Research Analyst

Employer Info:

Consortium on Financing Higher Education



http://cofhe.org

Formed in the mid-1970s, the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE), located in Cambridge, MA, is an unincorporated, voluntary, institutionally-supported organization of thirty-five highly selective, private liberal arts colleges and universities, all of which are committed to meeting the full demonstrated financial need of admitted students. The Consortium’s data collection, research, and policy analysis focus on matters pertaining to access, affordability, and assessment, particularly as they relate to undergraduate education, admissions, financial aid, and the financing of higher education. All data supplied to, compiled by, and shared among the Consortium are subject to strict confidentiality guidelines.
Job Name
Research Analyst
Posting Date
01/24/2022
Brief Description
The Research Analyst will be a contributing member of a close-knit and talented team that develops and implements research projects to support the mission of the Consortium. The analyst will analyze, process, maintain, and develop research data systems, primarily on college admissions, financial aid, and surveys of students. This role provides an excellent opportunity to participate in COFHE’s research inquiries—from initial data collection through final reporting. This position is based in Cambridge, MA.
Job Category
Consortium/Association
Job Type
Full-Time
Education Level Required
Bachelors
Location City
Cambridge, MA 02142, United states
How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, a résumé/curriculum vitae, and three professional references via the MIT website. A criminal background check and professional reference checks are conducted as part of the hiring process. The offer of employment is contingent upon the satisfactory outcome of these processes. Review of candidates will continue until the position is filled.
Direct Link
Click here for more info
Job Details
This position will support COFHE’s core activities of collecting, validating, distributing, and reporting data on each stage of the student experience (i.e., admissions, financial aid, enrollment, retention, and graduation), as well as the demographics and headcounts for faculty and non-academic staff. These activities involve developing clear research objectives and questions; working with staff within COFHE and its member institutions to collect, test, clean, and refine data; processing definitional variations to make data comparable across member schools; producing descriptive and inferential analyses; synthesizing findings in numeric, graphical, and written forms; and presenting to audiences within the COFHE community in formats and styles designed to make the data useful to policy-makers. The successful candidate will be an intellectually curious, self-motivated team player committed to meeting high standards for detailed work while understanding the broader strategic foundation of COFHE’s inquiries.

This position reports to the COFHE president and receives important guidance on projects from the directors of research and research technology.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities
  • Works with the director of research on survey and research projects, as assigned.
  • Works with the director of research and technology on the development of data warehousing processes, reporting enhancements and online research tools, as assigned.
  • Works with the entire research team to monitor and improve the quality of data management and security procedures.
  • Adheres to research standards and policies governing data quality, comparability, distribution, and exchange adopted by COFHE and member schools.
  • Produces clear summaries of analytic results for distribution and web publication, and creates standard data extracts.
  • Responds to ad-hoc requests for data and analyses from member institutions.
  • Manages user credentialing and access in COFHE’s data delivery platforms, and provides technical support.
 
Required Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree.
  • A minimum of two years quantitative social science research experience.
  • Ability to work independently, manage multiple projects, and work under pressure, as well as strong interpersonal skills to work effectively in a team environment.
  • Proficiency with Excel, SPSS or Stata (or other statistical packages) and graphing tools.
  • Working knowledge of Python or other scripting language.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write research reports for different audiences.
  • Excellent analytical, technical, and data visualization skills.
  • Strong attention to detail and ability to follow through and push projects to completion amidst competing responsibilities.
  • Proficiency with data testing, management and analysis.
  • Ability to understand data content and context.
  • Ability to adapt to data management processes involving multiple programs and outputs.
  • Ability to remain flexible and adaptable to changing priorities in such a way that contributes to a project or team’s success.
  • Strong analytical, critical and strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Master's preferred.
  • Experience in survey research, institutional research, campus cost studies or other experience in the field of higher education research.
  • Proficiency with Tableau or other data visualization products.
  • Proficiency with Python or other scripting language.
  • Proficiency with SQL or other databases management systems.
  • Ability to contribute to website development and maintenance.