The Assistant Director oversees and manages all processes related to student outcomes assessment, including first destination career outcomes. The position plays a central role in determining the impact and effectiveness of career advising, job search strategies programming, and recruiter-student connections. The Assistant Director also manages the data accumulated by the department, shares and reports on it to various stakeholders, and presents it in an accessible way on our web site.

Assessment Coordination:
-Oversee all aspects of assessment for the department, including a curricular model of defining and measuring of student learning outcomes.
-Develop departmental training, protocol design, and policies related to assessment and data management.
-Serve as the liaison to the Center for Assessment and Research Studies, Office of Institutional Research, Student Affairs Assessment Council, and others.

First Destinations Report:
-Coordinate and produce all aspects of the First Destination Career Outcomes Report, the university’s annual summary of alumni career pursuits.
-Using standards issued by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), develop and maintain an effective data collection strategy for career outcomes.
-Prepare presentations, reports, and data visualizations on the first destination data collected on both bachelors and advanced degree recipients. Present analysis and findings to key stakeholders including senior leadership, Board of Visitors, Academic Council, Parents Council, and other groups as requested, etc.

Supervision:
-Provide effective supervision and coaching to staff, a Graduate Assistant, and Operations Student Assistants involved in data collection and assessment research.
-Hire these positions and provide continuous guidance and instruction so that their work is high quality, coordinated and accurate.

Data Management:
-Ensure that all departmental data collected (e.g. student engagement and usage, Handshake usage and appointments, etc.) is gathered in an ethical, confidential and secure manner.
-Maintain interactive dashboard of career outcomes on our website by importing spreadsheet data into a data visualization tool on a regular basis.
-Identify other career related data that may be of interest to our stakeholders, and publish relevant reports or assessment to the University Career Center (UCC) website. Pursue regular training and professional development opportunities to maintain updated knowledge of data management and assessment, including trends and best practices.

NACE Reporting:
-Coordinate departmental response to requests from NACE, Universum, and other professional associations for their annual and occasional surveys, especially those related to service models, career services program benchmarking, and staff salaries.
-Run reports and gather data for reports requested by the Director, other UCC colleagues, and JMU stakeholders to inform decision-making and complete needed documentation for accreditation, program review, etc.