Associate Vice President Institutional Strategy and Planning

Associate Vice President for Institutional Strategy and Planning

The Associate Vice President for Institutional Strategy and Planning (ISP) serves as the university’s senior leader for institutional intelligence, strategic analysis, and evidence-informed planning. Reporting to the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff, the AVP leads institutional research, strategic planning support, policy analysis, benchmarking, and institutional effectiveness. The role helps university leadership assess performance, anticipate emerging trends, and strengthen the university’s competitive positioning in research, education, enrollment, and reputation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as a strategic advisor to university leadership on institutional priorities, performance, and long-range planning.
• Lead analytical efforts supporting strategic planning, academic growth, research competitiveness, enrollment strategy, and institutional effectiveness.
• Provide executive leadership with decision-ready analysis, benchmarking, forecasting, and environmental scanning.
• Assess emerging trends in higher education, research funding, demographics, workforce needs, and public policy that may affect institutional strategy and positioning.
• Lead the university’s institutional research, reporting, and strategic analytics functions.
• Ensure the integrity and timely completion of all federal, state, accreditation, and external reporting requirements.
• Oversee development of institutional dashboards, performance indicators, benchmarking studies, and executive reports.
• Advance the university’s capacity for predictive analysis, scenario planning, and data-informed decision-making.
• Monitor institutional peers, market conditions, rankings, and emerging academic and research trends to inform university strategy.
• Support academic program planning and portfolio development through market analysis and labor‑force assessment.
• Identify strategic opportunities and risks affecting institutional reputation, enrollment, research growth, and operational priorities.
• Help position the university as a nationally competitive and analytically sophisticated public research institution.
• Lead and develop teams responsible for institutional research, strategic analysis, and reporting.
• Partner across academic and administrative units to strengthen institutional planning, data literacy, and analytical capabilities.
• Communicate complex findings clearly and effectively to executive, academic, and operational audiences.
• Represent the university in external benchmarking, survey, and professional organizations.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and ten (10) years of related experience.
• Significant leadership experience in institutional research, strategic planning, analytics, or related functions within higher education or similarly complex organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex data and external information into actionable strategic insight, including experience with institutional dashboards, business intelligence platforms, and data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
• Experience supporting executive leadership and enterprise-level decision‑making.
• Experience leading collaborative, multidisciplinary teams.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Graduate degree in a related field.

Knowledge,

Skills and Abilities

• Strong understanding of higher education strategy, institutional performance metrics, research competitiveness, and enrollment dynamics.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and relationship‑building skills.

Characteristics of the Successful Candidate

• Intellectually curious and strategically minded.
• Analytically rigorous while remaining pragmatically action-oriented.
• Capable of connecting institutional mission, market realities, and analytical insight.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and rapidly evolving environments.
• Adept at building relationships and institutional trust.
• Able to translate sophisticated analysis into compelling and accessible narratives for decision-makers.
• Motivated by helping the university anticipate and navigate emerging opportunities and challenges.

EEO Statement

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