The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) is the leading national association that advances the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 900 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size. Through research, capacity-building, and advocacy, the Office of Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation (OCPI) provides actionable innovations in teaching, learning, and assessment to improve undergraduate liberal education for all students. This is a full-time remote/hybrid position that reports directly to the Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Executive Director of VALUE.
Position Responsibilities:
Under the supervision of the Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and the Executive Director for VALUE and in close collaboration with the Associate Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation, the Instructional Designer will directly support the office’s conceptualization, creation, and delivery of existing and new face-to-face, blended/hybrid, and fully online professional and faculty development. Specifically, the Instructional Designer will, in collaboration with OCPI leadership:
Design and deliver blended/hybrid and/or fully online faculty development, including full courses, modules, and/or other required instructional materials for OCPI.
Support existing hybrid/virtual programming, including the Institute on General Education and Assessment; the Institute on ePortfolio; the Institute on Open Educational Resources; the virtual components of AAC&U’s Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment; the fully online Forum on Open Learning and ePortfolios, and emerging programs.
Support the maintenance and enhancement of AAC&U’s online, asynchronous course on VALUE rubric calibration training.
Work with subject matter experts within and beyond AAC&U to develop both course content as well as ensure pedagogically sound delivery of materials.
Create and curate compelling course resources.
Perform quality control for all of OCPI’s hybrid/blended and/or online faculty and professional development offerings.
Research and critically evaluate educational technologies/software/products for their ability to enhance participant learning and engagement and make recommendations for possible adoption to OCPI leadership.
Apply best practices in learning technologies and instructional design.
Ensure that courses are designed using best practices vis-à-vis accessibility.
In collaboration with leadership, design and executive ongoing evaluations of the efficacy of OCPI faculty and professional development offerings.
Coordinate and supervise the work of any external technical support consultant(s) contracted to help with the delivery of OCPI faculty and professional development.
Executive robust project management for AAC&U’s hybrid and/or online instructional/faculty and professional development offerings.
Develop and maintain technical guides/handbooks for OCPI’s blended/hybrid and fully online faculty and professional development.
Participate in raising national awareness about the signature programs of the OCPI.
Contribute to other office needs as they arise.
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Instructional Design, Instructional Technology, or related discipline is required; Master’s degree preferred.
Two to five years’ related professional experience; professional experience in a college/university setting desirable.
Proficiency in the range of tools—multimedia, word processing, graphic design, video, course/learner management software—implicated by blended/hybrid and/or fully online course delivery.
Ability to learn to use new tools/platforms/software expeditiously.
Ability to provide internal training and support on the tools used to deliver OCPI’s faculty and professional development.
Deep knowledge of Microsoft Office’s suite of tools.
Experience with social media as it relates to instructional design for blended/hybrid and/or exclusively online modalities desirable.
Superior communication skills, written and oral.
Work effectively and collaboratively.
Available for intermittent travel.
Able to work independently and without supervision.
Ability to prioritize and handle complex projects, manage multiple tasks, and work under tight deadlines and time constraints.
Strong organizational and project management skills.
Ability to work collaboratively and effectively in a dynamic, interdisciplinary team environment.
Strong interpersonal skills and high emotional intelligence.
How to Apply:
Please submit a resume, cover letter describing relevant work and educational experience, and salary requirements to AAC&U, Box OCPI, 1818 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, or to openings@aacu.org. Review of applications will begin on May 15, 2023.
AAC&U believes that a broadly diverse staff is critical to achieving excellence as a national higher education Association. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. We are fully committed to equal employment opportunity and compliance with the full range of fair employment practices and non-discrimination laws.
