The Translational Data Analytics Institute (TDAI) seeks an Academic Program Services Senior Consultant with data analytics/data science experience to lead TDAI’s education, training, and outreach programs functional area. This position will serve in a supervisory role to 1 staff member, as well as 1-2 undergraduate students and 1 graduate teaching assistant (GTA). Responsibilities of this position fall into two primary areas: (1) MTDA Program and (2) Broadening Participation in Data Science.
MTDA Program : The Master’s degree in Translational Data Analytics (MTDA) Program is an interdisciplinary, online degree program that serves to upskill and reskill working professionals. The program consists of several partnering units with various roles: the program is housed in the Graduate School, is administered by TDAI, and is taught by faculty and instructors from the departments of Computer Science and Engineering (College of Engineering), Statistics (Arts and Sciences College, ASC), and Design (ASC), as well as the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) and TDAI. The Academic Program Services Senior Consultant position provides leadership for the MTDA via administering the program, teaching courses, and ensuring students are supported throughout the duration of their studies in the program.
Administrative leadership : The Academic Program Services Senior Consultant serves as the administrative leader of the MTDA and, as such, they are directly involved in and provide oversight to the entire program, and they serve as the TDAI liaison to partnering units and their respective leads/chairs. They serve as the chair of the MTDA Faculty Advisory Committee consisting of faculty representatives from all six partnering units, a committee which is responsible for setting and evaluating program learning objectives, admissions requirements, courses, and policies. The Academic Program Services Senior Consultant engages with the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI) Office of Distance Education and e-Learning (ODEE) for partnering departments to access OTDI instructional design resources for course development. In addition to developing, tracking, and reporting metrics, the position also designs and conducts program evaluations to ensure continuous program improvement and student success. This position is responsible for soliciting annual feedback on the program from instructors, partnering units, and students, and conducts a program assessment/evaluation every 3 years.
This position teams with TDAI’s business manager to develop and refine the financial operating model to ensure that it is sustainable for the program and its partnering units. To that end, they are involved in negotiating terms of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with senior administrators from partnering units on a 3-year renewal cycle.
Recruitment, admissions, and enrollment : The Academic Program Services Senior Consultant works directly with ODEE on marketing content and approaches for recruiting students. They and/or their staff host regular information sessions during recruitment season to address questions from potential applicants. They also provide supervision and oversight for staff responsible for other aspects of recruitment, including advising prospective students in the application process, policies, and financial aid.
For the admissions process, the position designs rubrics for evaluation of candidate materials and interviews. They also serve to review applicant materials and interview candidates, and to vote on admission of candidates.
They work with partnering units to forecast and plan enrollment so that the departments can appropriately staff their respective courses with instructors and GTAs. They also supervise staff that are responsible for enrolling students and establishing courses on the Carmen platform.
Academic and career advising : The Academic Program Services Senior Consultant serves as the primary academic advisor for students throughout their enrollment in the MTDA program. They provide support in navigating the program itself, from advising on course sequence to recommending a switch to a decelerated track (e.g., taking fewer courses at once) to supporting students who need to take a leave of absence. They work with students who are struggling with course content and may arrange tutoring via TDAI’s data science services.
This position also provides career support for those who are looking to work in a new field or to change jobs/be promoted in their current field. The career support includes connecting students with their own professional networks and accessing internship opportunities through TDAI’s data science services.
Teaching : The Academic Program Services Senior Consultant designs, develops, and teaches the 2-semester capstone courses, an experiential learning opportunity in which students address real-world challenges by applying methodologies and skills learned throughout the program. Capstone projects are secured by the Academic Program Services Senior Consultant who works with potential sponsors from industry, non-profit organizations, and other government agencies to identify challenges or questions they would like to address with datasets that they have available. (They also work with the Office of Sponsored Programs to secure appropriate sponsor agreements and work with TDAI’s business manager to ensure agreements are executed.) As the capstone instructor, they establish learning objectives for the course sequence, and design assignments and assess progress of individual students toward achieving those learning objectives throughout the semester and academic year. The position meets regularly with student project teams and their respective sponsors throughout the 2 semesters to assess project progress, review code, address questions, advise on next steps and evaluate deliverables.
Broadening Participation in Data Science : In addition to leading the MTDA program, the Academic Program Services Senior Consultant leads TDAI’s training and outreach efforts.
Training : They are responsible for exploring extramural funding opportunities, leading proposal writing, and serving as principal investigator (PI) for extramural grants to develop proof-of-concept programming for TDAI broadening participation, co-curricular programming, and professional development in support of data literacy and data science training.
Together with TDAI’s data science services team, they identify short-term projects (or internships) with community partners in which any students (including MTDA students) can gain additional hands-on experience and exposure to data science and analytics.
Outreach : This position supervises staff that direct a 2-week data science summer camp for middle school students. The summer camp offers a unique opportunity for TDAI faculty to design data science modules that can be implemented during the camp, allowing students to experience research in a way that is tangible to them. To this end, the position works directly with TDAI faculty to strengthen faculty-led proposal development through consultations and collaboration, specifically considering broadening participation, broadening impacts, and professional development not only for the TDAI research community, but also for future data scientists and data-informed citizens.
Minimum Requirements:
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Data Analytics/Data Science, Engineering Education, or Relevant Field required; Master's or Doctoral degree highly preferred.
- Required experience: At least 8 years of experience required. Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills required. Experience working with faculty in the context of an academic program and research. Experience with proposal writing and successfully securing extramural funding. 2-3 years of experience designing courses/curriculum and/or co-curricular programming. 2-3 years of experience mentoring and advising students. Experience conducting external outreach and interfacing with companies, non-profits, and/or government agencies.
- Desired experience: 12 or more years of relevant experience preferred.
The salary range for this position is $74,900 - $98,500. The actual offer will be dependent on the final candidate's experience, education, department budget, and equity.
Position Mapping:
Function: Academic Administration
Sub-function: Academic Program Services
Career Band and Level: S5
Regular 40 First Shift
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