Job Title: RESEARCH & DATA INTEGRATION - Illinois Board of Higher Education, Springfield, IL

Deadline Date: June 1, 2009

Starting Date:

Institution: A staff position is available at the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE). The Board provides state-level coordination for Illinois’ 12 public university campuses, 48 community college campuses, and 120 private institutions, and recently approved the Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success to guide the development of postsecondary education in Illinois for the next decade. To learn more about the Board, visit its Web site.

Job Duties: Working collaboratively with IBHE staff and researchers from outside the agency, this position will design and carry out studies and develop reports that inform the Board’s policy decisions implementing the Public Agenda. Primary duties include:

• Collaborating with institutional research staff at colleges and universities, research staff at other state agencies, and education policy groups to ensure data from various sources are available and can be utilized to support policy research;
• Facilitating, on behalf of IBHE, the development of a statewide, integrated, longitudinal educational data system; and
• Collecting and analyzing data to compile (prepare) required annual statistical (data) reports.

Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have a doctoral degree in education policy analysis, higher education, or a social sciences discipline and demonstrated proficiency in designing and conducting policy-related education research. Candidates with a Master’s degree and three or more years of progressive experience in higher education research using longitudinal student data will also be considered. Strong project management skills combined with quantitative analytical skills and demonstrated expertise in accessing, manipulating, and interpreting large, longitudinal student-level data sets are required. Experience with IPEDS and other national education and economics data sources is highly desirable. Candidates should be proficient with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access and Power Point) and SPSS in a Windows environment. Candidates must be able to communicate complex ideas and research findings clearly and concisely, work well with minimal direction, and be flexible to modify responsibilities as necessary.

Salary/Benefits:

To Apply: Applicants must submit a letter of application, a current resume (including the names and contact information of three professional references), and one analytical study. To ensure full consideration, application materials should be submitted by June 1, 2009 to:

Peggy Podlasek
Illinois Board of Higher Education
431 East Adams, Second Floor
Springfield, IL 62701
or via e-mail

EEO/AA: An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer