Swarthmore College has retained Isaacson, Miller to assist with this important recruitment. Review of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the search is completed. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and applications, including CVs and cover letters, should be submitted via the Isaacson, Miller website: https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/swarthmore-college/assistant-vice-president-institutional-effectiveness-research

Dan Rodas, Partner

Amble Ryan, Managing Associate

Steph Simon, Senior Associate

Katanya Cathcart, Senior Search Coordinator

Isaacson, Miller

Swarthmore College, one of the nation's leading liberal arts institutions, seeks a strategic, collaborative, and intellectually curious institutional research leader to serve as its next Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Research, and Assessment (AVP IERA). This individual in this role will balance innovation with stewardship, technical sophistication with relationship-building, and long-term vision with practical execution

The next AVP IERA will join Swarthmore at a pivotal period of transition: The College expects to announce its next president by early 2027, and it is in the process of implementing Workday for Human Resource, Finance, and Student operations, and will be evaluating the future of the platform's data, reporting, and analytics environment on an ongoing basis. Together, these transitional moments offer the incoming AVP IERA an exceptional opportunity to help shape institutional priorities and strengthen the College's capacity for strategic planning and decision-making. At the same time, Swarthmore continues to advance important goals related to student success, enrollment, financial sustainability, philanthropy, assessment, accreditation, and long-range planning. The AVP IERA will play a critical role in helping the College strengthen its information ecosystem, leverage emerging technologies, and further embed evidence-informed decision-making across the institution.

The next AVP IERA will guide the evolution of Swarthmore's analytics and reporting environment, strengthen coordination among distributed data and analytics functions, advance data governance efforts, and help shape the College's approach to AI and other emerging technologies. They will also oversee institutional effectiveness initiatives, assessment activities, accreditation planning and compliance efforts, and federal reporting requirements while helping position the College for its next comprehensive NECHE accreditation review in 2036.

The ideal candidate will bring significant experience in institutional research, institutional effectiveness, assessment, analytics, or a related field; a demonstrated ability to support complex organizational decision-making; and a collaborative leadership style that inspires trust across a wide range of constituencies. As a trusted advisor to the President, Cabinet, Board, faculty, and staff, the AVP IERA will help ensure that data, assessment, and evidence-informed planning continue to support Swarthmore's pursuit of academic excellence and institutional success.

Swarthmore College is committed to creating a culture of respect and inclusion so that every member of our community feels a sense of belonging. We actively seek and welcome candidates with diverse perspectives and experiences, exceptional qualifications, and a demonstrable commitment to a more inclusive society and world. Swarthmore College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on any identity or characteristic protected by law or College Policy.