Data Analyst - Institutional Research

The Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support (IRDS) invites candidates to apply to the Institutional Research Analyst Position. This position supports the mission of IRDS which is focused on enhancing and advancing VCU's data driven culture by leveraging institutional metrics to make an impact. This requires a systems thinking approach that is aligned with strategic priorities. We serve as data wranglers, collecting and intertwining metrics to find actionable insights that lead to collaborative change.

The core responsibility of the Institutional Research Analyst will be to support strategic reporting, institutional data and information needs, and regulatory reporting. This is a University Academic Professional staff appointment reporting to the Director of Institutional Research in the office of Institutional Research and Decision Support.

This position will have the opportunity for hybrid telework and flexible work arrangements.

Salary Range: $60,000 - $65,000

In this position you will:

• Regularly perform data extraction, manipulation, analysis, and interpretation of findings/results to prepare institutional responses to external and internal inquiries (“ad hoc” requests) on a wide range of subjects – e.g. student admissions and enrollment information, student persistence and success (retention and graduation), student financial aid need analysis, personnel planning including recruitment retention as well as attrition, compensation studies.
  

• Respond to federal and state reporting and to guidebook surveys, national rankings and national studies by preparing accurate and timely reports and/or data files.
  
• Provide institutional research data to academic units and programs as well as administrative constituencies throughout the institution.
  
• Collaborate on projects within IRDS along with other stakeholders at VCU, such as faculty, staff, students, senior leadership, etc..
  
• Provide support with survey design, analysis and presentations.
• Seek and participate in continuing learning opportunities, including topics such as SAS programming, data subject domain knowledge and understanding, expanding data topics, and University-level initiatives and information delivery efforts, and other duties as assigned.

Minimum Hiring Standards:

• Bachelors required with a major in statistics, mathematics, economics, sociology, computer science or other quantitative social sciences discipline.
• Experience in extracting, analyzing, and interpreting data from a variety of sources (information systems).
  
• Ability to draw conclusions and communicate data findings; applying statistical principles and methods to meet
• a range of information requirements; gathering and analyzing data and generating statistical reports
  Experience (2-3 years) with statistical software tools/packages such as SAS
  (preferred), SPSS, R etc. to produce high quality analysis.
  
• Demonstrated computer skills including knowledge and familiarity with spreadsheets, programming languages, relational databases and SQL.
  
• Familiarity with survey design and the ability to analyze the results to help support research questions and presentations.
  
• Interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively verbally and in written form.
  
• Strong organizational and documentation skills.
  
• Ability to handle multiple priorities with competing deadlines.
  
• Ability to take initiative when working independently and yet work effectively in a team environment with people who have a diverse array of experiences and backgrounds.

Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or a commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU is required.

Preferred Hiring Standards:

• 
  Masters of Sciences degree preferred or the equivalent in training and work experience at a level that equates to an advanced degree.
  
• Hands on experience with Data Visualization and Business Intelligence Tools such as Tableau, Power BI, SASVA
  Ellucian/Banner experience.
  
• 2-3 years experience working in Higher Education preferably in an Institutional Research Office.
  
• Familiarity with higher education data domains (e.g. admissions, enrollment, financial aid, employee, finance, development, sponsored research) in a university setting.

Initial review of applications will begin after April 29, 2022

All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s generous benefits package that includes: competitive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave, retirement planning, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, Virginia Retirement System (VRS), professional development, tuition waiver, parental leave, caregiving leave and community service leave. Explore our benefits further here: https://hr.vcu.edu/current-employees/benefits/university-and-academic-professional-benefits/

Department: Institutional Research and Decision Support
Employment Type: UF - University Employee FT
Restricted Status: No
FTE: 100
Exemption Status: Exempt