Assistant Director, Digital Transformation for Student Success (DTSS)

Summary

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) seeks an Assistant Director, Digital Transformation for Student Success (DTSS) to manage the delivery of projects focused on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve the quality and efficiency of credit transfer processes for students and institutions.

The Assistant Director will build and facilitate a community of practice, bringing together multiple university, commercial, and organizational stakeholders committed to simplifying the process so that more students can successfully transfer credits to four-year universities, including APLU member institutions. Through community-based problem solving, the Assistant Director will also help support the documentation, sharing, and scaling of state transfer policies and practices that can be disseminated and scaled across the higher education community.

Successful candidates will have 3-5 years of progressive experience in the field of transfer, strong project planning, management, and budgeting experience, as well as effective relationship management abilities suited to working with a broad range of individuals and constituencies in the AI Transfer and Articulation Infrastructure Network (ATAIN) across the United States. They will be effective communicators and collaborators. This full-time position is based in Washington, DC. The incumbent must be eligible to work in the United States and reside in Washington, DC, Maryland, or Virginia. For more information, please consult www.aplu.org.

Background

APLU is a membership organization that provides advocacy and support to land-grant and public research colleges and universities. fosters a community of university leaders collectively working to advance the mission of public research universities. The association’s membership consists of more than 250 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations spanning across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories, Canada, and Mexico. Annually, member campuses enroll 5.4 million undergraduates and 1.5 million graduate students, award 1.5 million degrees, employ 1.4 million faculty and staff, and conduct $67 billion in university-based research.

ATAIN is a groundbreaking national initiative supercharging credit mobility and college transfer success for learners across the country. By harnessing cutting-edge AI technology through a software platform called CourseWise, ATAIN aims to eliminate the frustration, friction, and uncertainty of credit transfer and empower institutions to best serve their students.

Responsibilities

• The Assistant Director will support the delivery of the AI Transfer and Articulation Infrastructure Network (ATAIN) and other Digital Transformation for Student Success (DTSS) projects. They will work closely with DTSS leadership, university partners, state systems, and ATAIN collaborators. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Assist with developing, implementing, and managing project planning processes, work plans, and activity schedules to meet project objectives and deliverables and reporting progress to all stakeholders, internal and external.
• In coordination with the Vice President, DTSS, work with ATAIN partners and institutions in four to six selected states.
• Create, facilitate, and maintain online communities of practice for the entire transfer project, which may each include state, executive sponsor, articulation officers, academic faculty, and/or staff communities.
• Coordinate with ATAIN partners to plan, organize, and facilitate in-person, virtual, and hybrid meetings with institutions that are implementing AI tools to improve credit transfer efficiencies. Support DTSS leadership with developing agendas for meetings and workshops.
• Assist with design and implementation of project requirements, including the collection of higher education institutional data. Collect, collate, interpret, analyze, and present results of university data to effectively evaluate programs and provide interpretation of findings at internal and external meetings, conferences and other convenings.
• Prepare, review, and edit project reports, research briefs, and other documents, ensuring they are complete, current, and stored appropriately.
• Coordinate and assist the DTSS team, in accordance with APLU grants management policies, to track and maintain accurate project financial and budgetary records and support the development, management, and tracking of DTSS contracts. Compare and analyze project expenditures to project budget(s).
• Effectively monitor and update DTSS digital tools and resources, including but not limited to the website, the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and project management software.
• Collaborate with APLU’s Office of Public Affairs to develop communication strategies to report on completion of key project milestones and outcomes to media and other outlets.
• Effectively coordinate and collaborate with DTSS and APLU program staff, university partners, network partners, grantors, subcontractors, and vendors as appropriate.
• Participate as an integral member of the Digital Transformation for Student Success (DTSS) and Academic Affairs teams as well as of APLU, and contribute to a supportive, welcoming, and collegial workplace.
• Perform other duties as assigned to advance the team, the Office of Academic Affairs, and mission of APLU.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MA/MS).
• A minimum of three to five years of progressive experience in transfer that would include project planning, implementation, management, partner collaboration and outcome documentation.
• Experience with student transfer between institutions (e.g., registrar’s office, advising, articulation agreements, academic program coordination, student support, institutional coordination, etc.).
• Familiarity with some of the following: transfer technology and digital processes, student information systems, educational technology enabled tools, digital learning, digital transformation moving from analog to digital systems, digital workflow design, AI enabled tools for transfer, etc.
• Experience in creating and managing projects, production timelines, and project budgets.
• Strong communication, presentation, facilitation, including leading productive in‑person and virtual meetings and workshops. Experience, ability, and desire to interface with all levels of university leaders.
• Ability to prioritize work effectively and adjust to multiple and competing demands.
• Ability to provide direction to and leadership of indirect reports. Demonstrated success working in a matrixed professional environment.
• Experience supporting qualitative and quantitative research or program evaluation.
• Experience and interest in leveraging AI tools. Highly skilled in the use of Office 365 (including Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, and PowerPoint) and Zoom. Experience with Dynamics, Salesforce, Marketo, or a similar customer relationship management system preferred. Experience with event management software, preferably Cvent, is a plus.
• Commitment to the mission of APLU.
• Ability to travel within the United States approximately 6-10 times per year, including over weekends.

APLU offers employees a flexible work environment and a competitive benefits package, including 15 paid holidays, paid annual leave, paid sick leave, a 10% retirement contribution (no employee contribution required), medical/dental/vision plans, a commuter benefit, employer-paid disability & long-term care coverage, a wellness benefit, paid professional development/educational assistance, and more!