Instructional Designer

Get Set for Cumberlands!

Join our team of student-focused individuals working together in order to encourage intellectual and spiritual growth, leadership and service.

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University of the Cumberlands seeks an instructional designer to support the University's online courses and programs and professional development support for faculty. The Designer reports to the Director of Instructional Design and assists with the instructional design of online courses and programs. The Designer is responsible for ensuring that the quality of the online courses is strong and is consistent with face to face offerings. The Designer will aid in the oversight of accreditation and regulatory requirements for online learning.  The Designer will assist with the evaluation and recommendation of ways in which the university can maintain and enhance online programs.  This position has the potential to be a hybrid set-up with face-to-face office hours as well as working remotely.

The University of the Cumberlands is a faith-based institution that welcomes students from all backgrounds.  Its mission is to offer high-quality academic programs that empower its graduates to ‘seek a life-more-abundant.’ 

Specific responsibilities:

• Works with the Director of Instructional Design to develop and implement forward-thinking professional development programs that encourage faculty to explore and adopt cutting-edge teaching practices and technologies.
• Facilitate workshops, one-on-one coaching, and collaborative initiatives that inspire faculty to experiment with innovative teaching strategies and integrate emerging tools into their courses.
• Support faculty by offering creative and impactful professional development opportunities that foster continuous improvement.
• Identify innovative approaches that align with institutional goals and enhance teaching effectiveness.
• Design and deliver faculty development initiatives related to, but not limited to, the use of the LMS, best practices for teaching online, innovative teaching strategies, accessibility guidelines, universal design techniques, and onboarding new faculty.
• Works closely with faculty to implement unified course format and packaging to provide students with seamless and user-friendly online learning as they take different courses.
• Provides assistance to faculty in all stages of course development and implementation.
• Design courses to meet accessibility guidelines for the online environment.
• Integrates the use of active learning strategies to enhance interaction, engagement, social presence, and build a sense of community in online courses.
• Works with faculty to design courses based on adult learning principles with the use of interactive learning activities and assessment strategies to promote critical thinking skills.
• Provides assistance to face-to-face faculty, as needed, for the use of online teaching and learning methods to supplement face-to-face classes.
• Assesses courses in the context of online best practices and makes recommendations for improving online courses.
• Reviews courses before implementation and develops a review schedule to ensure the high-quality delivery of course content over time. 
• Develop student training related to the use of the LMS or other relevant areas to enhance the student’s online experience.
• Communicates with other university offices to coordinate support for online faculty, students, and potential students in an attempt to make the entire online education experience in the University's programs more user-friendly, effective, and seamless.
• Collaborates with IT to recommend and evaluate technologies relevant to online learning.
• Keeps abreast of new developments and research in online education, and shares this information with faculty as appropriate.

Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required, master's preferred. Significant, demonstrated experience in the field may be substituted for formal education.
• Significant Instructional Design and faculty development experience.
• Experience directly related to distance learning and/or instructional technology.
• Experience in online course development and/or in teaching in an online environment, including assessment of student outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience with one or more of the major LMS, including Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, or Canvas. Preference is given to Blackboard experience.
• Experience implementing distance-learning initiatives and/or creating a strategic vision for integrating new technologies for better learning outcomes for students.
• Significant experience with the integration of pre-packaged publisher content into online courses, including Cengage, Pearson, and McGraw Hill. 
• Experience with accessibility guidelines in the online environment.
• Strong work ethic with demonstrated collaborative and coordinative skills.
• Excellent communicator in both oral and written communication.
• Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience providing professional development to faculty relevant to both online and/or face-to-face instruction
• Successful teaching experience at the graduate level
• Administrative experience
• Record of professional and scholarly productivity
• Professional Organization Involvement

Cumberlands is different by design. Our employees exemplify our motto in the pursuit of a

“life-more-abundant.”