Senior Associate, Data & Policy Analysis

Summary

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), a research, policy and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening and advancing the work of public universities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, is seeking a senior associate to provide independent administrative support to areas and projects within the Office of Academic Affairs, specifically supporting the Department of Data & Policy Analysis (DPA). In addition to performing a broad array of administrative tasks to ensure professional and positive engagement with senior university administrators, the incumbent will be responsible for a few data and analytical tasks, including maintaining membership databases, maintaining a knowledge repository, and developing and administering surveys. The successful candidate will have excellent oral and written communication skills, be able to manage time and multiple projects efficiently, have a keen attention to detail, and strive for quality. The incumbent should be proficient in MS Office, project management tools, communications applications, and provide exemplary customer service. This full-time position is based in Washington, DC. The incumbent must be authorized to work in the United States, reside in DC, MD, or VA, and pass standard background checks. They are eligible for a hybrid work schedule. For more information, consult www.aplu.org.

Background

APLU is a membership organization that fosters a community of university leaders collectively working to advance the mission of public research universities. The association’s membership consists of more than 250 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations spanning across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories, Canada, and Mexico. Annually, member campuses enroll 5.4 million undergraduates and 1.5 million graduate students, award 1.5 million degrees, employ 1.4 million faculty and staff, and conduct $73 billion in university-based research.

The Department of Data and Policy Analysis (DPA) is housed within APLU’s Office of Academic Affairs, which plays a central role in APLU’s initiatives to improve student success and graduation, enhance digital learning, spur institutional transformation, increase the use of data-informed decision making, and advance scientific research on student success and education at member institutions. DPA provides expertise, research, data collection, and analysis support for APLU initiatives and information needs of other offices. It works closely with APLU’s offices of Governmental Affairs and Public Affairs on legislative priorities, promotional campaigns, and media inquiries. Additionally, DPA supports the Commission on Information, Measurement, and Analysis (CIMA), a community of campus leaders committed to advancing the effective and efficient use of data and analytics to guide campus planning and decision-making, and the Student Achievement Measure (SAM), a transparency initiative where higher education institutions track students across institutions to create a more complete picture of undergraduate student progress and completion within the higher education system.

Responsibilities

• Independently coordinate events (e.g., CIMA Summer Meeting and CIMA activities at Annual Meeting). This includes working with the APLU events team and other staff to coordinate the logistics, planning, and coordination of CIMA conferences and meetings (both in-person and virtual) and organize CIMA committee meetings. It also includes drafting meeting materials as well as taking and distributing notes. 
• Support DPA’s membership engagement strategy (through web-related communications and marketing emails), including drafting content for and maintaining the CIMA and DPA websites, as well as drafting newsletters and promotional messages.
• Support the office’s evaluation activities by collecting and managing the storage of participation data, independently preparing data for entry into common data systems, and creating simple data visualizations from registration reports, polls, and simple surveys.
• Independently serve as project coordinator for the Student Achievement Measure (SAM) by coordinating with the contractor to renew the collection of data, processing invoices, sending outreach, and tracking participation and engagement.
• Provide independent programmatic, logistical, and administrative support to DPA, including scheduling meetings, taking and distributing meeting notes, processing expense reports, reconciling AMEX accounts, assisting with contract administration, maintaining the DPA intranet, etc.
• Provide survey support to APLU offices by assisting in implementing DPA’s survey administration process (e.g., survey design, input into Qualtrics, administration, development of dynamic report, etc.).
• Work with the DPA Assistant Director to design and implement data-related training for APLU staff (e.g., how to use Excel, Power BI, Qualtrics).
• Maintain positive relations with member university representatives through in-person, virtual, and email interactions. Assist with drafting, editing, and sending documents and other communications.
• Participate as an integral member of the Academic Affairs Team and APLU and contribute to a supportive, welcoming, and collegial workplace.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (preferably in statistics, data science, social science, education science, or related field), with three or more years of experience working in education, data or policy analysis/reporting, or related area.
• Experience planning and coordinating events, including workshops, webinars, and conferences.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with Office365 is preferred, including Microsoft Teams, and experience managing virtual meetings, especially via Zoom. Experience using a customer relations management (CRM) system and administering survey using software such as Survey Monkey or Qualtrics. Comfort using and learning new technologies.
• Proficient in using Excel to organize and manipulate simple data, and create basic data visualizations such as charts, tables, and graphs.
• Demonstrated organizational skills. Ability to take direction and communicate with multiple team members, keep track of activities and priorities on multiple projects, and meet deadlines.
• Ability to identify potential issues and bring them to the attention of the appropriate team members as they arise.
• Keen attention to detail, able to draft complete, accurate, timely documents and products with minimal supervision.
• Ability to maintain poise, professionalism, focus, consistency, and accuracy under pressure.
• Commitment to the work of DPA and APLU.
• Ability to travel domestically two or more times a year, especially during the summer months and November.