Institutional Research Analyst

The Opportunity

Ohio Wesleyan University invites inquiries and applications from, and nominations for, analysts who have the drive to be a detail-oriented and integral team member creating and supporting a campus-wide culture of engaged curiosity and informed decision-making. The Institutional Research Analyst will play a central role in providing robust, timely, and accurate information, analyses, and reports on current and historical university information to make a strategic impact at an institution providing life-changing experiences for students. The new Analyst will support data visualization, data stewardship, internal and external reporting, as well as research and analysis. The new Analyst will serve as a trusted steward of institutional truth and history.

About Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University is an independent, undergraduate liberal arts institution that has positioned itself for 21st-century learning and teaching through a new general education program, enhanced academic programs, a dynamic faculty recruitment and retention initiative, and an innovative and holistic commitment to student formation and learning. This commitment is fulfilled through the OWU Connection, the Bishop Elevate program to support first-generation students, and a dynamic Career Connection office that works throughout each student's time at the University to prepare them for their next journey. 

OWU comprises more than 1,450 students, almost equally men and women, from 40 states and 27 countries. Students of color make up approximately 25% and include both U.S. multicultural students and international students; the University is strongly committed to racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity. In 2022, 96% of reporting graduates were employed and/or in graduate school within six months.

OWU confers the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Science, and in partnership with a number of select institutions, offers combined-degree programs in fields such as nursing, engineering, and occupational therapy. Degrees are offered through 19 academic departments, 70 majors, and 11 interdisciplinary and pre-professional programs. 

An exciting sense of energy at Ohio Wesleyan is based largely on the OWU Connection, the University's signature experience, which provides extensive curricular-based opportunities for independent research, internships, service, and off campus study. The OWU Connection helps students think big by allowing them to understand issues from multiple academic disciplines. It encourages them to do good by serving the local and global community. It inspires them to go global by gaining an international perspective through travel-learning and study away. And it provides them an opportunity to get real by translating classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships and externships. The OWU Connection includes Travel-Learning Courses that give students an up-close look at issues discussed in class and a competitive Theory-to-Practice Grant program that enables them to write grant proposals for research, internship, service, and cultural-immersion projects and carry them out in locations throughout the world. 

Belonging, Equity, and Access

Ohio Wesleyan launched a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Action Plan in June 2020 to create meaningful and immediate change on campus. The initiative includes support from OWU's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, led by the University's full-time chief diversity officer, who reports directly to the president. In May 2022, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution committing to inclusive excellence and building a diverse community along with an equitable and inclusive culture.

LGBTQIA+ students are supported through the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA), and other affirming offices and programs at the University. The Sexuality and Gender Equality (SAGE) small living unit also enables students to create a friendly, welcoming home for friends and allies. Students of color are supported by OMSA and able to participate in organizations including Black Student Union, Sisters United, and Black Men of the Future. Unique living opportunities include the House of Black Culture and LA CASA, a small living unit established by Latinx students.

Bishops of Color and Mosaic are affinity groups that bring together faculty and staff who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and/or LGBTQIA+, respectively. The goals of the groups are to build collegiality, foster a sense of belonging, and create intentional connections.

University Leadership

President Matt vandenBerg

Dr. Matt vandenBerg became OWU's 17th president and took office July 1, 2023. vandenBerg came to OWU from Presbyterian College, where, as one of the nation's youngest college presidents, he led the work of the South Carolina-based college to redefine itself with distinction and propel its recognition in the higher education landscape. Prior to joining Presbyterian College, vandenBerg served as the vice president for advancement and external relations and as the vice president for advancement at Alma College, as the associate vice president for development at Albion College in Michigan, and as the assistant dean for development and alumni relations at the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing (Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses). 

In just one year at Ohio Wesleyan University, President vandenBerg has already made substantial contributions to the future of the institution. These accomplishments include

• Signing a comprehensive sister school collaboration agreement with Claflin University, an HBCU.

• Creating a new Columbus State Tuition Match Guarantee, one of America's most innovative and generous pathways from a community college to a national liberal arts university. 

• Launching an annual entrepreneurial competition - The Business Plan Competition - with Ohio's largest prize package. 

• Creating the Delaware County Promise program to provide a tuition-free education for qualifying high school students from Delaware County. 

Provost Karlyn Crowley

Karlyn Crowley is Provost of Ohio Wesleyan University, the senior officer overseeing OWU's academic offerings and operations, including The OWU Connection. She started at OWU during COVID in July, 2020. Karlyn received her B.A. from Earlham College and her PhD from the University of Virginia. Previously, Karlyn was Professor of English and Gender Studies at St. Norbert College, a liberal arts college near Green Bay, Wisconsin, for 18 years where she held roles such as Founding Director of the Cassandra Voss Center, an endowed intersectional identity Center, among other leadership roles in Academic Affairs, including Assistant Provost. Crowley has been involved with HERS Women's Higher Education Executive Leadership Institute (is a HERS alum 2017), and has led workshops and mentored many women faculty. She is a peer-reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits colleges and universities, including Ohio Wesleyan. Crowley writes about higher education in various outlets and is active in multiple consortia, the Great Lakes College Association, Ohio 5, and the Annapolis group of liberal arts colleges, all of whom OWU is a member. 

