Coordinator of Institutional Research and Effectiveness

Monday through Friday, day hours; evenings and weekends as needed for workshops, in-service days, and accreditation deadlines. This position serves all SVCC locations and is not restricted to a specific site. Telework options are subject to change based on business needs.

SVCC is located in a beautiful rural region renowned for its rolling hills, pine and hardwood forests, and farmland, and is home to two popular lakes: Gaston and Kerr. We offer a welcoming learning environment and are accredited to award associate degrees. The college offers a diverse range of programs, including developmental studies, academic, technical, and lifelong education. SVCC empowers students to build skills, knowledge, and leadership, preparing them to thrive in a changing society.

Thank you for considering employment with Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC). We are dedicated to attracting and retaining a talented workforce, which has earned us recognition as a Great College to Work For by The Chronicle of Higher Education for several consecutive years. Committed to ensuring equal educational opportunities for all students, SVCC values the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of our students, faculty, staff, and the communities we serve. For more information, please visit southside.edu

Ready to Lead Assessment, Strengthen Accreditation, and Turn Surveys and Data into Evidence That Improves Student Success?

Southside Virginia Community College is seeking an organized, collaborative, and data-savvy professional to serve as the Coordinator of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.

Reporting directly to the Director of Institutional Effectiveness in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Research, and Planning (IERP), this position leads the day-to-day work of assessment at the College. The Coordinator runs the annual assessment cycle for academic programs, general education, and administrative, academic support, and student support units, and helps faculty and staff write outcomes, choose measures, and use their results.

The Coordinator keeps the evidence the College needs for SACSCOC accreditation and for Aspire 2030: Pathways to Opportunities, the College’s strategic plan. The Coordinator also administers institutional surveys and course evaluations and reports their results, and uses SQL and Python to extract data, build datasets, and develop new reports. The Director maintains the College’s dashboards and recurring state and federal reporting, and the Coordinator serves as the Director’s backup on that work.

This position serves all Southside Virginia Community College campuses, centers, and instructional locations and works with confidential student records protected by FERPA. It offers an opportunity to shape how a growing community college measures and improves student learning. This is a highly engaged position for a professional who enjoys working with faculty, turning data into clear answers, and seeing projects through to completion.

Cover letter and Resume are not required but are encouraged.

Core responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinate the annual assessment cycle for academic programs, general education, and administrative, academic support, and student support units in Watermark Planning & Self-Study, including building plans, managing user access and templates, setting Phase I (plans) and Phase II (results) deadlines, reviewing every submission for completeness and alignment, and returning Program Assessment Summaries to programs each August.
• Train and coach faculty and unit leads to write measurable outcomes, set targets, choose direct and indirect measures, and use results, and plan and lead assessment workshops at every college location throughout the year.
• Coordinate assessment of the six general education competencies, including collecting student work, leading rubric norming and scoring sessions, and drafting the annual General Education Competency Assessment Report with the Director.
• Support SACSCOC reaffirmation, the Fifth-Year Interim Report, and specialized accreditation by maintaining the evidence library and compliance tracker, confirming that narratives cite current evidence, preparing materials for writing days, and supporting standard owners and the SACSCOC Liaison.
• Support academic program review and Aspire 2030: Pathways to Opportunities by scheduling reviews, training program leads on the Program Review dashboard, tracking recommendations and unit progress on strategic priorities, and maintaining the Institutional Effectiveness Framework and Assessment Handbook.
• Design, administer, analyze, and report institutional, national benchmarking, and departmental surveys and course evaluations in clear, accessible formats.
• Write and modify SQL and Python to extract data from the student information system and other systems, build datasets, and develop new reports for assessment, surveys, program review, and data requests, documenting code so it can be rerun, and serve as backup to the Director on recurring reporting.
• Coordinate and log data requests, complete external surveys and guidebook requests, contribute to the Fact Book and fact sheets, and support office operations, including records retention, purchasing, travel, and software and contract renewals.

May be required to perform other duties as assigned. May be required to assist the agency or state government generally in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor.

