Instructional Technology Specialist

Job Overview

The Instructional Technology Specialist is an expert on MSU’s campus learning management system, responsible for enterprise-wide LMS administration and providing direct technical support and hands‑on troubleshooting for users, including faculty, staff, and students.

This team provides enterprise-wide administration of the campus LMS, which includes structuring accounts and sub‑accounts, setting user roles and permissions, managing authentication and access, and configuring external tools; works with the vendor to monitor updates and change management; and provides direct technical support and troubleshooting for a variety of users in a variety of roles. The ECAT team also supports the use of the learning management system to conduct non-credit programming.

• Provide direct technical support and hands‑on troubleshooting for users, including faculty, staff, and students, in the use of the campus learning management system.
• Escalate and monitor complex, system‑level issues to vendor technical support.
• Work with users one‑on‑one to provide recommendations for course design and best practices in online instruction.
• Support administrative utilization of the learning management system through processing course merges, enrollment changes and account creation.
• Monitor vendor‑driven changes to the learning management system, analyze potential impact on system and users, and when implementation is optional use judgement to make determinations as to usefulness to broader campus, prepare relevant documentation, develop communication as necessary to ensure end‑users understand impact.
• Escalate issues, document solutions and share successes with colleagues within the LMS support team and in partnering administrative units when appropriate.
• Maintain accurate and useful how‑to documentation and tutorials on using the learning management system.
• Support the use of external learning tools within the learning management system, including initial integration, documentation and resource development, training, and ongoing technical support.
• Pull and share relevant data from the learning management system when accessible.
• Administer, manage and maintain the learning management system including structuring accounts and sub‑accounts, user roles and permissions, configuration variables, authentication and tool access.
• Monitor and audit incoming data from the campus student information system and process manual changes to enrollment as required.
• Provide consultation to administrative stakeholders on campus regarding the governance of the learning management system and the selection and integration of associated learning tools.
• Develop and deliver workshops and trainings for utilization of the learning management system.
• Collaborate and participate in discussions regarding technical issues, product procurement review and policy setting with other campuses in the Montana State University system as necessary.
• Support the use of the learning management system to provide training and other non‑credit programming.
• Train and support non‑credit sub‑account administrators on how to build and operate a staff, faculty, and/or student training program within the LMS.
• Administer MSU’s LMS course archive and fulfill requests for data retrieval.

• Bachelor’s Degree in a technology field, education, or related field or an equivalent combination of relevant experience and education.
• Professional work experience in systems administration and user support, preferably in a higher education setting.
• Hands‑on experience with learning management systems.
• Demonstrated experience with and proficiency in the Microsoft Office software suite.

• Experience working with Canvas LMS.
• Experience migrating content between LMS platforms.
• Project management experience with LMS /educational system projects.
• Experience working with Student Information Systems such as Ellucian Banner.
• Experience with digital accessibility support.

• Analyze system problems and errors at a detailed level that causes issue in attaining desired results.
• Have the ability to ask probing questions, listen to a…