Student Assistant I - Faculty Success
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Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private, nonprofit university located in the heart of Silicon Valley with a singular focus on mental and behavioral health education. For five decades, PAU has been dedicated to addressing pressing and emerging challenges affecting individuals, organizations, and communities, preparing practitioners and scholars to meet the evolving needs of contemporary society. With an enrollment of approximately 1,200 graduate students and a small cohort of undergraduate students, the University offers a comprehensive portfolio of bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and professional programs delivered through innovative online, hybrid, and residential modalities.
PAU is distinguished by faculty who are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to research, teaching, and clinical practice. Through rigorous academic preparation, applied research, and extensive hands-on clinical training, PAU equips students with the knowledge, skills, and professional judgment required for meaningful impact in the behavioral health fields. Together, these elements define PAU’s mission-driven approach to education and its legacy of preparing confident, competent, and compassionate professionals who make a difference in the communities they serve.
Position Description
Job Title: Student Assistant I (part-time, student worker)
Department: Instructional Design (within Office of Faculty Success)
Reports To: Instructional Design Manager
Location: Majority remote work, some functions may be in-person
Hours: 15 hours/week
Student workers are allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours per workweek at any given time supporting 2 roles simultaneously
Apply: A) 1 page cover letter describing your specific interests in role, and how this position links to your career goals, B) Resume or CV
NOTE: Interviews will be required for those who advance past the first round of review.
Summary
Instructional Design (ID) supports faculty teaching excellence across PAU's graduate psychology and counseling programs by building foundational systems and resources. This position supports the Instructional Design Manager by conducting research, organizing information, testing resources, managing project workflows, and ensuring quality assurance on Canvas course design frameworks, faculty onboarding materials, and instructional design infrastructure.
The individual selected for this position should have an interest in instructional design, teaching and learning, faculty development, higher education administration, or Canvas/learning management systems as a career path.
Essential Functions
Instructional Design Research & Infrastructure Support
- Conduct research on best practices in Canvas course design, faculty onboarding, and instructional design frameworks
- Audit existing Canvas course shells and faculty resources across departments; document gaps and inconsistencies
- Compile accreditation standards (CACREP, APA, CSWE, WSCUC) and organize how they map to Canvas course structure
- Assist with organizing and structuring content for the faculty onboarding module (Concept platform and Canvas)
- Test Canvas templates, onboarding modules, and faculty-facing resources; identify technical issues and accessibility problems
Content Development & Quality Assurance
- Create and organize supplemental materials for Canvas course guides and faculty onboarding: checklists, FAQs, reference documents
- Compile and organize content for the Virtual Teaching Library (faculty resource repository): research, organize, and QA existing resources
- Review Canvas examples, onboarding content, and faculty-facing materials for accuracy, consistency, accessibility, and alignment with PAU standards
- Develop or assist with Canvas course design guide materials based on manager framework and institutional accreditation requirements
Project Management & Documentation
- Manage timelines, checklists, and deliverables for assigned instructional design projects
- Maintain documentation and version control for Canvas templates, onboarding modules, and faculty resources
- Prepare meeting notes, synthesize feedback from faculty focus groups or curriculum committees, track action items
- Conduct data entry and tracking in Canvas, Watermark, and project management systems as needed
- Coordinate asynchronous communication across departments to support project workflow
Other
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications
- Graduate student able to commit to one and a half (1.5) - three (3) years of service
- Self-monitoring of time management
- Strong organizational skills to balance multiple projects
- Experience or comfort with technology, particularly learning management systems (Canvas preferred but not required)
- Ability to think critically and work with detail-oriented tasks
- Ability to communicate and work with different PAU staff, faculty, and students
- Provide excellent support to faculty and students
- Must maintain confidentiality and adhere to code of ethics
- Interest in instructional design, faculty development, or higher education administration as a career path
Application Procedures
PAU is committed to providing an educational environment that supports a diverse, equitable and inclusive population. In your cover letter, please include information on how your background and experience has prepared you to be in an environment that holds equity and inclusion core to its mission and values.
EEOC Policy:
No Discrimination: The University is an equal opportunity employer and is firmly committed to non-discrimination in its hiring and other employment practices and in the application of its personnel policies. In compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, except where a bona fide occupational qualification exists, employment decisions will be made irrespective of the staff member's backgrounds of race, color, religion, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, age (except for minors), sex, marital status, citizenship status, military service status, sexual orientation, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic condition), disability and/or any another status protected by law.
As provided by law, and when it is requested to do so, the University will offer reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities, if the individual is otherwise qualified to safely and to the University standards of quality of work, perform all essential functions of the position and if it will be done without undue hardship to the University.
PAU has a high-quality work environment that attracts and welcomes a diversity of backgrounds of its employees. In your application or in a cover letter, please include information on how your background and experience has prepared you to work at a high level of quality of work with co-workers from a variety of different backgrounds.
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