Learning Management System Administrator

The LMS Administrator is integral to ensuring that Gavilan's digital learning environment is available, accessible, compliant, and continuously evolving to meet the needs of a diverse student population and instructional faculty. THE IDEAL CANDIDATE: The ideal candidate will be an experienced technology professional with strong technical expertise in LMS administration and a clear understanding of how technology supports teaching and learning in a higher education environment. They will have a strong commitment to education and the mission of the College, to providing excellent service to faculty and students, and to continual improvement in the systems and services that support instruction. The successful candidate will bring hands-on experience administering a complex LMS, managing integrations and data flows, troubleshooting system and user issues, and working with technologies such as LTI, APIs, SIS integrations, authentication systems, and accessibility tools. They will support active, innovative, and collaborative approaches to meeting faculty and student needs and will continually evaluate emerging technologies and practices to identify effective resources and services for the campus community. They will also be a patient and responsive communicator with strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to explain technical information clearly to users with varying levels of technical expertise. They will demonstrate sound judgment in matters involving student data privacy, security, accessibility, and regulatory compliance and will work collaboratively with faculty, Information Technology, and other campus partners. ESSENTIAL DUTIES: The following duties are typical of those performed by employees in this job title; however, employees may perform other related duties, and not all duties listed are necessarily performed by each employee in the job title. LMS Platform Administration & Maintenance Serve as primary system administrator for the institutional LMS (e.g., Canvas or equivalent), including all back-end configuration, system settings, institutional customizations, and platform governance. Monitor system health, server performance, uptime, and error logs; respond to and resolve system alerts in a timely manner. Plan, test, schedule, and execute LMS software upgrades, patches, and hotfixes in coordination with the vendor and IT Team; communicate maintenance windows to stakeholders. Work with the IT Team?to manage user roles, permission structures, authentication integrations (SSO/SAML), and account provisioning/deprovisioning workflows. Maintain detailed technical documentation, including system configuration records, change logs, integration inventories, and disaster recovery procedures. Serve as the primary liaison with the LMS vendor for technical support escalations, licensing, contract compliance, and roadmap planning. Conduct regular audits of system settings, inactive accounts, stale course shells, and storage utilization; perform routine database and content cleanup. Collaborate with the IT Team during high-demand periods, system outages, special projects, or staff absences, functioning as a knowledgeable cross-departmental technology resource. Manage LMS-related infrastructure matters including server hosting, network access, SSL certificates, and integration authentication. B. LTI Tool Vetting, Installation & Lifecycle Management Research, evaluate, and formally vet proposed third-party LTI tools for educational efficacy, security posture, privacy compliance, accessibility, and technical compatibility prior to any institutional deployment. Manage the complete LTI tool lifecycle: procurement review, institutional approval coordination, installation, configuration, user acceptance testing, staged rollout, ongoing monitoring, and decommissioning. Maintain a centralized LTI tool registry documenting all active integrations, associated Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), vendor FERPA compliance attestations, accessibility certifications (VPATs), and renewal dates. Collaborate with faculty, instructional designers, and department chairs to assess new tool requests and align deployments with instructional goals and college policy. Conduct annual reviews of all active integrations to evaluate continued educational value, vendor viability, compliance standing, and cost justification. Configure LTI 1.3/LTI Advantage implementations including deep linking, Names & Roles Provisioning Services (NRPS), and Assignment & Grade Services (AGS). C. FERPA Compliance & Student Data Privacy Ensure all LMS configurations, data workflows, API connections, and third-party integrations fully comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and applicable California student privacy laws (including SOPIPA and CCPA/CPRA as applicable). Review, negotiate where appropriate, and maintain records of vendor Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), FERPA school official designations, and student data sharing disclosures. Serve as a subject matter expert and resource for faculty and staff regarding FERPA obligations as they relate to online course delivery, gradebook management, and digital tools. Participate in the college's response to student educational records requests, data breaches, and privacy incidents involving the LMS or integrated platforms. Develop and deliver FERPA compliance awareness materials and training for LMS users and new faculty as needed. Monitor regulatory developments and update institutional practices to reflect changes in federal or state student privacy law. D. Accessibility Compliance Ensure the LMS interface, course templates, integrated tools, and all institutionally published digital content meet or exceed Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 Level AA) standards. Conduct periodic accessibility audits of the LMS environment and integrated platforms using automated tools (e.g., WAVE, axe) and manual review; document findings and drive remediation. Evaluate Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) and Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs) as a required component of the LTI vetting process. Collaborate with the Accessible Education Center (AEC), instructional faculty, and IT to identify and resolve accessibility barriers encountered by students with disabilities. Develop resources, templates, and training materials to support faculty in building and maintaining accessible online course content within the LMS. Stay current with evolving accessibility regulations, guidelines, and best practices in higher education technology. E. Enrollment & Course Management Work with the IT Team to administer automated and manual student enrollment processes, ensuring accurate and timely synchronization between the Student Information System (SIS) and the LMS throughout all enrollment periods. Manage course shell creation, cross-listing, section merging, blueprint course synchronization, and enrollment roster maintenance for credit, noncredit, and continuing education offerings. Troubleshoot and resolve SIS-to-LMS data sync errors, missing enrollments, duplicate accounts, and grade passback failures in coordination with Admissions and Records and IT. Process faculty, staff, observer, and guest access requests; manage role assignments and access permissions throughout the academic year. Coordinate with the Registrar, department schedulers, and Admissions staff to align LMS course availability with the institutional academic calendar and add/drop deadlines. Archive and manage concluded course data in accordance with the college's records retention schedule and FERPA requirements. F. Help Desk Support & Troubleshooting Assist the Distance Education Coordinator in delivering technical support to faculty, students, and staff for all LMS-related issues via phone, email, ticketing system, and in-person channels. Diagnose and resolve complex technical problems related to course access, multimedia content, assignment submission, grading tools, video integration, and third-party LTI tools. Maintain and continuously improve a support knowledge base including FAQs, how-to guides, video tutorials, and troubleshooting flowcharts accessible to all user groups. Track and manage support tickets through the college's helpdesk platform; analyze ticket data to identify recurring issues, systemic failures, and opportunities for preventive improvement. Provide proactive communication to the college community regarding known issues, scheduled maintenance, and available workarounds. Participate in on-call or extended-hours support during critical periods including semester start, finals, and major system events, as operationally required. G. New Feature Rollout & Continuous Improvement Manage the end-to-end planning, piloting, and staged rollout of new LMS features, tools, and platform updates, including stakeholder communication plans, faculty training, and post-launch feedback collection. Design and facilitate training workshops, webinars, one-on-one sessions, and self-paced instructional resources for faculty and staff on LMS features, digital pedagogy tools, and best practices for online instruction. Collaborate with the Distance Education Coordinator to evaluate emerging educational technologies, conduct needs assessments, and make evidence-based recommendations for platform investments. Represent the Distance Education Department on relevant institutional committees (e.g., Technology Advisory, Distance Education, Curriculum) as assigned. Contribute to the Distance Education Department's annual program review, technology planning documents, and institutional effectiveness reporting. Participate in joint IT/Distance Education planning efforts for institutional technology upgrades, migrations, and implementations that affect learning technology systems. Perform related duties and responsibilities as assigned.