Overview
Northern Illinois University (NIU) seeks a collaborative and innovative leader for the position of Assistant Vice Provost for Assessment and Accreditation.
NIU is a high research (R2) and Carnegie-engaged institution that enrolls over 16,200 students,
approximately 743 international students and 4,400 graduate students. NIU is home to more than
100 degree programs across seven colleges, in addition to a variety of programs that lead to undergraduate and graduate certificates.
Position Summary
The Assistant Vice Provost reports to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. The Assistant Vice Provost will serve as a key member of the Academic Affairs (AA) leadership team. The person in this position will have a deep understanding of the role that assessment plays in improving the student experience on a campus. The person will serve as a resource and guide for departments, colleges and divisions as they develop approaches and methods for measuring progress on their goals. Assessment will be approached as formative and summative activities, rather than a reporting activity.
The Assistant Vice Provost will collaborate with faculty and staff, academic administrators, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), Institutional Research, Curricular Deans, and university curriculum committees to build and implement assessment policies and practices to link assessment activities with institutional accreditation and academic planning. The Assistant Vice Provost will also be a critical leader in the assessment of co-curricular activities.
The Assistant Vice Provost will be dedicated to equity-minded assessment practices that contribute to the university’s mission and commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
This position is a full-time, 12-month position with an opportunity for a faculty appointment in an academic unit that ties to the candidate’s area of academic expertise and qualifications.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Focused on academic excellence and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, the Assistant Vice Provost will work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and administrators to:
- Plan, organize, coordinate, and monitor curricular assessment programs, projects, committees, and activities campus wide, with a focus on the assessment of institutional learning outcomes and their integration with NIU’s general education and academic programs
- Establish best practices in assessment plans that promote student learning, degree attainment, and success after graduation.
- Serve as the Academic Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), providing oversight and leadership for institution-wide accreditation including annual reporting, periodic reporting as required by the HLC, and all activities associated with the ten-year accreditation cycle.
- Provide support for accreditation processes at the program and college level as needed.
- Liaise with curriculum and assessment committees across the university for co-curricular assessment.
- Provide direct consultation services in assessment design, training and development educational opportunities to campus units to enhance their undergraduate and graduate student learning outcome assessment activities.
- Plan, organize, coordinate and monitor programs for effectiveness per HLC and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) standards.
- Oversee the collection, analysis, reporting, dissemination, and archiving of assessment data/reports/results to support program review and accreditation activities.
The Assistant Vice Provost will supervise a team of professionals who are tasked with the daily support, management, implementation, and campus professional development of assessment and accreditation activities.
