Application Guide
How to Apply for Director, Impact & Evaluation
at Campus Compact
🏢 About Campus Compact
Campus Compact is a national coalition of over 1,000 colleges and universities dedicated to advancing the public purposes of higher education. Working here means joining a mission-driven organization that shapes how institutions develop students' civic skills and build equitable community partnerships. The remote-first culture and collaborative network offer unique opportunities to influence higher education policy and practice at scale.
About This Role
As Director of Impact & Evaluation, you'll lead the evaluation strategy for all Campus Compact programs, from designing frameworks to translating data into compelling narratives for diverse stakeholders. This role is central to the organization's strategic plan, ensuring evidence informs decision-making and demonstrating the impact of civic engagement in higher education. You'll also build evaluation capacity across the team, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve meeting with program leads to refine evaluation questions for a new initiative, then analyzing survey data from member campuses and drafting a dashboard for leadership. You might also facilitate a virtual training for staff on using evidence to improve community partnerships, followed by a call with an external evaluator to align metrics across a multi-institutional project.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Campus Compact Is Looking For
- Master's degree in program evaluation, public policy, social science, or related field with 5+ years of applied evaluation experience, preferably in higher education or civic engagement contexts.
- Proven ability to design and lead mixed-methods evaluations independently, including developing KPIs, dashboards, and reporting tools for diverse audiences (e.g., leadership, staff, funders, member institutions).
- Strong coaching and training skills to build evaluation capacity among non-specialists, with experience creating user-friendly tools and facilitating workshops.
- Excellent communication skills to translate complex findings into actionable recommendations and compelling narratives that resonate with academic and community partners.
📝 Tips for Applying to Campus Compact
Tailor your resume to highlight evaluation leadership, not just participation—use phrases like 'designed and led' and quantify impact (e.g., 'developed KPIs for 5 programs, improving data-driven decisions').
In your cover letter, explicitly connect your evaluation experience to Campus Compact's mission of civic engagement and community partnerships, using examples from higher education or nonprofit settings.
Demonstrate familiarity with Campus Compact's strategic plan and recent initiatives (e.g., Civic Action Plans, Newman Civic Fellows) by referencing them in your application materials.
Prepare a portfolio or one-page summary of a past evaluation project, including the framework, data collection methods, and how findings were used to inform decisions or improve programs.
Address the remote work expectation by mentioning your experience with virtual collaboration tools (e.g., Zoom, Asana, Slack) and how you maintain team cohesion and stakeholder engagement remotely.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your experience designing and leading evaluations that translate data into actionable recommendations for diverse stakeholders, especially in higher education or civic engagement.', 'How you have built evaluation capacity in others through training, coaching, or tool development, fostering a culture of learning.', "Specific examples of dashboards or reporting tools you've created that improved organizational decision-making or communicated impact to funders and partners.", "Your alignment with Campus Compact's mission and your understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities in measuring civic engagement outcomes."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Review Campus Compact's current strategic plan (available on their website) to understand their priorities, KPIs, and how evaluation aligns with their goals.
- → Read about their signature programs (e.g., Newman Civic Fellows, Civic Action Plans) and recent impact reports to see how they currently measure and communicate success.
- → Explore their blog or news section for recent challenges or innovations in civic engagement evaluation, which you can reference in your application.
- → Look into their membership structure and the types of institutions involved (community colleges, research universities, etc.) to tailor your examples to their diverse context.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic application that doesn't reference Campus Compact's specific programs or mission—this role requires genuine interest in civic engagement.
- Overemphasizing quantitative methods without showing ability to use qualitative data or mixed methods, which are critical for capturing community impact.
- Failing to demonstrate experience with capacity-building or training—the job description explicitly requires coaching staff, so highlight any teaching or mentoring roles.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Campus Compact!