Job Information
Boston College Director, Assessment & Accreditation in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Boston College Introduction
Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students. Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.
Job Description
Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
The Director of Assessment and Accreditation's primary function will be to direct activities centering on assessment and accreditation in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development (LSEHD). This will involve the ongoing accreditation and approval procedures as specified by the state of Massachusetts Department of Education (MA DESE) as well as national accreditors (including the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC)). The Director of Accreditation and Assessment will have primary responsibility for developing a thorough understanding of the requirements of the accreditors and the state, the processes involved, and the materials needed.
The Director of Assessment and Accreditation supervises and works with graduate research assistants, administrative staff, and faculty to direct accreditation efforts, and program approval requirements and to continue the development and implementation of a system of ongoing assessment and accreditation. The ongoing accreditation and program approval processes depend heavily on the use of research findings and integrated efforts resulting from a variety of research agendas and grants within the LSEHD.
The Director of Assessment and Accreditation conceptualizes the LSEHD approach to accreditation, evaluates the adequacy of current assessments and evidence, develops all needed new assessments to meet accreditation and program approval standards, and organizes and oversees the transition and integration of research efforts and data collection.
In addition, the Director of Assessment and Accreditation oversees the work of faculty and staff from all five LSEHD departments in order to conduct internal audits and evaluations of current programming (Undergraduate, Master’s, Doctoral, and Certificate programs), write the required accreditation reports, organize and analyze evidence to support and document programmatic strengths, weaknesses, and needs, determine the validity and reliability of all evidence used, and guide the overall processes from initiation through final site visits and follow ups. These efforts include compiling data and writing reports for the Boston College Provost’s Office department reviews, and supporting the accrediting activities conducted by Boston College’s Provost’s Office for national accreditation with NECHE.
The Director of Assessment and Accreditation supervises and works in close collaboration with the Reporting and Systems Manager to meet the technical and operational needs of the LSEHD. This includes leading reporting initiatives, processing improvements through the introduction of new technology and applications, and partnering with ITS on University-wide technology implementations.
School-wide assessment efforts also fall under the responsibility of this office. The Director and his/her staff are responsible for designing, administering, analyzing, and reporting on a series of measures (e.g. surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations) administered to current students, alumni, employers of alumni, and faculty/staff. Regular monitoring and verification of student and alumni information (e.g. status, contact information, graduation clearance, results from comprehensive exams, employment) via multiple data systems and computer programs is required.
Full-Time Equivalent Hiring Range: $97,000 to $121,250; salary commensurate with relevant experience
Requirements
Ph.D. in Educational Research and Measurement or related field.
5+ years of research experience in education-related areas.
Excellent writing and presentation skills.
Advanced knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research and the ability to extract, properly summarize, interpret, and report data from large databases. Ability to apply appropriate methodology to research problems and data.
Documented experience in designing research and new assessment instruments and establishing reliability and validity.
Experience collecting data from a variety of populations (e.g. pupils, teacher candidates/graduates) and conducting primary- and secondary-data analyses.
Demonstrated success working as part of a team, staff management, and strong leadership skills.
Familiarity with teacher education, counseling and educational leadership accreditation and program approval processes, including the major accreditors that are nationally recognized (e.g. CAEP and/or AAQEP, CACREP and/or MPCAC and APA).
Advanced knowledge of the field of teacher education and higher education and its current trends related to assessment and evidence-driven policies and practices at state, regional, and national levels.
Experience writing research papers and publications in the field of education and assessment/measurement.
Ability to oversee senior staff members, faculty members at all levels, as well as graduate students and people as a team in order to write reports and meet deadlines.
Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated creativity in problem-solving.
Proficiency in data storage and analysis software (e.g., SPSS, STATA, Excel) and Microsoft Office (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, ACCESS).
Experience with relational database programming in SQL and business intelligence tools such as COGNOSor Tableau.
Experience with web-based survey tools (e.g., Qualtrics) to build and distribute surveys, collect responses, and analyze survey response data.
Experience in quantitative and qualitative instrumentation development and data analysis techniques, including, but not limited to, descriptive and inferential analyses, reliability and factor analyses, exploratory and confirmative model building, trend analysis, and content analysis.
Expertise in internal and external program evaluation at the K-20 levels.
Be able to view and understand the implications of the larger picture of the application of technology both within Information Technology and the University at large.
Identify and understand complex technology challenges and have the ability to collect and synthesize supporting data, present options, and recommend solutions.
Experience with analyzing business requirements to support the development or integration of new applications.
Closing Statement
Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:
Tuition remission for Employees
Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
Low-Cost Life Insurance
Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
Paid Holidays Annually
Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook
Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.
Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity .
Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination .
