Director of Academic Technology

Colorado State University, United States

Updated: over 1 year ago
Location: Fort Collins, COLORADO
Deadline: 25 Sep 2022

Posting Details
Posting Detail Information


Working Title Director of Academic Technology
Position Location Fort Collins, CO
Research Professional Position No
Posting Number 202201395AP
Position Type Admin Professional/ Research Professional
Classification Title Management III
Number of Vacancies
Work Hours/Week 40
Proposed Annual Salary Range $116,000 -$146,000 Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Employee Benefits
Colorado State University (CSU) is committed to providing employees with a strong and competitive benefits package that supports you, your health, and your family. Visit CSU’s Human Resources website for detailed benefit plan information for permanent full-time and part-time faculty and administrative professional employees in the following University benefit areas: https://hr.colostate.edu/hr-community-and-supervisors/benefits/benefits-eligibility/ & https://hr.colostate.edu/prospective-employees/our-perks/ .
Desired Start Date
Position End Date (if temporary)
To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by 11:59pm (MT) on 09/25/2022
Description of Work Unit
The Division of Information Technology, the central IT organization for Colorado State University-Ft. Collins, supports the land-grant heritage of the institution as well as the university’s missions of teaching and learning, research, and service. The Division of IT is responsible for delivering enterprise and campus focused IT services for the Ft. Collins campus as well as throughout the CSU-System. Areas of responsibility include Research IT, Application Development and User Support Services, Academic Technology, Cybersecurity & Privacy, Networking and Telecommunications, Infrastructure and Databases, Business Intelligence and Data Integrations, Administrative Applications, and Student Applications.
Driven by its purpose statement: Innovating IT, Empowering CSU and its values of Community, Collegiality, Reliability, Service, and Simplicity, its team members work across the division and in collaboration with university stakeholders. Reporting to the Vice President of Information Technology/CIO, our dedicated 120-person team delivers dynamic and innovative solutions to meet the diverse needs of our students, faculty, and staff. Our work supports CSU’s Principles of Community, and we are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion as we help others discover and meet their potential while aiming to set the standard for IT throughout higher education.
Position Summary
The Director of Academic Technology provides strategic leadership and management for the areas of Learning Management Systems, Classroom Support Services, and Media Services. With a combined staff of 11 FTE (including 2 supervisors), student employees, and an operating budget of $650K. This position is responsible for facilitating and coordinating planning efforts that drive innovative and emerging uses of technology within our brick-and-mortar, online, and hybrid classroom environments and in faculty and GTAs’ professional development in teaching.
This position is responsible for the effective delivery and continuous improvement of inclusive, enterprise-wide services for diverse campus audiences including faculty, staff, and students. Representing central IT at a leadership level, this position is responsible for developing and maintaining business plans to deliver services to the CSU Fort Collins campus community and partnering with academic colleges, TILT (The Institute for Learning & Teaching), CSU Online, Libraries, and other governance groups to advance strategic initiatives focused on student success, learning analytics, teaching & learning with technology, and institutional strategic objectives.
Required Job Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field
  • Experience leading academic technology or strongly related field.
  • Knowledge of budget, finance, project management.
  • Knowledge in developing operational or project plans and strategies.
  • Demonstrated track record of developing and implementing successful customer-centric services and/or engagement strategies.
  • Experience building teams, coaching staff, and establishing goals.
  • Demonstrated experience with interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills with the ability to work across the organization, lead cross-functional teams, and influence without direct authority.
Preferred Job Qualifications
  • Demonstrated experience engineering and administering learning management systems, learning analytics and/or audio and video capturing systems.
  • Experience managing and prioritizing projects and workloads that range in complexity.
  • Experience developing, implementing, and using processes, metrics or key performance indicators that ensure high-quality services and user satisfaction.
  • Demonstrated experience managing large-scale technology implementations
  • Experience establishing policies, standard operating procedures, and best practices related to academic technology or related field.
  • Ability to evaluate overarching business needs and goals in order to formulate information availability and data analytics strategies in support of those needs and goals and ensuring continuous improvement for the entire data and analytics space by maintaining current knowledge of business priorities, challenges, and opportunities.
Diversity Statement
Personal and professional commitment to diversity and inclusion as demonstrated by involvement in teaching, research, creative activity, service to the profession and/or diversity/inclusion activities.

