Director of Institutional Assessment & Accreditation

Job Details

Mission and Commitment
Taylor's mission is to develop servant-leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ’s redemptive love, grace, and truth to a world in need.  As a community, Taylor faculty, staff, and students commit to living out Christ’s love and truth in the here and now. We worship together, serve one another, and grow in faith as we learn in the classroom, on the field, at chapel, and anywhere else we’re doing Life Together.

Position Summary
The Director of Institutional Assessment & Accreditation provides institutional leadership for Taylor University’s assessment and accreditation initiatives, ensuring these areas function with clarity, consistency, and alignment to the University’s mission, purposes, and strategic plan.
This role has primary responsibility for the design, implementation, and ongoing refinement of the institution’s assessment framework and accreditation activities and maintains a coherent institutional posture toward continuous improvement. The Director serves as Taylor’s primary resource and process leader for assessment and accreditation, ensuring that these functions—central to institutional effectiveness and decision-making—are well structured, well supported, and carried out with accountability and integrity.

Duties and Responsibilities

In a typical year, the role is focused roughly 45% on institutional assessment, 35% on accreditation responsibilities, and 20% on collaboration, integration, and continuous improvement work.

1. Institutional Assessment
This position provides leadership for the design, implementation, and continuous refinement of Taylor’s institutional assessment system.
Responsibilities include:

• Design and steward the institution-wide assessment framework, ensuring alignment with mission, strategic priorities, and external expectations.
• Establish and maintain annual and multi-year assessment cycles, including institutional expectations, processes, templates, and timelines.
• Ensure consistency, quality, and integrity across department-level assessment practices (academic and administrative), reviewing materials for clarity, completeness, and alignment.
• Provide authoritative guidance to faculty, staff, and administrators on assessment practices, documentation, and interpretation of evidence.
• Collaborate with Institutional Research to incorporate relevant institutional data and results into assessment processes.
• Produce concise institutional assessment summaries that synthesize trends, strengths, and areas for attention to support leadership decision-making.

2. Institutional Accreditation

This position provides primary leadership for the institutional accreditation portfolio, ensuring Taylor University meets all accreditation expectations with clarity, coherence, and integrity.
Responsibilities include:

• Serve as the Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) and primary point of contact between Taylor University and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), ensuring fulfillment of all membership obligations.
• Lead the development of accreditation narratives, evidence compilations, and institutional responses, ensuring accuracy and alignment between documentation and institutional practice.
• Ensure accreditation-related processes are coherent, timely, and strategically aligned with institutional mission and priorities.
• Communicate changes in accreditation standards, policies, or expectations to appropriate campus stakeholders.
• Coordinate and prepare the institution for accreditation visits, including institution-wide communication, briefing materials, and stakeholder readiness.
• Support specialized and program-level accreditations by providing institutional context, documentation support, coordination with Institutional Research, and timeline management.

3. Collaboration, Integration, & Continuous Improvement

This position fosters a coherent institutional approach to assessment, accreditation, and continuous improvement through collaboration, systems thinking, and clear communication.
Responsibilities include:

• Maintain and communicate an accessible, up-to-date institutional repository of assessment and accreditation expectations, timelines, templates, and completed materials.
• Collaborate with academic and administrative leaders to integrate assessment and accreditation expectations into institutional planning, review, and decision-making processes.
• Guide the institution’s early evaluation of new or revised academic program pathways, including research into applicable accreditation standards and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate institutional workflows for academic program proposals, collaborating with relevant stakeholders to ensure efficient review and approval processes.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement by supporting institutional reflection on evidence, interpretation of results, and connection of findings to action.

Typical Qualifications

• Master’s degree required; doctorate preferred.
• Experience in institutional assessment, accreditation, institutional effectiveness, or related areas (e.g., quantitative or qualitative inquiry, data-informed decision-making).
• Demonstrated success in leading institution-wide processes and initiatives with clarity, consistency, and accountability.
• Strong writing, analysis, and systems-thinking skills.
• Experience using data and assessment tools and platforms (e.g., SPSS, Qualtrics, Microsoft 365 ecosystem).
• Ability to communicate effectively with faculty, staff, and senior administrative leaders across a variety of formats and contexts.
• Ability to work independently in a strategic role with broad institutional responsibility and high levels of collaboration.