Assistant Director, Academic Success

The University of Rhode Island; Kingston (RI); On-site; USD 70,000 - 77,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Rhode Island invites applications for the Assistant Director, Academic Success in Kingston, RI. This calendar-year, full-time role reports to the Retention and Academic Success Center and focuses on analyzing student retention, persistence, and graduation data to inform interventions.

The role uses platforms like Power BI, Starfish, and the student information system to report trends, create dashboards, and present findings to campus stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Master's degree required in higher education or related field.
• Minimum five years of experience in data analysis and reporting in education or similar setting.
• Proficiency with statistical software and BI tools.
• Experience with data visualization and reporting platforms.

Responsibilities

• Analyze data on student retention, progress, and graduation.
• Develop reports, dashboards, and data-informed recommendations.
• Collaborate with campus offices to support student success initiatives.
• Provide training on data tools and analytics to staff.
• Monitor data quality and ensure data integrity across systems.

Skills

Data analysis

Communication skills

Collaboration

Project management

Education

Master's degree in higher education or related field

Tools

R

Python

SQL

Power BI

Job description

80 Lower College Road, Kingston, RI 02881

Position Information

Posting Number: SF02222

Job Title: Assistant Director, Academic Success

Position Number: 109959

FTE: 1.00

FLSA: Exempt

Position Type: Professional Staff

Union: PSA/NEA - Professional Staff Assoc

Pay Grade Range Salary Hiring Range: $70,000 - $77,000

Status: Calendar Year, Full-time, Limited

Department Information

Department: Retention and Academic Success Center

Campus Location

Kingston

Grant Funded

No

Position is full-time calendar year, limited to 06/26/2027 with anticipated renewal.

Job Description Summary

Search will be open until filled. First consideration will be given to applications received by 10/14/2026. Applications received after 10/14/2026 may be reviewed depending on search progress and needs but are not guaranteed full consideration.

The University of Rhode Island enrolls approximately 17,000 students across its graduate and undergraduate programs and is the State’s flagship public research university, as well as the land grant and sea grant university, for the state of Rhode Island. The main campus is located in the historic village of Kingston, and the Bay Campus is located in Narragansett. Both campuses are near major beaches in a beautiful coastal community. URI is just 30 minutes from Providence, RI and within easy reach of Newport, Boston, and New York City.

POSITION SUMMARY

Work collaboratively with faculty and staff, to ensure an accurate and holistic collection and utilization of data related to student retention, persistence, and graduation. Utilize student success platforms to analyze and collect data. Report on academic success metrics related to student retention and persistence, early alert referrals and success coach efforts, impacts of tutoring, writing and academic skills consultation, academic success courses, academic advising, and student-athlete support services. Monitor barriers to academic success data and share themes, outcomes, and trends with the campus community through reports and presentations. directing and assigning interventions to the appropriate personnel, as necessary.

