| Department: | Faculty of Mathematics, Office of the Dean | December, 2008 | |
| Grade: |
USG 8 35 hr/wk |
Reports to: | Director of the CEMC |
This position is accountable to the Director of the CEMC. It includes responsibility for creating and implementing a cohesive marketing strategy for the CEMC, both pertaining to ongoing CEMC activities and to the expansion of the CEMC through the gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It also includes responsibility for coordinating the evaluation of all CEMC activities and for acting as a liaison between the Faculty of Mathematics Development team and the CEMC Executive.
This position, working within the CEMC and the Office of the Dean of Math, coordinates and prepares strategic communications material and researches and analyzes the education systems in Ontario and further afield to support the advancement of the CEMC. The position requires professional expertise in sourcing, researching and analyzing relevant data and information and preparing strategic marketing strategies for the CEMC. This position requires proactive leadership skills and outstanding communications and interpersonal skills.
The Marketing and Evaluation Coordinator reports directly to the CEMC Business Manager. The Marketing and Evaluation Coordinator has no direct reports, however, the incumbent provides functional direction to the Information System Developers, the Information Systems Specialist and the Digital Media Coordinator regarding the overall look and content of all web based materials.
b) Description of the organization
The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing is Canada’s largest and best recognized mathematics and computer science outreach organization. While the CEMC was not officially founded until 1995, its roots within the Faculty of Mathematics and the UW community stretch back as far as the 1960s. It is through the CEMC that the most Canadian secondary school teachers and students first hear about UW. The CEMC is internationally recognized for the excellence of its activities and materials, and has been awarded a $12.5 million grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
By the end of 2008, the CEMC will consist of 9 full-time faculty members and 15.5 full-time staff members. The CEMC’s overall annual budget from all sources is more than $3 million.
The largest part of the CEMC’s activity is in mathematics and computer science contests. More than 200 000 students at over 1500 schools annually register for the CEMC’s contests. Contest creation, registration, shipping, marking and dissemination of results are all handled by the CEMC. Among other things, this involves the processing of close to 1 million documents of various kinds annually. The CEMC coordinates more than 400 volunteers who assist in contest activities.
The CEMC runs a number of highly acclaimed workshops and seminars for teachers and students, most on the UW campus. These workshops involve more than 300 students and teachers annually.
The CEMC maintains a significant Web and computer systems presence. The CEMC’s Web sites receive more than 750 000 hits per year. Almost all of CEMC Web sites are offered in both English and French. The CEMC’s computer systems are accessed by more than 6000 users from 48 countries worldwide, including UW Faculty and Staff, UW Alumni, elementary and secondary school teachers, students and their parents.
The CEMC’s contests are used extensively by the Faculty of Mathematics to determine Entrance Scholarships for incoming undergraduate students and are also used to help in the making of admissions decisions. (The CEMC’s contests are also used by other universities, including the University of British Columbia and the University of Saskatchewan, to help make scholarship decisions.) CEMC Faculty members visit dozens of elementary and secondary schools annually to promote mathematics and computer science in general, and mathematics and computer science at UW in particular.
The CEMC is managed by its Director and Associate Directors, and is overseen by a Board of Directors, chosen from within the Faculty and also from the wider mathematics and computer science community.
c) Challenges faced in this position
The incumbent requires both a high level of creativity and excellent attention to detail. The incumbent must have excellent people skills and be able to work as part of a team and independently. The incumbent must be willing to take risks in suggesting new ideas for promoting CEMC activities. The incumbent must be able to understand current CEMC activities and the direction in which the CEMC is moving. The incumbent must have strong analytical skills and an ability to understand and implement an evaluation plan. The incumbent must be able to manage changing deadlines and priorities.
