University of South Carolina

Senior Director of Institutional Research and Analytics

The University of South Carolina is seeking a data-savvy and collaborative leader as their inaugural Senior Director of Institutional Research and Analytics. The Senior Director will collaborate across the University and System to lead a comprehensive research program that manages compliance reporting with state, federal, and external entities; leverages institutional data to guide business decisions at the senior level; and ensures data integrity in the provision and fulfillment of data requests from campus units. The successful candidate will have extensive experience with data management and reporting in higher education, familiarity with multiple data platforms and statistical tools, and a successful record of working with teams and communicating across complex organizations.

The University

Founded in 1801, the University of South Carolina (USC) Columbia is the flagship institution of the University of South Carolina System—the leading educator for the state, serving more than 52,000 students across eight institutions. The flagship institution is located in the capital city of Columbia, SC and enrolls more than 35,000 students, hailing from all 50 states and more than 90 nations.

USC is a Carnegie Tier I Research (R1) Institution with research expenditures exceeding $240 million in 2022, with 60% of the awards in Health Sciences. The flagship campus in Columbia includes sixteen colleges and schools with over 2,500 faculty of whom many have earned significant recognition, placing the university in the top 5% of public universities in the nation for the number of national faculty awards received. 

USC operates two medical school campuses and is home to the state’s only public law school. Nationally ranked in 60+ academic programs—more than any other institution in the state—USC has consistently ranked in the top 3% in the nation for the number of African American graduates by Diverse Issues in Higher Education and has multiple academic programs ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report. 

The Position

The Senior Director supervises the Director of Analytics and a team of Research Analysts, and reports directly to the Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Analytics (OIRAA). The Senior Director is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing a comprehensive program of institutional research activities in support of university-wide compliance, accreditation, research initiatives, data governance, planning, and assessment. The primary responsibility of the Senior Director is to manage the University’s reporting obligations as defined by all state and federal requirements, as well as for data consortiums, college guides, and rating systems. This position is responsible for the timely and accurate reporting of all institutional data to external constituencies for all eight campuses across the University of South Carolina System—this includes four two-year campuses and four four-year campuses. The Senior Director of Institutional Research and Analytics must remain current on all necessary reporting regulations and must provide leadership in ensuring that all data required for reporting is available. 

For more information about the University, the position, and the application procedures, please visit the profile.

Nominations and applications should be sent to USCSDIRA@academicsearch.org. Only applications received by July 19, 2024 can be assured full consideration. Academic Search is assisting USC with this search. Nominators and prospective applicants may reach out directly to arrange a confidential discussion about this opportunity.