Located in our Boulder, Colorado office
Position Description:
The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) seeks a policy analyst to support our efforts to perform policy evaluation and contribute to the knowledge base that our member agencies and offices rely upon. The ideal candidate for this position will be enthusiastic about state policy in higher education and how policy can be used to improve equity and outcomes for all students, have strong research skills, and understand how data can inform policy and practice.
SHEEO serves the chief executives of statewide governing, policy, and coordinating boards of postsecondary education and their staffs. Founded in 1954, SHEEO promotes an environment that values higher education and its role in ensuring the equitable education of all Americans, regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic factors. Together with its members, SHEEO aims to achieve this vision by equipping state higher education executive officers and their staffs with the tools to effectively advance the value of higher education, promoting public policies and academic practices that enable all Americans to achieve success in the 21st century, and serving as an advocate for state higher education leadership. For more information, visit www.sheeo.org.
Key Responsibilities:
SHEEO is seeking diverse applicants who are qualified to:
- Use data to create actionable, policy-relevant insights for state systems of higher education.
- Leverage statistical software packages to create reproducible analyses and accompanying data visualizations, descriptive tables, and trend comparisons.
- Identify and promote best policies and practices related to closing equity gaps in higher education.
- Communicate empirical findings to non-technical audiences through presentations, reports, white papers, and policy briefs.
- Develop and maintain knowledge regarding current activities and future trends in public higher education.
- Represent SHEEO at state, regional, and national meetings and conferences.
- Respond to information requests and provide other member services.
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Experience and Qualifications:
- A master’s degree in a relevant field or at least two years of experience in a role that requires similar skills.
- Experience managing and working with data from a variety of higher education and related sources (e.g., IPEDS, ACS, BLS, etc.).
- Fluency in advanced statistical software packages (e.g., Stata, R, Python).
- Ability to establish priorities and coordinate work on multiple projects simultaneously.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- An identifiable commitment to advancing equity and student success in higher education.
- Experience collaborating with others on empirical research projects.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Ability to work with large administrative datasets efficiently and accurately.
- Experience conducting rigorous education, social science, public policy, or related research.
- Strong Stata skills.
- Experience working with student-level data.
- Enthusiasm and curiosity for state higher education policy and the data used to inform policy-related conversations.
Salary:
Salary will be commensurate with the successful candidate’s level of education and experience. SHEEO provides excellent staff benefits.
Term:
This is a two-year contract position. Contract may be renewed or extended at the end of the two-year term.
Application Process:
Please apply by email to dszczesny@sheeo.org and include the following:
- A letter describing how you meet the position’s requirements addressed to Dr. David Tandberg, SHEEO, 3035 Center Green Drive, #100, Boulder, CO 80301.
- Résumé or curriculum vitae.
- Names and contact information of three professional references. (References will not be contacted until you have given permission for us to do so.)
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but full consideration will be given to those received by January 22, 2021. This position is based in Boulder, Colorado. SHEEO is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and believes that recruiting and developing a diverse and inclusive staff is vital to the organization’s success.