Duties and Responsibilities

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the data collection and analysis needs for the Academic Enhancement Center, Retention and Academic Success Center, Exploratory Studies Center and Student-Athlete Support Services units in the Fannon Institute for Student Success.
• Triage barriers to academic success and direct student alerts to appropriate campus personnel for interventions and student success solutions.
• Use predictive analytics to develop risk factors for student persistence at the individual and aggregate level. Partner with each member of the Fannon Institute leadership team to recommend interventions based on patterns and themes in the data.
• Maintain the learning block builder utilized for batch enrollment of new students. Make recommendations for streamlining the enrollment tracking process using more advanced systems. Partner with colleagues in the Fannon Institute, New Student Transitions, Enrollment Services, and degree colleges to deliver up to date information to support campus-wide advising efforts in preparation of the orientation program.
• Develop a culturally responsive support framework centered around the care and well‑being of vulnerable student populations.
• Monitor campus‑wide student progress towards graduation; extract, analyze, and report on student trends utilizing available databases and resources (e.g., Starfish, student success platforms, transfer evaluation solution, learning management system, student information system, tutor scheduling platform.
• Collaborate with the Office of Institutional Research for Retention and student success data and communicate or report on Fannon Institute for Student Success outcomes to all impacted campus stakeholders.
• Perform data collection and analysis, and develop written and verbal presentations, reporting strategies and dashboards to share retention and academic success career and experiential data insights for use in decision‑making opportunities.
• Make formal and informal presentations, infographics, and reports (including campus‑wide annual report and degree college specific reports) on findings to the leadership or other internal and external campus members.
• Empower faculty and staff through training opportunities on student success interventions and initiativetaking advising alongside the Executive Director of Student Success.
• Monitor functionality of retention software and implement project roadmap strategies to enhance intervention opportunities.
• Report on campus usage of retention software tools and develop strategies to increase utilization.
• Work closely with the Office of Institutional Research, IT, Enrollment Services, Undergraduate Admission, and other relevant offices to ensure data health and data feed connections to ensure robust and holistic data analysis and data informed strategy development.
• Develop the Fannon Institute data lake structure to facilitate seamless data integration through close collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research, IT, Enrollment Services, Undergraduate Admission, and other relevant offices to ensure data health and data feed connections, robust and holistic data analysis, and data informed strategy development.
• Actively participate in Student Success and Equity meetings and initiatives.
• Serve on cross‑departmental teams for selected initiatives to further student success and engagement (e.g., Student Success Team, etc.).
• Continue professional development and scholarly activity in the fields of academic and career advising, and early alert and academic support, to maintain knowledge of best practices, benchmarks, and trends.
• Provide benchmarking, analysis, and modeling assistance to Fannon Institute and campus partners in support of student success efforts.
• Serve on university‑wide committees as needed.
• Propose and utilize new analytical tools and technologies (data mining, data visualization, statistical modeling) where appropriate.
• Ensure data integrity and reconcile data discrepancies in cooperation with units throughout the university.
• Help identify barriers to academic success in the curriculum and work to define or design make recommendations on resources to overcome said barriers and create equitable access.
• Support the data collection and analysis efforts related to academic intervention programs and initiatives (e.g., Level Up! math intervention program).
• Lead the process for updating and maintaining the data included on the Major side of the Major to Career webpages.
• Provide direction and support for the Fannon Institute leadership team on data collection and analysis efforts. Serve as the point of contact for academic success metrics. Research and implement technology and tools to support institutional assessment related to academic success.
• Assists Fannon leadership in the development of strategic focus and goals by developing processes, policies, and procedures to enhance assessment culture. Develop and implement procedures to ensure services and programs deliver on institutional objectives.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Perform other duties as assigned.

LICENSES , TOOLS , AND EQUIPMENT

• Personal computers and printers; Microsoft and Google office suites. R/RStudio. Microsoft Power BI. PeopleSoft.

Required Qualifications

• 1. Master's degree in higher education, educational leadership, or related field.
• 2. Minimum five years of experience in data analysis and reporting in education or similar setting.
• 3. Demonstrated experience with statistical and programming software (e.g., R/Tidyverse, Python, SQL , PowerQuery).
• 4. Demonstrated experience with data visualization software and techniques and business intelligence tools (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau, Excel, etc.).
• 5. Demonstrated familiarity with database management software.
• 6. Demonstrated experience with basic data collection analysis, platforms, and report creation and sharing.
• 7. Demonstrated strong verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• 8. Demonstrated proficiency in written communication skills.
• 9. Demonstrated organizational skills.
• 10. Demonstrated attention to detail.
• 11. Demonstrated experience and dedication to integrating issues of inclusion, equity, and social justice in your work.
• 12. Demonstrated ability to work with diverse groups/populations.

Preferred Qualifications

• 1. Demonstrated experience using Google platforms, including Google Apps Script.
• 2. Demonstrated experience with programming languages (e.g., Java, Python).
• 3. Demonstrated familiarity with student information systems (e.g. PeopleSoft).
• 4. Demonstrated ability to work with personnel at all levels of campus.
• 5. Demonstrated conflict management skills.
• 6. Demonstrated experience using marketing platforms (i.e. Canva).
• 7. Demonstrated experience working with higher education student data and reporting (e.g. IPEDS ).
• 8. Demonstrated experience with web content management systems (e.g. Wordpress).

EEO Statement

URI is unwavering in its commitment to equal opportunity, community, equity, and diversity. In furtherance of its mission to serve and support all learners as the state’s public flagship university, URI continues to expand efforts to recruit and retain a broadly representative workforce as well as to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of those efforts. All employment decisions, including hiring, are made without regard to protected status. Qualified individuals with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation by contacting the URI benefits office at 401-874-2416. For TTY assistance, contact R.I. Relay Services at 711.

Environmental Conditions

This position is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Posting Date

09/30/2026