Accreditation & Assessment Coordinator

SUMMARY:

The Accreditation & Assessment Coordinator is responsible for organizing and coordinating activities and improvements related to accreditation, assessment, regulatory compliance, and institutional effectiveness throughout the University. This position fosters a culture of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and accreditation readiness by supporting academic program accreditation processes as well as compliance with the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and other programmatic and governing bodies. The Coordinator serves as a key resource for faculty, staff, and administration in the areas of accreditation and institutional assessment regulatory compliance.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.    Organizes, coordinates, and leads activities and improvements related to accreditation and assessment compliance. 2.    Responsible for assuring the monitoring of action plans in order to sustain improvements and ensure accountability across all accreditation and assessment compliance -related initiatives. 3.    Collaborates with all staff, clinical professionals, and administrative leadership to foster a culture of accreditation readiness, thereby assuring accreditation and assessment compliance. 4.    Harmonizes improvement efforts with other activities in the organization utilizing knowledge of accreditation standards. 5.    Conducts clinical audits, assessments, and chart reviews to identify accreditation and assessment compliance issues; conducts tracers and identifies accreditation and assessment compliance issues at the unit, department, and organizational level, providing timely and actionable feedback to faculty, staff, and administration. 6.    Collects, enters, aggregates, and trends tracer findings, and presents results to units, departments, and leadership; develops targets and improvement plans when necessary; utilizes data from a variety of sources to identify opportunities to improve accreditation and assessment compliance systems. 7.    Conducts or directs the internal investigation of accreditation and assessment compliance issues; maintains documentation of compliance activities, including accreditation and assessment documentation and reporting; and assists academic leadership with files appropriate compliance and academic regulatory reports with regulatory agencies. 8.    Keeps academic leadership abreast of requirements by writing and communicating guidelines; and analyzes and updates existing compliance policies and related documentation. 9.    In collaboration with the AVP and academic leadership, prepares reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information; ensures the accurate preparation and submission of mandatory accreditation and assessment reports for government and programmatic bodies. 10.  Coordinates institutional assessment initiatives and critically analyzes progress toward accreditation and assessment goals; collects and compiles institutional data to support internal operations and accreditation processes. 11.  Updates meaningful dashboards to help monitoring and tracking accreditation activity, ensuring adequacy of correspondence with accrediting agencies, writing accreditation reports, planning and executing accreditation site team visits, and monitoring accreditation-related issues in higher education 12.  Collects and coordinates internal academic regulatory and compliance data, including accreditation and assessment data, with other departments; implements policies, procedures, and systems to provide administrative support to departments. 13.  Acts as a resource for faculty, staff and, and academic affairs administration in the area of continuous quality improvement. 14.  Responsible for other reasonable and related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

COMPETENCIES:

To perform the job successfully, an individual must be dependable and demonstrate strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills with the ability to interact effectively with students, faculty, staff, and external stakeholders. The successful candidate will have strong data analysis acumen. The individual must be able to work well under pressure, remain flexible within a team environment, and exercise discretion in handling confidential or sensitive matters. The Coordinator must communicate compliance and accreditation requirements with diplomacy and clarity, and demonstrate initiative with the ability to work independently when needed. Key competencies include: Organization, Relationship Building, Written Communication, Presentations, Planning, Coordination, Data Analysis, Strategic Planning, and Regulatory Compliance.

QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Listed below are the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for this position, as well as Physical Demands and Work Environment considerations. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education: Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in higher education, institutional research, healthcare administration, compliance, or a related field, or a degree consistent with the mission of the institution. A master’s degree is preferred.

Experience: Minimum of 4–6 years of experience in accreditation, institutional effectiveness, compliance, quality assurance, or a comparable combination of education and experience. Significant experience in higher education is preferred. Strong experience with HLC or another U.S. regional/institutional accrediting agency and specialized program accreditors is strongly desired.

Knowledge & Skills: Demonstrated proficiency in regulatory requirements, risk management, compliance monitoring, data analysis, program evaluation, database management, report writing, and strategic planning. Strong ability to read, analyze, and interpret regulatory documents, professional journals, technical procedures, and governmental regulations. Ability to write comprehensive reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from diverse audiences.

Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully, an individual must have proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), database management systems, and data reporting tools. Experience with compliance tracking systems and institutional research databases is preferred.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: Required as appropriate to degree or specialization possessed. Professional certification in compliance, institutional effectiveness, or accreditation (e.g., Certified Healthcare Compliance, SCCE) is a plus.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:  The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and to use hands to type on a computer, operate office equipment, and handle documents and files. Must be able to talk and hear to answer phones and when assisting others. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with hands and arms, and to stoop or kneel. The employee must occasionally lift objects weighing 10–30 pounds. Close vision is needed to use a computer.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:  The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The work environment is characteristic of a normal office setting. The noise level is usually moderate.

NOTE: This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed. The employee will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisor.

An employee is expected to assist and provide coverage for coworkers during peak periods, vacation days, or sick days.