Some of Dr. Crowley's accomplishments include:

• Oversaw design and implementation of a new general education curriculum, first in 50 years, with three components including core competencies, a new first-year seminar, and a required signature experience. 

• Co-lead with VP for Student Success a campus-wide initiative between Academic Affairs and Student success resulting in substantial retention gains as much as 6% retention increase first to second year and 9% for first-generation students, resulting in national recognition in Inside Higher Ed.

• Collaborated with VP for Enrollment to oversee implementation of true access for community college students at Columbus State Community College with a Tuition Match program, 20 major pipelines, and "Teach Now" program. 

• Led reorganization of Academic Affairs to provide administrative leadership for signature experience, The OWU Connection, and academic centers and programs as well as a new divisional structure of departments to better serve faculty and support future strategy. 

• Strategized Faculty and Student success simultaneously in the Academic Affairs Division by hiring a Director of Holistic Advising to reimagine advising and models at OWU and an inaugural Director of Teaching, Learning, Innovation to support most transformational pedagogy and learning and give faculty support.

• Oversaw near wholesale revision of the Faculty Handbook with increased equity, strategy, and clarity.

• Created Equity, Access, and Belonging strategic plan for Academic Affairs with additional faculty development related to belonging as well as implemented a new cohort for hiring based on three foci, "flexibility, interdisciplinarity, belonging." 

• Named "Top 25 Women in Higher Education Award," Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, competitive national award for top 25 women leaders doing DEIB work in higher ed (2021)

Life in the Area

Ohio Wesleyan University benefits from its location in the Greater Columbus region of central Ohio, an 11-county metropolitan area described as being "in the midst of unprecedented economic growth."

According to One Columbus, an economic development organization: "The Region is home to today's business leaders and is at the forefront of the industries of tomorrow, from advanced manufacturing to smart mobility research and development. Centrally located between Chicago and New York, the Columbus Region boasts the greatest market access of any major metro— with 45% of the United States population within a 10-hour drive. With one of the youngest and most-educated populations in the country—the median age is 35.9 and 36% of residents 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The Region offers a steady pipeline of young talent with one of the highest concentrations of college students in the nation. Columbus is among the top 10 metros in the United States for concentration of young professionals (age 25-34) and is the only metro with this distinction located in the eastern half of the country."

Columbus, Ohio's capital and largest city, is vibrant, growing, and progressing at the forefront of technology, becoming the Silicon Midwest. America's 14th largest city, Columbus is known for its open attitude, smart style, and entrepreneurial spirit, and it offers unlimited internship and career opportunities for OWU students. With 11 colleges and universities and world-class science and technology organizations, the area has built a diverse and highly educated workforce, attracting major corporations, including a $20 billion Intel production site announced in 2022. Intel's investment includes $100 million toward partnerships with educational institutions to build a pipeline of talent and bolster research programs in the region. As a result of Intel and other economic development efforts in the region, Columbus and the surrounding areas are attracting a lot of new businesses, and current projections are for the population to grow by 800,000 over the next 10 years. As the central Ohio region has grown, the City of Delaware and southern Delaware County have shifted from a rural, more isolated community, to become more of a suburb of Columbus. OWU is well positioned to benefit from and leverage opportunities from the growth generated by the economic prosperity of the region. 

Additional accolades: Columbus has been named one of the Top 10 Places for Young Professionals to Live by Forbes; one of the Best Midwest Cities for Gen Z by The New York Times; one of the Best Urban Parks and Trails for City-Dwellers Seeking Green Spaces by Men's Journal; and one of the 30 Most Fun Places to Live in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. Read more Columbus accolades at Experience Columbus.

More specifically, Ohio Wesleyan is situated in the heart of the city of Delaware, Ohio, the county seat of Delaware County. The city currently has nearly 44,000 residents and is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state and nation, while the county has more than 214,000 residents. 

Interesting facts about Delaware: The median age for city residents is 34.5, skewing slightly younger than the county at 39 years and the state at 39.3 years. (Nationally, the median is 38.1.) Delaware is the only county in Ohio where more than half (57%) of the adults have a bachelor's degree or higher (U.S. average is 38%). About 97% of the county's adult residents have earned a high school diploma (U.S. average is 91%). White-collar jobs make up 88.6% of the jobs in the county and 82.3% in the city.

The county has about 6,500 businesses and an unemployment rate of about 2.4%. The city reports growing jobs by 35.27% in the last 10 years, with the largest employers including the Kroger Company, Delaware County, OhioHealth Grady Hospital, Delaware City Schools, and OWU. Entrepreneurship is thriving in the city and county, with both entities collaborating with Ohio Wesleyan in the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at Ohio Wesleyan. The city also has a COhatch shared workspace next to City Hall.