Essential Duties


Job Duty Category Operational & Financial Management
Duty/Responsibility
  • Develop a comprehensive operational plan, strategy, and vision for the group. This plan includes a summary of the business (mission, vision, purpose, and history), a communication plan, and personnel plans, a review of peer organizations, a description of research and development underway, a discussion of the management structure, and financial statements.
  • Oversee implementations, customizations, and operations for all campus constituents, providing customer service, technical management, project management, and operational effectiveness. Work with staff to define areas in need of new or improved hardware, software, tools, or procedures. Consult staff to study problems and determine additional requirements. Study alternatives and develop proposals recommending solutions meeting their requirements. Work with staff to define areas in need of new or improved hardware, software, tools, or procedures. Consult staff to study problems and determine additional requirements. Study alternatives and develop proposals recommending solutions meeting their requirements.
  • Develop professional relationships with key stakeholders and campus partners to ensure effective and reliable data and integration services.
Percentage Of Time 25%
Job Duty Category Team Management
Duty/Responsibility
  • Recruit and hire new employees according to personnel rules and laws. Plan and conduct new employee on-boarding to the team’s process, procedures, and work rules. Monitor performance of new employees during probation periods.
  • Recommend/initiate personnel actions such as reclassification, reallocation, competitive promotion, etc as needed to ensure appropriate and effective allocation of staff resources and compensation to employees.
  • Establish goals for every staff member. Evaluate employee performance, counsel employees, monitor project and operational progress. Take appropriate disciplinary action and formally acknowledge/recognize good performance. Resolve grievances, as necessary.
  • Develop work plans and training plans to support team and individual goals. Identify training needs and career development paths for all staff. Ensure that job-related training needs are met including cross-training among team members.
  • Encourage and promote successful working relationships among staff to promote productivity and staff retention. Negotiate and resolve staff conflicts to maintain an effective and professional work environment. Model and promote divisional cultural principles and values.
  • Establish an organizational structure to meet the service-level agreements for system support and to deliver new projects. This includes identifying staffing needs, determining appropriate control levels, appointing project managers/leaders, and assigning/delegating system responsibilities.
  • Ensure team compliance with group, department, and division standards. Initiate changes to existing policies and standards to improve service to customers or increase efficiency of department or division operations.
  • Implement and provide information about Diversity, Equity and inclusion, harassment and discrimination policies, and advancement opportunities for all staff.
Percentage Of Time 25%
Job Duty Category Strategic Planning, Initiatives, & Projects
Duty/Responsibility
  • Work with the Divisional Leadership Team to develop and implement strategic plans and initiatives that align with Division and University needs and future directions.
  • Develop group level operational plans that keep hardware and software up to date and secure as well as refresh hardware and software, which may leverage reserves, one time funding and base budget.
  • Ensure communication of department and division objectives, activities, and plans to all personnel in the group and encourage participation from group employees in improving department/division activities, policies, and procedures.
  • Develop and maintain roadmaps for financial planning for Academic Technology teams.
  • Work with the teams to develop innovative and creative solutions to keep technology and infrastructure current with industry standards and best practices.
  • Develop plans to adapt to industry change and the evolution of stakeholder requirements.
Percentage Of Time 25%
Job Duty Category Customer Engagement & Relations
Duty/Responsibility
  • Provide leadership to support and encourage proactive customer service, engagement, and relations. Ensure transparent feedback mechanisms (e.g., customer needs assessments, surveys, and focus groups).
  • Engage with stakeholders and partners from both system and local campus perspectives to ensure diverse needs are being met.
  • Partner with the division Engagement team to ensure campus and system stakeholders are updated on projects, vision, and strategy.
  • Develop strong partnerships with other divisional services (PMO, HR, Finance, Enterprise Architect, Security, etc) to obtain diverse expertise to streamline efforts and ensure compliance.
Percentage Of Time 20%
Job Duty Category Professional Development
Duty/Responsibility
  • Engage in development of personal professional development plan that incorporates developmental goals, career paths, and competency areas.
  • Attend conferences, seminars, and workshops to ensure continued development of professional skills.
  • Participate on campus committees, councils, and user groups to increase campus-level knowledge and awareness.
  • Participate in local, state and national activities of relevant professional associations.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, respect, and ethical practices in alignment with the division purpose and values.
Percentage Of Time 5%

Application Details


Special Instructions to Applicants
For full consideration, please apply by 9/25/2022, 11:59 pm (MT). Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and current resume that address how professional experiences align with identified required and preferred qualifications of the position, and contact information for three professional references. References will not be contacted without prior notification of candidates. Applicants needing assistance or accommodations may contact Emily Claffey at [email protected].
Conditions of Employment Pre-employment Criminal Background Check (required for new hires)
Search Contact Emily Claffey, [email protected].
EEO Statement
Colorado State University is committed to providing an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based on race, age, creed, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, or pregnancy in its employment, programs, services and activities, and admissions, and, in certain circumstances, marriage to a co-worker. The University will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. Colorado State University is an equal opportunity and equal access institution and affirmative action employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce and complies with all Federal and Colorado State laws, regulations, and executive orders regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. The Office of Equal Opportunity is located in 101 Student Services.
The Title IX Coordinator is the Director of the Office of Title IX Programs and Gender Equity, 123 Student Services Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523-0160, (970) 491-1715, [email protected] .
The Section 504 and ADA Coordinator is the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, 101 Student Services Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523-0160, (970) 491-5836, [email protected] .
The Coordinator for any other forms of misconduct prohibited by the University’s Policy on Discrimination and Harassment is the Vice President for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, 101 Student Services Building, Fort Collins, Co. 80523-0160, (970) 491-5836, [email protected] .
Any person may report sex discrimination under Title IX to the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Education .
Background Check Policy Statement
Colorado State University strives to provide a safe study, work, and living environment for its faculty, staff, volunteers and students. To support this environment and comply with applicable laws and regulations, CSU conducts background checks for the finalist before a final offer. The type of background check conducted varies by position and can include, but is not limited to, criminal history, sex offender registry, motor vehicle history, financial history, and/or education verification. Background checks will also be conducted when required by law or contract and when, in the discretion of the University, it is reasonable and prudent to do so.

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