The University of Iowa is seeking to hire a Data Literacy (DL) Project Manager to facilitate a three-year Strategic Plan initiative of the Office of Assessment, the Office of Data Analytics and Insights, and UI Libraries.  The DL Project Manager will work with project sponsors to design, pilot, and assess data literacy user education opportunities for academic leaders and administrators who are seeking to access, understand, and utilize student success data to support decision-making about academic programs. This position is a 3-year specified term position.

Working with the three initiative sponsors, the DL Project Manager will serve as a point person for a collaborative project that draws on the technical expertise of ITS data scientists and developers, the academic leadership of the Office of the Provost, and the information behavior expertise of UI Libraries.  This collaborative project will build on recent internal needs assessments conducted by the Office of Assessment and the Strategic Plan Action and Resource Committees (SPARCs) on Institutional Data and on Student Success.

The DL Project Manager will be responsible for conducting user experience or reference interviews and collaborating with campus partners to determine priorities for the next steps in advancing data literacy.  The DL Project Manager will also review strategies for increasing data literacy that are used by peer institutions, modeled by professional organizations, and offered by commercial vendors.  Based on this review of campus needs, user experiences, and tested strategies, the DL Project Manager will work with initiative sponsors to devise and pilot an array of user education opportunities.

The person in this position will also have the opportunity to:

• Coordinate the development of data literacy user education opportunities, prioritizing data literacy efforts with a focus on the university's most important academic success goals.
• Research best practices and benchmarks in data literacy development at higher education institutions.
• Conduct user experience or reference interviews and outreach to assess the usability of existing data sources, access points, and solutions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree or equivalent background and experience
• Experience (typically 1 year minimum) providing user education opportunities, including experience with
  • user experience or reference interviews
  • user-centered design
  • development of user reference and training materials
• Experience building effective relationships with a variety of users, constituents, and partners to facilitate understanding and collaboration on shared goals.
• Experience working in a higher education setting.

Demonstrates a working proficiency level in the following competencies:

• Strong oral and written communication skills to support consultation, coaching, and development of training experiences and resources.
• Knowledge of best practices for using data visualizations, dashboards, and other data dissemination tools
• Knowledge and experience with tools and techniques for planning, organizing, monitoring, and controlling projects.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in library and information science, instructional design, higher education administration, or equivalent background and experience.
•  Experience working with campus partners and data users from a diverse range of institutional roles, including faculty members and academic leadership, data specialists, and system developers.
• Ability to effectively explain complex data to audiences with varying levels of data expertise.

The University of Iowa is a flagship research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, a vibrant college community that provides affordable housing, quality K-12 education, and an active cultural community.

For more information about the University of Iowa and the Iowa City community, see https://jobs.uiowa.edu/working-at-iowa.