports are aligned by holding people accountable for high standards of performance and outcomes
Qualifications:
Education: Minimum of a Master’s
degree in a related field and 8 to 10 years of experience in all functional
areas of institutional effectiveness (experience with significant statistical
background, survey design, program evaluation, design of evaluation tools,
quality assurance, institutional performance against goals and plans) with 5 to
10 years of increasing experience at a senior level. A doctoral degree would be an asset.
Experience: A breadth of generalist experience is preferred with some specialized expertise in one or more areas. Experience demonstrating the ability to lead people and influence decision-makers. Proven ability to think strategically and move strategy to execution, delivering on desired outcomes. Experience in project management practices and change management would be an asset. Must have experience in exemplary practice in these areas and has the ability to apply this knowledge and experience. A combination of education and experience may be considered for the position.
Skills: Professional judgment is used to review own and others’ work when providing expert counsel. A solid understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods and techniques is required along with the ability to relate specific outcomes to the overall emerging initiatives.
This position is exempt from a bargaining unit
Applications will be accepted until the
position is filled.
Inquiries regarding this
position can be directed to Lindsay Galpin at 966-2489.
Be sure to apply online as emailed applications will not be accepted.
The University of Saskatchewan is strongly committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace that empowers all employees to reach their full potential. All members of the university community share a responsibility for developing and maintaining an environment in which differences are valued and inclusiveness is practiced. The university welcomes applications from those who will contribute to the diversity of our community. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.
