Institutional Effectiveness and Compliance Specialist

Department:
Institutional Effectiveness and Compliance

Reports to:

Student Affairs and Administration Officer

Location:

Onsite in San Jose, CA

Employment Type:

Internship / Part-Time / Full-Time

Work Authorization: CPT, OPT, or other valid U.S. work authorization

The University of San Jose (USJ) is a nonprofit private university located in the heart of Silicon Valley. USJ is committed to providing career-focused, technology-enhanced education that connects academic learning with practical industry applications.

The University continues to strengthen its academic programs, institutional operations, regulatory compliance, student services, partnerships, and community impact. USJ is approved to operate by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) and is currently pursuing initial accreditation with the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).

As a small and growing institution, USJ offers something larger universities cannot: direct exposure to the full accreditation lifecycle, close working contact with senior leadership, and the opportunity to help build institutional systems rather than simply maintain existing ones.

The Institutional Effectiveness and Compliance Specialist supports USJ's accreditation, regulatory compliance, institutional research, program development, and communications initiatives.

This is not a data-entry position. The Specialist will read accreditation standards and regulatory requirements, compare them against what the institution currently documents, identify where the two do not yet align, and help build the materials and systems that close those gaps. Much of the work involves taking information that exists in several places — catalogues, syllabi, faculty files, student records, meeting minutes — and organizing it into a coherent narrative that an external reviewer can follow.

The Specialist will also help develop institutional content and marketing materials that clearly communicate USJ's programs, achievements, and development initiatives.

USJ is candid about the nature of this role: as a growing institution, we have documentation and process gaps, and identifying them is an explicit part of the job. Issues that are found are logged, prioritized, and worked through with the support of leadership. Candidates who are comfortable raising problems directly, and who want them resolved rather than deferred, will do well here.

This role is well suited for an analytical and detail-oriented candidate with strong English writing skills and an interest in higher education administration, institutional development, compliance, and communications.

• Assist with preparation of accreditation, regulatory, and program-approval materials, including the ACCSC Self-Evaluation Report, appendices, exhibit packages, and BPPE filings.
• Research and interpret applicable accreditation standards and regulatory requirements, including the ACCSC Standards of Accreditation and California requirements under CEC §94800 et seq. and 5 CCR §71000 et seq.
• Compare current institutional documentation against applicable standards and identify gaps, inconsistencies, and missing evidence.
• Collect and organize institutional policies, academic records, program information, supporting evidence, and application documents.
• Review materials for completeness, internal consistency, and accuracy across the catalog, website, enrollment agreement, and submitted materials.
• Draft supporting narratives, document checklists, evidence files, reports, tables, and submission packages.
• Maintain a compliance issue register tracking each identified gap, its owner, remediation plan, and target completion date, and provide regular status reporting to leadership.
• Maintain accurate submission records, document histories, and version control.
• Track deadlines, review comments, outstanding items, renewals, and follow-up actions.
• Coordinate with faculty, administrators, consultants, and external organizations to obtain required information.
• Support coordination of on-site evaluation visits and follow-up responses.

• Collect, verify, and organize institutional data, including retention, graduation, and graduate employment outcomes, in the formats required by ACCSC and BPPE.
• Maintain the underlying documentation that substantiates reported figures so that any number submitted can be traced to a verifiable source.
• Support program reviews, student and graduate surveys, outcomes tracking, and institutional reporting.
• Maintain spreadsheets, project trackers, shared folders and internal databases, including records in the Populi student information system.
• Research higher education trends, comparable institutions, academic programs and workforce needs.
• Help prepare summaries, presentations, dashboards and reports for institutional planning.
• Assist with monitoring progress toward institutional and departmental goals.
• Support the development and updating of…