d) Significant Internal Relationships
e) Significant External Relationships
CEMC Faculty Complement: 9 full-time
CEMC Staff Complement: 15.5 full-time
Annual CEMC casual employees and co-op students: 10
Annual volunteers in CEMC activities: 400
Size of CEMC budget from all sources: $3 million
Annual participants in CEMC activities: 450 000
Annual mathematics contests: 10 held from November until May
Annual mathematics contest participation: 200 000 students in 1500 schools
Annual computing contests: 2
Annual computing contest participation: 2000 students in 250 schools
Number of related documents handled annually: 1 000 000
Number of schools contacted annually by CEMC: 5000
Number of conferences and seminars offered annually by CEMC: 10
Number of participants in these conferences and seminars: 500
Annual web site hits: 450 000
Annual computer system users: 6000 from 48 countries
Marketing Initiatives
The incumbent is responsible for developing and implementing a marketing strategy for the CEMC. This strategy is to become an ongoing one and is to target students, parents and teachers from elementary schools and secondary schools, both in Canada and internationally. While the CEMC has marketed itself in the past, it has never done so in a consistent and cohesive manner. The incumbent will learn about all CEMC activities and the relevant educational systems and develop materials and an approach to marketing the CEMC to the broader educational community. The incumbent will work closely with the Faculty and UW Marketing areas to ensure consistency in approach but will be expected to produce unique and creative materials for the benefit of CEMC goals and objectives. The strategy will involve both print and electronic materials. The incumbent will create some of these materials and outsource others.
The incumbent will maintain contact with “CEMC alumni” both in Canada and abroad. The marketing strategy will include the targeting of specific international areas. Currently, CEMC maintains strong relationships in China and the Caribbean and is investigating possible outreach initiatives in Africa. The Marketing and Evaluation Coordinator shares a responsibility for maintaining these relationships, both nationally and internationally, through timely correspondence and communication with the many volunteers, primarily teachers and retired teachers, that champion the CEMC and its mission.
The incumbent will create non-mathematical materials (eg. materials relating to careers in mathematics and computer science) that can be used by the CEMC and the Faculty of Mathematics. The incumbent will evaluate and adapt the marketing strategy on an ongoing basis.
Program Evaluation
The incumbent is also responsible for implementing and coordinating an existing evaluation plan for CEMC activities, specifically those under the umbrella of the gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The incumbent will work closely with the CEMC Executive and the Survey Research Centre to refine and implement a strategy that is both useful and cost-effective to achieve the mandate of CEMC and the desired outcomes as indicated by the Gates Foundation. Initially, the incumbent will be required to fill in many details in the existing draft evaluation plan. Subsequently, as the programs offered evolve, the incumbent will be required to continually monitor and adapt the plan. A unique consideration in evaluating the effectiveness of CEMC programming is whether it motivates students to pursue Mathematics and Computer Science in their academic development. In order to respond to this requirement, the incumbent must regularly track a cadre of students over time and report on the results.
The incumbent will be the key contact with the Survey Research Group on all survey initiatives. The incumbent will develop all survey materials and provide CEMC’s requirements to the Survey Research Centre for their refinement and implementation. The incumbent will analyze the results of each survey and interpret the data with respect to the effectiveness of all CEMC programming, and recommend, where appropriate, revisions to the existing curriculum and/or alternate approaches in marketing communication to the Executive.
In conjunction with the Business Manager, the Marketing and Evaluation Coordinator will be responsible for preparing all required reporting, including the annual report to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Specifically, the incumbent will provide all relevant information regarding the effectiveness of the CEMC marketing strategies and directed programming, key CEMC achievements and successes, as well as recommendations for relevant changes based on solid survey data. While the Gates Foundation does not provide day to day oversight of CEMC activities, the Marketing and Evaluation Coordinator will be the primary contact for any enquiries related to his/her portfolio.
Development Activities
The CEMC receives financial support from outside organizations (including foundations, individuals, government, and companies) and the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs (ODAA) acts as the primary contact for all potential corporate sponsorships. The incumbent liaises closely with the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs (ODAA) as well as external organizations, and acts as the contact point in the CEMC for ODAA and other sponsorship related inquiries. The incumbent provides information required to assist in this effort as well as contributing to the drafting of proposals to aid in securing additional funding for CEMC related projects and initiatives. The financial information required for these proposals will be provided by the CEMC Business Manager.
Over all of these activities, the incumbent will have some control over a budget of roughly $85K per year.
The incumbent will provide other assistance to the CEMC Business Manager and the CEMC Director, as required.
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