Instructional Support Specialist - Undergraduate

Position Overview

Instructional Support Specialist (ISS)

• Course Length: 8 weeks (accelerated term).
• Modality: Fully online (Canvas).
• Course Levels: Undergraduate.
• Student Load (minimum): 30 students for graduate courses.
• Compensation: undergraduate course stipend $2000

Winston-Salem State University is seeking a qualified and highly organized Instructional Support Specialists (ISSs) to provide instructional operations support for large-enrollment online undergraduate courses. This fully remote position plays a critical role in maintaining academic quality, grading consistency, student support, and course administration within accelerated 8-week online programs.

The ISS collaborates closely with the Course Instructor of Record to support course delivery through grading, Canvas management, student communications, discussion monitoring, and progress tracking. ISSs do not serve as the instructor of record, deliver lectures, or exercise primary instructional authority. Instead, they operate within faculty-established guidelines, policies, and rubrics to ensure a high-quality and responsive learning experience.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Assessment & Grading

• Apply instructor-approved rubrics to grade assignments, quizzes, projects, and exams in Canvas, ensuring calibrated, consistent assessment across large cohorts.
• Provide timely, constructive, rubric-anchored feedback (written comments or quick-marks) within established turnaround windows (e.g., 72 hours for weekly items; 5 days for major projects). Log in to monitor the course at least once per 24 hours.
• Flag academic-integrity concerns per policy; prepare documentation for faculty review.

LMS & Course Operations (Canvas)

• Maintain Canvas Gradebook accuracy, assignment settings, and visibility dates; assist with quiz banks and rubrics under faculty direction.
• Monitor activity dashboards, late/missing submissions, and analytics to identify at-risk students for instructor follow-up.
• Support basic troubleshooting and escalating LMS issues to central IT/Instructional Design as needed.

Student Communication (First-Line Triage)

• Respond to routine, non-instructional inquiries (deadlines, access, formatting, submission issues), redirecting content questions to the instructor.
• Post periodic reminders (due dates, policy nudges) using faculty-approved announcements or templates.

Discussion Monitoring (as assigned)

• Enforce netiquette guidelines and confirm minimum participation requirements; escalate substantive content questions or concerns to the instructor.

Quality & Compliance

• Participate in rubric calibration sessions before and during the term; document edge cases for continuous improvement.
• Maintain FERPA and accessibility compliance in all grading and feedback practices, leveraging Canvas tools and templates.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in the discipline, in Education, or a closely related field
• Experience grading or supporting instruction in online courses and Canvas (or similar LMS).
• Proven ability to apply detailed rubrics consistently; strong written communication in feedback contexts.
• This is a 100% remote working position. Candidates must possess a personal computer and internet access sufficient to provide a stable connection to WSSU’s Learning Management System (LMS). Must have workspace to allow privacy for handling confidential information such as grades.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in the discipline, in Education, or a closely related field.
• Experience with large online sections (≥ 50 students) and high-volume grading workflows.
• Familiarity with accessibility standards, academic-integrity practices, and online student support.