The Applications Specialist for Educational Technology will be a member of the design team in the Instructional Design and Development (IDD) unit at Excelsior University. Our team works closely with subject matter experts and other community and university stakeholders to develop transformative, engaging, high-quality learning experiences for our students. As the Applications Specialist, you will be responsible for using deep technical knowledge to assist with and provide guidance in the testing of educational technologies used in our academic programs. You will work closely with our LMS Administrator to ensure all technologies integrated with our LMS meet quality, security, and accessibility standards and align with pedagogical and course design best practices.

As a member of our unit, you will partner with other team members and University staff to research, evaluate, and implement new technologies, with a focus on LMS usage and integration with third-party tools. Additionally, you will participate in research and innovation projects that aim to advance the field of course design, teaching, and learning.

This is a full-time, hybrid role with a minimum of two days required per week at Excelsior's home office in Albany, NY, with the remainder of the days worked from home.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following: Other duties may be assigned. 

Participate in the assessment, planning, training and other related activities associated with the integration and management of educational technology.

Collaborate with other team members in the IDD unit and IT to evaluate, test, select, and implement new technologies.

Perform routine monitoring and maintenance of the learning management system (LMS) and associated technologies.

Support the LMS, including programming, interfacing and data conversion activities, trouble-shooting learner and system issues, and keeping current in system best practices.

Manage accounts and permissions, onboarding new users, troubleshoot problems related to educational technology.

Provide routine preparation of learning management functions and services for each term start, including term to term steps for course section integrations.

Collaborate with other team members to maintain standardized processes, manage system updates and maintenance, manage learner accounts and master course catalog.

Assist with the course creation, cloning, and flipping processes for each academic term.

Manage relationships and partner with external vendors.

Configure, customize, and optimize the LMS and LTI integrations to consistently meet the needs of our students.

Provide technical support to users and troubleshoot any issues that may arise relating to system operations, both front- and back-end; when necessary, collaborate with vendor to manage operations and respond to technical issues.

Help to implement and maintain technological resources supporting educational activities.

Maintain strong knowledge of LMS architecture and design to conduct regular system maintenance, upgrades, and testing; when necessary, research, test, and integrate new plugins, LTI integrations, and tools.

Answer queries and resolve issues with applications, escalating and closing tickets as necessary.

Develop reports on user data and system performance.

Function as an active member of the Instructional Design and Development team, contributing to larger team projects and activities. The Applications Specialist is expected to participate in team activities on a regular basis.

Collaborate with IT leadership and internal stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of online learning through the LMS and related technologies.

Implement quality assurance protocols and contingency plans for mission-critical technologies, such as the LMS.

Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able and willing to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or related field.

1-2 years in LMS administration and/or configuring and administering complex IT systems or equivalent experience.

Strong working knowledge of the learning management system Canvas.

Working knowledge of data security applications.

Experience with administration and deployment of open-source applications.

Experience managing vendor and client relationships.

Ability to research, evaluate, and implement new technologies within an educational context.

Ability to design and lead training sessions, both in person and remotely.

Ability to work collaboratively and effectively manage projects that involve diverse individuals who may be local or at a distance.

Expertise in proposing and testing LTI and API integrations.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience working in higher education.

Familiarity with instructional design.

Knowledge of adult learning theories.

The hiring salary range for this position is $58,500.00 - $66,300.00. The hiring salary range above represents the University's good faith estimate at the time of posting.