Assessment Specialist

Strategic Education; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Strategic Education is seeking an Assessment Specialist to lead the collection and analysis of learning outcomes and program data for institutional improvement. The role partners with leaders and faculty to influence evaluative culture using data to strengthen academic quality.

The ideal candidate will have experience in higher education assessment, accreditation support, and the ability to communicate findings clearly to diverse stakeholders while advancing continuous improvement goals across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related field required.
• Minimum 2–3 years related work experience in higher education.
• Experience with assessment, accreditation, and institutional effectiveness preferred.
• Ability to communicate effectively with leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Willingness to travel occasionally.

Responsibilities

• Aggregate, analyze and interpret outcome results to inform continuous improvement.
• Facilitate use of learning outcomes data with academic leaders to improve curriculum and program performance.
• Partner with stakeholders to convert ideas into actionable and measurable projects.
• Collaborate with academic and organizational leaders to develop learning outcomes assessment plans.
• Support accreditation efforts through development and maintenance of assessment cycles and documentation.
• Influence data-driven evaluative culture by implementing assessment initiatives at multiple institutional levels.
• Apply ethical data practices to safeguard data collection and analysis and present findings ethically.
• Develop tools, processes, templates, and training to improve assessment processes.
• Evaluate and make recommendations on assessment instruments and practices.
• Represent assessment expertise on program review teams and committees.
• Share standards-based assessment practices with teams and partners.

Skills

Data analysis

Data visualization

Stakeholder comms

Project management

Academic assessment

Educational data

Qualtrics

Tableau

Power BI

Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

Qualtrics

Tableau

Power BI

Excel

Job description

The Assessment Specialist facilitates the acquisition and analysis of learning outcomes and program performance data for continuous improvement. The specialist is the learning outcome data expert who provides learning outcomes reports and evidence of data credibility. The specialist also supports and administers assessment quality initiatives related to accreditation and institutional effectiveness. This role works with various stakeholders across the organization, including leaders and practitioners, to create and influence the evaluative culture by obtaining and using learning outcomes data and program data sources in support of academic quality improvement and institutional goals.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Aggregate, analyze and interpret outcome results to present data expert judgments and recommend actions for continuous improvement.
• Facilitate the use of learning and program outcomes data (e.g., persistence, graduation rate, professional advancement, program competitiveness, etc.) with academic leaders and faculty to improve curriculum, instruction, and program performance.
• Partner with stakeholders to convert ideas into actionable and measurable projects.
• Collaborate with academic and organizational leaders to develop and support learning outcomes assessment plans.
• Support accreditation efforts through development and maintenance of the assessment and program review cycles and documentation.
• Influence the data-driven evaluative culture by assisting in developing and implementing assessment initiatives at all institutional levels (e.g., university-level, degree-level, school-level, program-level, and course-level) to augment academic quality and effectiveness.
• Apply ethical data practices to safeguard data collection and analysis and present findings in accordance with ethical standards.
• Develop tools, processes, templates, and training of best practices to drive and contribute to the improvement and efficiency of assessment and program evaluation processes.
• Evaluate and make recommendations concerning assessment instruments and practices (e.g., test item analysis and assessment design).
• Represent organizational assessment and program review expertise serving on academic program review teams, other committees and workgroups as assigned.
• Share standards-based assessment practices and serve as a consultant for teams and partners on instructionally- and practically-sound assessment solutions.
• Stay abreast of trends in assessment of student learning, learning design, and delivery.

Job Skills:

• Proven ability to communicate effectively, persuasively, and professionally, both verbally and in writing, with leadership, cross- functional teams, and both internal and external audiences.
• Ability to establish professional, effective, trusted relationships with stakeholders in a collaborative virtual working environment.
• Ability to adapt to a professional culture that combines the traditions of higher education with the innovation of a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment and excel at learning new things quickly and comprehensively under tight deadlines.
• Strong organization and management skills to proactively manage and prioritize projects and activities with firm deadlines.
• Experience with gathering and manipulating data (e.g., creating data visualizations) and willingness to learn data tools, such as Qualtrics, Tableau, Power BI, or Excel.
• Demonstrated understanding of data reporting and sufficient capacity in data analysis and research skills.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Commitment to continuous learning and developing both quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills.
• The willingness to jump in and learn new tools and processes and take on new responsibilities.
• Working knowledge of distance learning trends in design, delivery, and evaluation.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 2-3 years related work experience in higher education
• Preferred experience in higher educational assessment, curriculum, instructional design, and/or university-level teaching.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in related field required

Other:

• Must be able to travel occasionally should a business need arise. For most roles travel would not be common. Travel may involve plane, car or metro. In accordance with ADA policies, reasonable accommodations regarding travel limitations can be provided. Travel will be more common for roles such as Account Executives (25 - 50%), senior leaders (10 - 20%) or Capella Core Faculty (5 - 10%).
• Ability to work onsite in Corporate or Campus location (in a typical office environment) may be required based on role. If so, this would include being mobile within the office, including movement from floor-to-floor using elevators or stairs.
• If offsite or hybrid role, must have access to work in setting which enables meeting all requirements of the role (including privacy, reliable internet access, phone, ability to video conference, etc.) at a remote location.
• Faculty and Federal Work Stud