Vice President for Student Success and Institutional Effectiveness - Inaugural P

Vice President for Student Success and Institutional Effectiveness - Inaugural Position

The Opportunity SUNY Empire seeks an inaugural Vice President for Student Success and Institutional Effectiveness. This senior leadership role will be responsible for providing data‑informed strategy to support a holistic strategy for student success. The individual will be responsible for two core functions: student success and institutional effectiveness. As the leader of student success, institutional research, and strategic plan tracking, the vice president will play a crucial role in supporting measurable improvement for student success. The vice president will report directly to the president and serve as a key member of the executive leadership team, driving evidence‑based, mission‑aligned innovation and continuous improvement.

Qualities

• Has senior leadership experience overseeing student‑facing service units or initiatives with demonstrated outcomes and service quality improvements.
• Enjoys working in a fast‑paced environment and demonstrates agility, flexibility, and creativity in the face of challenges.
• Has knowledge of AI and its application within an academic institution, specifically as it impacts organizational/institutional effectiveness, institutional research, and student success.
• Has experience navigating complex employee contracts (such as those in a collective bargaining or similar environment).
• Can successfully work with internal and external stakeholders to advance the mission of the university.

Primary Responsibilities

Student Success

• Provide evidence‑forward, students‑first leadership focused on measurable improvements in student outcomes and experience.
• In collaboration with colleagues across the institution, develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive strategies and programs that promote measurable student success improvements (including retention and graduation rates) in an online learning environment.
• Provide executive oversight and outcomes accountability for student support and outreach functions through the AVP of Student Success and unit directors.
• Ensure continuous improvement practices are integrated into all student success services and initiatives through an outcomes‑driven, data‑centered approach.

Data Governance and Compliance

• Ensure accuracy and compliance with mandatory data reporting (e.g., IPEDS, SUNY required reports, etc.).
• Co‑lead a university‑wide data governance program with the CIO and AVP of Institutional Effectiveness to establish data definitions, stewardship roles, access standards, and data quality controls to support compliant, trustworthy reporting and analytics.
• Engage in project prioritization to ensure that the institution measures what matters for the strategic plan, accreditation, and compliance purposes.

Strategic Plan and Accreditation Tracking

• Devise and implement an overarching assessment strategy for supporting institutional partners in the implementation of the strategic plan, including tracking and reporting data.
• In partnership with Academic Affairs (which leads accreditation and academic assessment strategy), lead evidence management, documentation systems, dashboards, reporting, timelines, and readiness tracking to support accreditation and assessment.
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of dashboards to support institution‑wide strategic priority and accreditation tracking.
• Champion a culture of innovation, measurement, and continuous improvement across the institution, including the operational efficiency of units.
• Partner with Administration and Finance to ensure strategic budgeting priorities and strategies are tracked and represented through a data‑driven dashboard strategy.

Support Enrollment and Revenue Projections

• Coordinate enrollment and net revenue forecasting models in partnership with Enrollment Management and Finance.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders to ensure alignment between projections models and changing environmental context (e.g., policy, SUNY requirements, etc.).

Job Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Earned doctorate from a U.S. accredited institution.
• Minimum of 10 (ten) years of progressive leadership experience in a discipline or division focused on data‑informed decision‑making to drive student success and institutional effectiveness.
• Leadership experience successfully overseeing enterprise‑scale student success initiatives or student‑facing service functions.
• Demonstrated quantitative and technical skills commensurate with the ability to ensure accuracy, consistency, and visually compelling representation of data.
• Demonstrated success leading, managing, and/or representing Institutional Research or a similar entity with oversight over institutional data, dashboards, and/or data governance.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal abilities.
• Experience with technology‑enabled student support solutions and data analytics.
• Demonstrated experience managing budgets and aligning resources to strategic priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• An earned doctorate from an accredited institution in data analytics, data science, mathematics, higher education, or related field or the equivalent (such as quantitatively informed publications in these fields).
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise change initiatives across multiple divisions.
• Ability to lead teams using modern analytics and visualization tools (e.g., Power BI/Tableau and SQL‑based environments).
• Experience successfully applying AI‑enabled analytics or automation to improve student success and/or institutional effectiveness.
• Experience navigating complex employee contracts (such as those in a collective bargaining or similar environment).

Additional Information

• This position is in Saratoga Springs, NY.
• Travel is required.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis. VISA Sponsorship is not available for this position.

SUNY Empire proudly serves 17,500 students across the state of New York and beyond. While faculty and staff live and work around the world, the administrative offices are in Saratoga Springs, New York. Please visit to learn more.

Salary

$220,000 - $235,000

SUNY Empire is committed to creating a multicultural, inclusive academic and work environment. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We believe that having diverse faculty and staff is critical to academic excellence and prepares students to live and work in an increasingly global world.

SUNY Empire provides reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities, veterans, or wounded warriors where appropriate. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at .

To apply, visit

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