Knowledge Management and Student Communications Specialist

Office of Student Affairs

Stateside, Exempt, Grade 2.3

Location: Stateside Remote

University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) seeks a Knowledge Management and Student Communications Specialist in the Office of Student Affairs. Reporting to the Senior Director of Student Communications, the Knowledge Management and Student Communications Specialist will primarily be responsible for overseeing the delivery and governance of UMGC's knowledge management program, including the Salesforce knowledge base, and including the collection of analysis and data, the development of knowledge management strategies and style guide, the implementation of knowledge management processes, tools, workflows, reporting and analytics, and leveraging UMGC's best-in-class student communications standards and best practices. This role will also assist in fulfilling student communications needs and contributing to the Student Communication team's responsibility for the development and execution of a holistic student-centric multi-channel student communications strategy. This new position will play an essential role, contributing to UMGC's growing student communications capabilities, including chat, ai and towards content management processes.

 KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES INCLUDE:

• Responsible for the curation, final editing, oversight, and governance of UMGC's knowledge management process, ensuring that knowledge base articles are accurate, follow the style guide created by the knowledge specialist, reviewed, and updated on a regular cadence.

• Leverage UMGC student communications standards and best practices to effectively manage knowledge base and provide value across communications channels.

• Evaluate data to ensure knowledge management is delivering best in class communication experiences to targeted audiences and driving KPIs. Interpret data insights to identify knowledge needs and determine whether new knowledge articles must be created, or existing knowledge articles can be updated. Use data to identify and archive rarely accessed knowledge base articles. Use data to surface opportunities to improve related communications processes that leverage knowledge articles.

• Partner with AccelerEd as the primary UMGC business owner in the modernization of the existing Salesforce knowledge base from the “classic” platform to launching and maintaining the Lightning experience.

• Assign knowledge article edits to subject matter experts in various UMGC departments. Track the lifecycle of knowledge development, ensure knowledge base articles are consistent in format, voice and tone, and report knowledge base updates to the departmental business leaders.

• Work closely with the UMGC project management office and AccelerEd on project roll outs and software upgrades to ensure proper service transition documentation is completed and knowledge articles are created.

• Gather data on knowledge base user experience and make recommendations for improvement for staff and students.

• Increase customer satisfaction with online self-help tools; increase accuracy and efficiency for staff providing information to students to reduce mis-advisements.

RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

• Establish a content strategy to determine the types of articles that should appear in the knowledge base for students, faculty, and staff.

• Create style guide to ensure all knowledge articles are engaging, informative, straightforward, concise, and customized for the audience reading the articles.

• Lead content review of current knowledge base articles to ensure only the most up-to-date and accurate information is being shared.

• Establish and sustain knowledge management governance program to ensure knowledge articles are accurate and routinely updated. 

• Interact with AccelerEd, third party support entities and UMGC representatives to capture and document current standard operating procedures, contacts, resolutions, and escalations within the knowledge base. 

• Design Salesforce automated workflow for knowledge article review, creation, editing, approval, archival, periodic review, and user feedback.

• Collaborate with technical partners to ensure knowledge articles are accurately and appropriately positioned for targeted audiences. This includes monitoring information that is flowing from the knowledge base to end-user platforms such as chatbots, the student portal, and the UMGC website.

• Establish knowledge best practices, such as connecting support cases to knowledge articles, to enable better reporting and business insights.

• Identify Knowledge Base Subject Matter Experts throughout UMGC and ensure they have a clear understanding of the writing style guide and defined writing standards. 

• Verify the accuracy of newly written/edited knowledge base articles and complete all final edits to ensure all articles follow the style guide.

• Implement documentation standards and ensure support documentation is created and updated as necessary for all constituent departments within Salesforce.

• Establish operational metrics and dashboard to assess the quality, usability, value, and management of the knowledge base articles.

• Develop a closed-loop feedback process to collect article feedback from users and implement content enhancements.

• Assist in fulfilling student communications needs. Deliver upon vision of a more holistic student-centric approach, driving UMGC community, a student sense of belonging and retention and success. The team develops communications that embrace a culture of care, where success is celebrated and strives to connect the right support services to the right students at the right time. 

• Other duties as assigned.

DUTY STATEMENTS:

• Employees that live within 50 miles of UMGC are required to work at university commencement.

• Employees may be required to work some evenings and weekends, or certain holiday hours based on business need.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• An earned bachelor's degree in information technology, Knowledge Management, Project Management, Computer Science, or related technical field of study from an accredited institution of higher learning

• CKM (Certified Knowledge Manager) certification

• 3-5 years of experience managing relevant knowledge management systems and databases, the development of knowledge articles, a style guide and establishing knowledge management governance

• Relevant experience in chatbot integration, process design and efficient information architecture

• Proven project management and prioritization skills

• Excellent writing, interpersonal, and oral communication skills with a proven ability to write, edit and organize thoughts in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner. 

• Strong understanding of editorial and communication concepts including message positioning, key copy points, and call to action for targeted audiences

• Strong understanding of content management, tagging capabilities and leveraging technology to drive efficiency.

• Strong problem solving and analytical skills with a solutions-oriented approach.

• Demonstrated ability to build and manage strong cross-departmental relationships.

• Proven strategic perspective and experience formulating project plans that tie back to organizational and team objectives.

• Thrives in a fast-paced work environment and is agile to pivot when needed.

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• A master's degree in information technology, Knowledge Management, Project Management, Computer Science, or related technical field of study from an accredited institution of higher learning is preferred.

• 5+ years of experience managing relevant knowledge management systems and databases, the development of knowledge articles, style guides and establishing knowledge management governance.

• 3+ years of experience with Salesforce's certified Knowledge Management system, including chatbot and AEM integrations with knowledge base and Service Now

• Experience working with international divisions/partners.

• Familiarity with multi-channel communications capability, execution, and segmentation. Experience sending large mass communications.

All submissions should include a cover letter and resume.

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination. UMGC is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, ancestry, political affiliation or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Workplace Accommodations:

The University of Maryland Global Campus Global Campus (UMGC) is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive working environment for people of all abilities. UMGC is dedicated to the principle that no qualified individual with a disability shall, based on disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of the University, or be subjected to discrimination. For information about UMGC's Reasonable Workplace Accommodation Policy or to request an accommodation, applicants/candidates can contact Employee Accommodations via email at employee-accommodations@umgc.edu. 

Benefits Package Highlights:

• Generous Time Off: Enjoy 22 days of paid vacation, 15 days of sick leave, 3 personal days, and 15 paid holidays (16 during general election years). For part-time employees, time off rates will be prorated based on the number of hours worked.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Access to health care, medical with vision, dental, and prescription plans for both individuals and families, effective from the 1st of the month following your hire date.
• Insurance Options: Term Life Insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, and Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance. Part-time employees working less than 0.5 FTE are not eligible for LTD.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Available for medical and dependent care expenses.
• Retirement Plans: Choose between the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) or the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS).
• Supplemental Retirement Plans: include 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), and various Roth options. The university does not provide matching funds.
• Tuition Remission: Immediate availability for Regular Exempt Staff. Spouses and dependent children are eligible for undergraduate tuition remission after two years of service. NOTE: For part-time employees (at least 50 percent of the time), tuition remission benefits are prorated.

Hiring Range: