Applied Data Scientist: Student Success & AI Ethics

James Madison University; Harrisonburg (VA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

James Madison University’s Student Academic Success Analytics team seeks a Data Scientist to turn student-success data into ethical, actionable evidence that improves learner outcomes. This hybrid role in Harrisonburg, VA focuses on applied analytics and research, partnering across campus to enable data-informed decisions, including responsible exploration of AI in workflows.

The role emphasizes collaboration, data privacy, and equity across student populations and uses statistical methods to

Qualifications

• MS in a quantitative field.
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one programming language (Python or R).
• Experience using statistical methods to manage data and generate insights from large datasets.
• Ability to communicate results with visualizations and reports.
• Awareness of data privacy, ethics, and collaborative work.

Responsibilities

• Analyze student-success data to produce actionable insights for early success teams.
• Design descriptive, predictive, and possibly causal analyses with documented assumptions.
• Communicate results via visualizations, presentations, and reports.
• Collaborate across campus on data governance, privacy, and ethics.
• Explore responsible uses of generative AI in analytics workflows.

Skills

SQL

Python

R

Data visualization

Open data ethics

Education

MS in Statistics, CS, OR, Math, Finance, or other quantitative discipline

PhD in Statistics, CS, OR, Math, Physics, Finance, or other quantitative discipline

Tools

Generative AI

Relational and non-relational databases

Job description

James Madison University’s Student Academic Success Analytics team seeks a Data Scientist to turn student-success data into ethical, actionable evidence that improves learner outcomes. This hybrid role in Harrisonburg, VA focuses on applied analytics and research, partnering across campus to enable data-informed decisions, including responsible exploration of AI in workflows.

The role emphasizes collaboration, data privacy, and equity across student populations and uses statistical methods to