| Technical & Accessibility Support Assistants (TASAs) serve a critical role in the Faculty by providing help to instructors, administrators, staff, and students with needs related to technology and accessibility. They are responsible for providing Tier 1 technical support and accessibility assistance online and in-person (Tier 1 support refers to the initial level of assistance offered for technical and accessibility resource creation issues).
Responsibilities for Tier 1 support
1. Basic troubleshooting of technical issues and provides general usage guidance for tools, software and resources from U of T’s Academic Toolbox. This could include:
a. Assisting instructors with implementing and testing teaching tools for specific uses in class.
b. Providing Quercus course support to instructors and students.
c. Assisting with creating workshops, resources, and guides related to technical support for University of Toronto platforms.
2. Support the faculty with creating, adapting, altering materials and resources to meet accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) best practices. This could include:
a. Editing and reformatting Office 365 documents and other formats.
b. Adding closed captions to media to create accessible videos.
c. Assist with creating workshops, resources, and guides related to accessibility support for University of Toronto platforms.
3. Participate in local onsite work for classroom support and/or offsite remote standby support, as needed.
4. Assisting with hybrid, remote, and / or in-person event set up, including the preparation of equipment to support delivery. This could include:
a. For remote or hybrid sessions, assisting with the management of remote conferencing software, such as the creation and posting of polls, surveys, and multimedia.
b. For in-person sessions, testing and setting up equipment and room technology (e.g., teaching podiums).
c. Managing session recording, video editing, archiving, captioning, and editing transcripts when appropriate, to prepare for viewing.
5. Support users with finding and utilizing university resources, available utilities, and computer programs (within U of T’s approved platforms).
6. Assisting the faculty with projects related to accessibility.
7. Other duties as assigned.
Any other important information?
Requirements:
1. Current enrollment as a full-time student at the university.
2. Legally able to work in Canada for the duration of employment.
3. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
4. Ability to troubleshoot and resolve basic technical issues, provide software usage assistance, and understand when to escalate more complex problems.
5. Strong knowledge of common accessibility issues in content, document, and media creation.
6. Flexible availability during the employment term, ranging from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 10pm.
Working Hours:
Number of hours per week: 0 to 10 hours, depending on the need. TASAs are responsible for providing availability one week before scheduling. Weekly schedules can range from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 10pm. Work schedules can consist of both local onsite work and/or offsite remote standby support.
Duration:
This position covers a full academic year; fall, winter, and summer terms.
Candidate should be familiar with:
TASAs may be asked to troubleshoot basic technical/usage problems and provide general usage guidance for:
– Teaching and learning platforms from the U of T Academic Toolbox, including Quercus, Office 365, Zoom, MyMedia, and Faculty of Information (FOI) integrated tools.
– Using and setting up technology in the FOI’s Claude T. Bissell building classrooms including teaching podiums, and laptops.
– Using audio and video equipment, including microphones, webcams and the cable and adapters used to connect equipment.
Helpful skills:
– HTML & CSS coding experience |
