The College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS) is seeking an experienced and creative leader to serve as the Director for the Office of Outcome-Based Educational Evaluation (OUTCOMES) The Director will be creating an office that will allow for greater synergistic efforts between local, state and university stakeholders and the research expertise within the college. This office is positioned to support the COEHS efforts to be a greater resource—especially in regards to measuring learning impacts on individual students—to the wider New Mexico educational community. The Director of OUTCOMES will be assuming leadership at an exciting moment as the State and College are placing significant resources and attention on the importance of ensuring high quality educational experiences that result in increased impact on students in K-12 settings. The OUTCOMES Director will lead an innovative and creative effort in starting this office and seeking opportunity for growth and development through external partnerships. As a category II research center in the COEHS, this position reports directly to the Associate Dean for Research & Distance Education.

Educational research and evaluation provides a critical basis to assess if and how education efforts demonstrate efficacy in improving academic experiences and outcomes for students, teachers, and families. OUTCOMES will provide important and timely information for community members, educational leaders, university professors and policymakers regarding what is needed to reduce barriers and improve student experiences New Mexico classrooms. While some measures of impact like graduation rates, teacher qualifications, and number of student participants are easier to obtain, they are insufficient to support robust strategic planning. While other measures such as impacts on individual student learning, instructional changes being addressed by teachers, and impacts on perception, motivation or value are more challenging to capture, they are necessary to fully understand the New Mexico educational climate. These more challenging measures take greater research and evaluation capacity due to the focus on individuals embedded in classroom spaces within schools, which are not always captured in larger reporting systems. The primary goal of this center is to consolidate the resources and expertise within the college to support greater state access to high-quality research, evaluation and analysis to guide efforts, decision making, and strategic planning to improve educational experiences with data informed policies and practices that support access, inclusion, equity and student success across educational organizations. OUTCOMES, under the director’s care will expand the COEHS’s applied educational research and design capacity to address critical educational needs in New Mexico while empowering thoughtful discussion around student experiences in educational policy and spaces across the state. This position would also allow for working with the next generation of education researchers.

Qualification and Characteristics:

The successful candidate will be an experienced educational researcher and administrative leader with a high level of energy and enthusiasm as well as the drive and determination to advance the vision, goals, and objectives of OUTCOMES. While no single candidate will meet all the ideal qualifications, we seek candidates with the following professional qualifications, skills, experiences, and personal qualities:

1) Strong leadership and administrative experience, skills, and ability to make decisions transparently and consultatively.

•  Experience in strategic planning that promotes the vision, mission, and goals of the OUTCOMES
• Ability to listen to, facilitate conversation between, and forge collegial relationships with various stakeholders
• Ability to make difficult resource allocation / prioritization decisions based in center goals
• Ability to communicate priorities and decisions to staff, faculty, and related stakeholders, as appropriate
• Ability to recruit and retain a high energy, innovative staff through mentoring, professional development opportunities and creation of a supportive work environment

2) A demonstrated ability to work effectively and build relationships with a full range of internal and external constituencies, including community members, legislators, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, media.

• Ability to engage in meaningful collaboration to identify community needs
• Ability to build and ensure collaborative, productive, respectful interactions and partnerships with staff, partners across the community and academic units within the college
• Success in research and professional achievements that can command the respect of a highly diverse and active community of professionals
• Demonstrated success in respecting the knowledge and needs of communities (including of rural, migrant, and Tribal) in New Mexico regarding educational research and helping to address these needs in alignment with OUTCOMES’s mission
  
  

3) Excellent fiscal management skill, and demonstrated experience in federal, state, and local grant acquisition;

• An astute understanding of finances and the relationship between program priorities, budgeting, seeking external funding.
• Knowledge about managing complex budgets and allocating resources with a high level of transparency and fairness
• An ability to work with the university-wide processes and policies for successful fiscal management
• An ability to advocate and be accountable for Legislative funding
  
  

4) A commitment to the mission of a public institution of higher education and its role in educational research and education within the state of New Mexico

• A record that shows a meaningful commitment to and demonstrated accomplishment in issues around inclusiveness, equity, and diversity.
• Knowledge of unique cultural context of partnerships within diverse cultural and geographical settings
• Demonstrated ability to provide civic, ethical leadership and to successfully work with professionals in industry and academic, community, and governmental organizations

See the Position Description for additional information.

• Employees who provide services or work in patient care or clinical areas are required to be in compliance with the University's influenza vaccination requirement.

Bachelor's degree; at least 5 years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.

Completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

• Completion of a Master degree
• A record of community engagement and collaboration
• Successful acquisition of external/grant funding as the lead author
• Verbal and written communication skills, bi/multilingual is a plus
• A record of leading a team to accomplish a common goal or build partnerships and support
• Experience in administrative leadership in educational research or educational settings
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, and social justice in educational spaces

Only applications submitted through the official UNMJobs site will be accepted. If you are viewing this job advertisement on a 3rd party site, please visit UNMJobs to submit an application.

Positions posted with a Staff Type of Regular or Term are eligible for the Veteran Preference Program. See the Veteran Preference Program webpage for additional details.

The University of New Mexico is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

The University of New Mexico requires all regular staff positions successfully pass a pre-employment background check. This may include, but is not limited to, a criminal history background check, New Mexico Department of Health fingerprint screening, New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department fingerprint screening, verification of education credentials, and/or verification of prior employment. For more information about background checks, visit https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3280.html. Refer to https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3200.html for a definition of Regular Staff.