Senior Director, Higher Education Policy Research

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is seeking to add an experienced Senior Director, Higher Education Policy Research to its team.

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Higher Education Policy Research is a key member of the research team at ADEA, focusing on producing educational research products for the Association and its membership. This position reports to the Senior Vice President of Policy and Education Research under the Office of Educational Services (OES). The Senior Director of Higher Education Policy Research must have a strong understanding of higher education policy at both the state and federal levels, particularly regarding its impact on policies related to the health education professions. It is essential for the senior director to lead higher education policy research projects and develop products that effectively communicate policy trends. This includes presenting information in various formats, such as visuals and storytelling, to meet the needs of our membership.

As a key member of the OES research team, you will actively support the research programmatic activities of ADEA by executing higher education policy research activities. Major activities include but are not limited to leading several ADEA policy research projects focused on higher education. The Senior Director of Higher Education Policy Research will also be responsible for serving as a policy expert, assisting in the development of advocacy and government relations materials and identifying policy research areas for growth and/or expansion in higher education. The Senior Director will draft policy positions, conduct policy research analysis, give presentations on behalf of the Association; coordinate the production of higher education policy research papers, issue briefs, talking points and other written and visual materials; organize convenings and support OES relations with ADEA members, key collaborators and partners.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the assigned higher education policy research programs conducted within the OES research team.
• Manage all aspects of higher education policy research projects from establishing and implementing project timelines, conducting any necessary literature review, policy review and/or data collection, creating any necessary surveys/ data collection tool, processing and analyzing the data, to report writing, creation of association reports, issue briefs, white papers, fact sheets, journal articles, summaries and other written materials and interactive visual reports.
• Oversee the approval process for projects involving primary data collection through the Institutional Review Board (IRB), an ethical review board that ensures the protection of human subjects' rights during their participation in research studies.
• Identify, monitor, evaluate and analyze trends in national and state higher education policies, factors and actions that have the potential to impact dental and health professions education.
• Collaborate with the Vice President, Allied Dental Education and Faculty Development on the policy research projects focused on allied dental education, including but not limited to tasks such as timelines of projects, any necessary data collection questionnaire and distribution, the resulting reports and the communication materials for the release of the products of the projects.
• Oversee the review process for data collection tools used in higher education policy research projects, instructional materials, project products and communication materials with supervisors, colleagues, and ADEA members.
• Work with colleagues in the Office of Communications and Marketing on the design of the managed projects and the development of the release strategy.
• Present results of projects at different events and meetings on dental education, higher education and health professions, as requested.
• Develop data documentation for higher education research projects, in collaboration with the SVP, Policy and Education Research and the Data Analyst.
• Respond to requests from ADEA members and colleagues regarding policy research in higher education.
• Communicate any issues encountered and provide suggestions for solutions in a timely manner.
• Facilitate communication and interactions essential for effective project management with the supervisor, OES Senior Chief, colleagues, communication department staff, school representatives, and administr