• Demonstrated experience within the last five years with assessment of student learning and/or department and unit outcomes, institutional research, program evaluation, or applied research in a higher education setting
• Knowledge of assessment practice, including measurable outcomes, direct and indirect measures, rubrics, targets, and the use of results to improve programs and services
• Knowledge of accreditation standards for institutional effectiveness
• Knowledge of strategic planning, academic program review, and tracking progress on institutional goals
• Experience with accreditation or compliance reporting in higher education, such as SACSCOC, a specialized accreditor, IPEDS, or state reporting
• Demonstrated experience within the last five years writing SQL queries and Python, R, or SAS code to extract, join, and clean data, build datasets and reports, and modify existing scripts
• Ability to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, including descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, response rates, rubric score distributions, and coding of open-ended responses
• Experience working with student records in a student information system and protecting confidential data in compliance with FERPA
• Demonstrated experience designing, administering, and analyzing surveys
• Demonstrated experience training or coaching faculty or staff on assessment, data use, or a software platform
• Demonstrated experience presenting data and results clearly to audiences without a technical background
• Ability to produce accessible documents and reports, including tagged PDFs, alt text, and WCAG 2.1 AA standards
• Experience working with students, faculty, and staff from a wide range of backgrounds
• Excellent organizational, analytical, written communication, and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects with fixed deadlines and follow up until each is complete

• Assessment or institutional research experience at a community college
• Experience with a SACSCOC reaffirmation, a Fifth-Year Interim Report, or specialized program accreditation
• Experience supporting strategic planning or institutional goal tracking
• Experience with IPEDS, SCHEV, or VCCS reporting
• Experience with Watermark Planning & Self-Study or a comparable assessment platform
• Experience with Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, EAB Navigate, or other student information systems
• Experience with Python, Oracle SQL, or Git, including writing documented, reusable code
• Experience administering CCSSE, SENSE, or a course evaluation system
• Experience leading faculty workshops or rubric norming sessions
• Advanced skills in Excel (pivot tables, lookups) and Google Workspace

Regular travel to SVCC campuses, centers, and instructional locations, and occasional travel to VCCS and SACSCOC meetings and training/conferences, with access to a state vehicle.

This is a full-time position with state and VCCS benefits.

Applicants must apply online by submitting a state application through this site. Applicants must create a user account to apply online. If you are a state employee who has been affected by Policy 1.3 Layoff and possess a valid Inter-agency Placement Screening Form (Yellow Card) or a Preferential Hiring Form (Blue Card), you must submit the Card BEFORE the closing date for this position. The Card may be scanned and attached to the application or faxed to (434) 949-0708. Please include your name, the position number, and the position title on the fax cover sheet. This website will provide a confirmation of receipt when the application is submitted for consideration. Please refer to your VCCS applicant portal account for the status of your application and the status of this recruitment. For more information about this position or other vacancies within our agency, please visit our website at www.southside.edu/employment or contact Jennifer Davis at 434.949.1048.

Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, political affiliation, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other non-merit factors. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Shannon Feinman, Vice President of Finance and Administration, 109 Campus Drive, Alberta, VA 23821, 434-949-1005.

SVCC is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA and ADAAA), to provide reasonable accommodations to applicants in need of access to the application, interviewing, and selection processes when requested.

We are a “Virginia Values Veterans” (V3) state agency that provides hiring preference to Veterans and members of the Virginia National Guard in support of Executive Order 29 (2010). If you are a Veteran or a Virginia National Guard Member, we urge you to respond accordingly on your state application.

In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth’s Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their AHP Letter (formerly called a Certificate of Disability) provided by the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS) or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Service-Connected Veterans may also apply via the AHP if they also provide an AHP Letter. To request an AHP Letter, use this link: https://www.dars.virginia.gov/drs/cpid/PWContact.aspx or call DARS at 800-552-5019 or DBVI at 800-622-2155.

The selected candidate’s offer is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background investigation, which may include: fingerprint checks, local agency checks, employment verification, verification of education, credit checks (relevant to employment). Additionally, selected candidates may be required to complete the Commonwealth’s Statement of Economic Interest. For more information, please follow this link: http://ethics.dls.virginia.gov/

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, political affiliation, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or other non-merit factors.

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA and ADAAA), to provide, reasonable accommodation to applicants in need of access to the application, interviewing, and selection processes when requested.

VCCS uses E-Verify to check employee eligibility to work in the United States. You will be required to complete an I-9 form and provide documentation of your identity for employment purposes.