Chief Data and Governance Strategist; University Dean

Chief Data and Governance Strategist (University Dean)

The City University of New York's (CUNY) Office of Applied Research, Evaluation, and Data Analytics (OAREDA) seeks a Chief Data and Governance Strategist (CDGS) to provide strategic leadership for the University's enterprise data strategy, governance, analytics, institutional research, assessment, and responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). The position supports institutional effectiveness, student success, planning, evaluation, and evidence-based decision-making through trusted data, modern architecture, and actionable analytics.

Reporting to the Senior University Dean of OAREDA, the CDGS will oversee a portfolio of enterprise data products, including a centralized student support program data warehouse, and guide the development of data resources that transform complex institutional information into meaningful insights for Central Office and campus leaders. As a senior advisor to executive leadership, the CDGS will provide strategic guidance on institutional data, analytics, governance, assessment, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies in support of University priorities.

The role combines strategic vision with executive leadership of a team of professionals to advance data governance, strengthen institutional research and assessment capabilities, maintain and improve data infrastructure, develop and integrate new data resources, optimize data processes, expand analytics capabilities, support responsible AI adoption, and foster a culture of evidence-based decision-making across the University.

Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Lead the implementation of CUNY's multi-year enterprise data strategy and guide its ongoing refinement in alignment with evolving academic, operational, and strategic priorities.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to Central Office and campus leadership on institutional data, analytics, governance, assessment, institutional effectiveness, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies.
• Champion the integration of analytics into institutional planning, assessment, program evaluation, and decision-making.
• Advance enterprise data governance practices that promote data quality, stewardship, accountability, transparency, accessibility, privacy, security, and responsible use of institutional data.
• Maintain, refine, and advance policies, standards, governance frameworks, and best practices that support effective and consistent data management across the University.
• Ensure compliance with applicable privacy, security, regulatory, and institutional requirements governing student and institutional data.
• Expand and enhance the use of quantitative, qualitative, and unstructured data to improve student success, institutional effectiveness, and organizational performance.
• Lead vendor management and procurement activities related to data management, analytics, and AI solutions, including defining requirements, assessing risks, evaluating proposals, and ensuring measurable value through pilots, proofs of concept, and contractual partnerships.
• Monitor developments in higher education, analytics, data governance, and emerging technologies and recommend strategic investments, upgrades, and process improvements.
• Lead the implementation of OAREDA's established AI vision and roadmap for institutional analytics and decision support and refine the roadmap as emerging technologies and organizational needs warrant.

• Provide leadership and direction for institutional research, assessment, program evaluation, and performance measurement initiatives across the University.
• Support the development of analytical frameworks, outcome measures, and reporting tools that inform strategic planning, institutional effectiveness, and accountability efforts.
• Collaborate with University stakeholders to evaluate outcomes, identify trends, measure performance, and support evidence-based policy development.
• Oversee the development, integration, and optimization of enterprise data systems, including ETL pipelines, data warehouses, reporting environments, and visualization platforms.
• Plan and lead the expansion of reporting data resources from Student Information Systems, Learning Management Systems, student success technologies, and other institutional data sources.
• Ensure the reliability, accuracy, integrity, documentation, and accessibility of institutional data resources.
• Guide the development of dashboards, scorecards, and interactive reporting tools that support performance monitoring, assessment, strategic planning, and operational effectiveness.
• Direct the design and implementation of AI-ready and LLM-ready data architecture that enables secure, reliable, and governed access to institutional data.

• Support the responsible adoption of AI technologies to improve operational…