Read more about the City of Delaware at HR Get to Know Our Community. 

The Institutional Research Analyst

Position Summary

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) nurtures and supports a campus-wide culture of engaged curiosity and informed decision-making by providing robust, timely, and accurate information, analyses, and reports on current and historical university information. The work of OIE is critical to continuous improvement of the student experience and to strengthening the future of the University. Ohio Wesleyan University seeks an Institutional Research Analyst who is a detail-oriented professional excited by an opportunity to learn and use a variety of tools and approaches to make a strategic impact at an institution providing life-changing experiences for students.

The Institutional Research Analyst will be responsible for managing, analyzing and reporting academic, student, and faculty data. This includes refining and expanding the data structures, definitions, methodologies, institutional processes, and reports that will allow rapid qualitative and quantitative analysis, interpretation, and reporting. The Institutional Research Analyst will work directly with stakeholders to answer questions using descriptive statistics as well as report on research studies; the Analyst will also work with members of the data strategy group to shape the institution's use of data. This position requires a positive attitude, an ability to collaborate with others, a desire to improve and simplify processes, an eagerness to learn new software tools, including dashboard tools, and a hunger for accuracy and completeness.

Representative Duties and Responsibilities

Data Stewardship and Strategy - collect data from a variety of sources; clean and format data; develop systems and processes for collecting, maintaining, and visualizing key institutional data; recommend changes to institutional processes to support better data stewardship; work with members of the data strategy team to define data and analysis priorities for the institution. 

Research and Analysis - work with stakeholders to define and answer questions with descriptive statistics; plan, carry out, complete, and disseminate research studies; contribute to producing analyses, reports, and presentations that influence decision-making; use appropriate tools such as Excel, Qualtrics and Power BI; act as a resource in administration of some university-wide surveys. 

Reporting, Visualization, and Presentation - extract data from institutional data systems using Structured Query Language (SLQ); design, implement, and maintain self-service dashboards (Power BI); develop, maintain, and publish a Fact Book on university data; participate in data fluency efforts; complete local, state, and federal surveys, including Integrated Postsecondary Data Systems (IPEDS); complete reputational and ranking surveys such as U.S. News; coordinate student census; develop and maintain innovative data visualization capabilities combining data from multiple sources. 

Starting Qualifications 

The following are required qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in social, behavioral, or educational sciences, or a related area involving analytical or social science research skills

• Effective written communication skills

• Ability to work collaboratively and supportively

• Ability to manage priorities and meet expectations

Factors Contributing to Success

A successful candidate will bring many of the following qualifications, to the position:

• At least two (2) years of experience in applied research, assessment, data analysis or decision support or Master's degree work in social, behavioral, or educational sciences, or a related area involving analytical and social science research skills

• Experience working in an Institutional Research office at an institution of higher education

• Experience applying quantitative research methodology and interpreting multivariate statistics

• Experience with predictive modeling in areas such as faculty workload, course-taking patterns, classroom usage, salary analysis, equity studies, or similar

• Experience with the National Student Clearinghouse Student Tracker and/or National Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 

• Experience protecting and maintaining the confidentiality of information

• Experience using Microsoft Excel and pivot tables

• Experience with extracting data from relational databases and merging multiple sources of data to perform analyses

• Experience with Structured Query Language (SQL) or a demonstrated ability to learn on the job

• Experience with a business intelligence or data visualization tool such as Power BI, Tableau, etc.

• Experience using one or more statistical tools such as SPSS, R, SASS, Python

• Experience with online survey research tools such as Qualtrics

• Experience of survey instrument design

• Experience identifying and preparing data for higher education reports (e.g. IPEDS, AAUP)

• Experience developing project scope and coordinating project assignments with various stakeholders

• An inclination to embrace change and a willingness to learn and take on new tasks

• Demonstrated ability to balance multiple tasks and competing priorities while completing assignments on time and with a high degree of quality and accuracy

• Effective oral and written communication skills especially with respect to analytical material

• Demonstrated commitment to enhancing diversity and inclusion

Compensation and Benefits

Ohio Wesleyan University works hard to provide benefits to meet the diverse needs of our faculty and staff. These benefits add value each year to the competitive salary for eligible employees. Visit the Discover our Benefits page to learn more.

Application and Nomination Process

Application Process

STEP 1: Prepare a letter or statement telling us why you are interested in this position. 

STEP 2: Update your resume

STEP 3: Submit your letter and resume through our application portal

Confidential Inquiries

Please contact Dale Brugh if you would like to have a confidential conversation about this opportunity. 

Dale J. Brugh
Associate Provost, Ohio Wesleyan University
614-746-2397 (direct cell)
djbrugh@owu.edu 

Nominations

If you would like to provide a nomination for this position, please email the name, email address, and phone number of the nominee to: 

Dale J. Brugh
Associate Provost, Ohio Wesleyan University
614-746-2397 (direct cell)
djbrugh@owu.edu 

Important Dates

For best consideration, please apply before June 10, 2024. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.