| Department: |
Distance and Continuing Education |
Effective Date: |
August, 2007 |
| Grade: |
USG 8-10 |
Reports to: |
Associate Director, Systems |
General Accountability
Reporting to the Associate Director, Systems and working in conjunction with each unit in DCE as necessary, the consultant will be accountable for:
- general needs assessment, investigation, implementation, documentation and ongoing maintenance of educational technologies and business-process technologies. The ongoing pursuit of these general technology-related activities is essential for the growth and stability of Distance and Continuing Education courses and processes.
- research, advising, and participating in the implementation, testing, support of interactive web course elements such as Learning/Content management systems, online collaboration tools, customized self-testing and review elements when required.
- providing clear, complete and accessible documentation to facilitate the use and maintenance of and training in DCE technologies
The DCE office helps to facilitate the evolution of teaching and learning as it applies primarily to distance education and is doing so through a range of consulting and advocacy with distance education instructors and through ongoing communications with Instructional Technology and Media Services in IST as well as the Centre for Teaching Excellence. DCE is also accepting directional guidance from both the Distance Education Advisory Committee and the Continuing Education Advisory Committee
Nature and Scope
Technical Expertise:
- Software and systems design, including database design and administration, development and documentation
- New software assessment and implementation
- Software, data and application maintenance, including scheduling, updates and revisions
- Support of existing office technologies such as the assignment upload system, student assignment fax system, DE and CE websites, CRM and registration systems
Problem Solving:
- Work in conjunction with all DCE units and ITMS staff to troubleshoot technical issues related to online course delivery
- Consult with SISP support staff and interact with Student Information Systems as needed
- Consult with faculty and DCE staff in the use of technologies to overcome instructional bottlenecks where and when required
- Provide 3rd tier support in diagnosing and resolving problems related to the use of these technologies
- Provide support for non-instructional technologies within the office
- Work in conjunction with the DCE IST liaison to coordinate, track and resolve problem reports initiated by DCE staff
Training and Communication:
- Assess the training requirements of faculty and DCE staff in the use of technologies used in DCE courses and related Learning/Content Management Systems (LCMS), as well as general office technologies
- Develop documentation and collaborate on in-house training programs to meet the assessed needs
- Provide effective communications to the DCE office in regard to technological best practices, IST communications and events, software/vendor notices
- Attend and participate in IST and CTE activities and liaise with each unit
Organizational Skills
- Adhere to industry best practices for documentation management
- Perform ongoing analysis of existing technology processes for potential efficiencies
- Practice good time management when dealing with multiple projects and activities
Statistical Data
Number of annual registrations in DE courses |
17,000 |
Number of CE contacts/registrants |
11,000 |
Number of students taking DE courses |
9,600 |
Number of DCE courses |
225 |
Number of office computers supported |
50 |
Number of office staff supported |
35 |
Number of DCE web/data servers |
5 |
Specific Accountabilities
Working with other members of the DCE team, the consultant will:
- develop, maintain, assess, document educational and business-process software as required
- provide technical assistance, documentation, and support for DCE staff, instructors, and their teaching teams to facilitate the use of educational web technologies such as: LCMS tools and conventions, collaboration tools, various hardware formats, multimedia, etc…
- implement, support and assist in training DCE staff in using workflow support technologies for the office as required
- provide technical advice for course design and course technologies where appropriate
- contribute to the planning for and provision of support in web-based DE and CE courses
- from a technology perspective, investigate, assess, document and communicate findings with respect to new or potential teaching and learning technologies as related to the delivery and maintenance of web-based courses.
- work with DCE staff and instructors on matters related to the technical administration of web-based courses when needed
- keep up to date with office hardware and software needs and inventory
- undertaking other duties, as assigned by the Associate Director
Working Conditions
Much of the time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with frequent opportunity to move about. Located in a comfortable indoor area. There is a frequent need to give close attention to various stimuli such as written material and information given verbally to co-workers. The work is varied. There are deadline pressures, while at the same time there is a demand for thoroughness and accuracy. As we work in a production environment that thousands of users depend on hourly, occasional “crisis” events which require immediate attention and action are not unheard of.
