Strategic Accreditation & Assessment Lead

The Program Operations Director for Assessment and Accreditation is a strategic leadership role that ensures the College of Education and its programs remain compliant, effective, and sustainably accredited—especially through unit-wide accreditation maintenance and aligned assessment systems (including Watermark). The Director coordinates accreditation readiness, assessment and continuous improvement processes, state and federal reporting, and cross-program support for external accreditors such as CAEP , CACREP , CAATE , and NAEYC .

By overseeing key data functions, analytics, reporting, and technology/data-team operations in collaboration with college and university stakeholders, the position strengthens program viability, licensure/certification performance, and recruitment-supported outcomes.

Duties

• Lead unit-wide accreditation maintenance by coordinating evidence collection, process documentation, submission timelines, and unit readiness activities.
• Oversee the design, configuration, and continuous functionality of the COE assessment system (e.g., Watermark, Student, Learning, and Licensure) to ensure alignment with accreditor requirements.
• Serve as a primary resource and consultant to academic programs for accreditation requirements and processes with CAEP , CACREP , CAATE , and NAEYC , ensuring consistent interpretation and implementation.
• Manage and oversee the College’s continuous improvement assessment cycle, including HLC SLOs; the College Assessment Review Committee; and the collection and reporting of assessment results through COE
  -approved workflows.
• Coordinate development, administration, and reporting of key surveys and assessment instruments, including employer surveys for completers, educator candidate exit surveys, and university supervisor surveys.
• Oversee completion of state and federal reporting requirements and benchmarking submissions, including the AACTE PED Data Survey, Title II reporting, and related performance reporting.
• Manage compliance and reporting for NMPED requirements, including InTASC-aligned expectations, program approval components, educator preparation scorecard requirements, evaluation planning, and the educator preparation administrative code.
• Oversee annual calibration and re-certification of licensure faculty using the state-wide teacher observation rubric to ensure validity, consistency, and defensible assessment results.
• Lead internal college and institutional reporting supported by data analytics, including enrollment and SCHs, faculty workload, degrees awarded, certification test pass rates, and COE admission rates.
• Provide stewardship for COE data and technology infrastructure by coordinating the COE Data Team, supporting data integrity/traceability, and ensuring that assessment and reporting systems function reliably across the unit.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED : Master’s degree or higher in Education, Educational Leadership, Curriculum & Instruction, Assessment/Evaluation, Educational Research, or a closely related field and a minimum of five (5) years of experience in higher education and/or education accreditation/assessment.

PREFERRED : Doctoral degree in a related field.

Job Knowledge

• Requires comprehensive knowledge of higher education assessment, accreditation, institutional effectiveness, and continuous improvement practices, including applicable state and federal educator preparation requirements.
• Knowledge of accreditation standards and processes, including evidence management, outcome assessment, standards alignment, and accreditation readiness.
• Knowledge of assessment technologies and data systems used to support assessment, accreditation, reporting, and continuous improvement activities.
• Ability to…