SUBJECT:

UC San Diego Faculty Director of the Teaching & Learning Commons

Applications are invited from tenured faculty interested in serving as the Faculty Director of the Teaching & Learning Commons. The Faculty Director search will be confined to the UC San Diego campus. Applicants must hold full-time, tenured faculty positions (including Teaching Professors) in one of our academic units. The Faculty Director appointment will be for a period of five years, renewable after appropriate review. A full position description is shown below and can be found at:
http://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/evc/director-teaching-learning.html

Faculty with strong interest in engaged teaching and learning are encouraged to review the accompanying position description and submit a letter of interest and current CV to Barbara Sawrey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs/Dean of Undergraduate Education at avcdue@ucsd.edu. Faculty who wish to nominate someone can submit the nomination to the same address. The deadline is November 1, 2014.

Suresh Subramani Executive Vice Chancellor

POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The Teaching & Learning Commons is being established with the goal of significantly enhancing teaching and learning at UC San Diego. The Commons will continue the work of the Education Initiative, developing and providing programs and services for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty.

The Faculty Director will report to the Executive Vice Chancellor, through an Executive Committee. In the first two years, the Faculty Director will establish the infrastructure of the Teaching & Learning Commons and its two subsidiary units, the Center for Engaged Teaching and the soon to be formed Center for Engaged Learning. (The Center for Engaged Teaching is a reformulation and expansion of the current Center for Teaching Development). The design of the Commons and the two Centers will ensure that instructors serve as the primary change agents for teaching and learning inside and outside of the classroom. The position is expected to be full-time.

The Teaching & Learning Commons will aim to achieve eight primary objectives:
1. Create a campus-wide culture of engaged teaching and learning
2. Provide an integrated and coordinated structure for existing and expanded programs that promote engaged teaching and learning (e.g. faculty development, student support/enrichment)
3. Gather data to create a baseline understanding of the current state of teaching and learning on our campus, and develop mechanisms for examining progress, i.e., assessment and evaluation
4. Promote excellence in teaching (scholarly teaching) and learning by providing faculty and pre-faculty training, by supporting students' academic development, and by advancing student-centered, research-informed, outcomes-determined practices
5. Assist faculty interested in meaningfully incorporating technology into their instruction
6. Support faculty, departments, and programs in assessing the effectiveness of their teaching
7. Enable, distill, and promote scholarship of teaching and learning across the university
8. Provide leadership and support for the university's teaching and learning initiatives

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES:
* Works with Education Initiative leadership team and Executive Committee to shape ongoing discussions about UC San Diego as a student-centered university
* Oversee the work of the Center for Engaged Teaching (CET) and the Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) once established, and associated academic and staff appointees
* With the CET and CEL, build ongoing partnerships with academic departments to:
      *Promote and provide training in scholarly teaching
      *Inform and facilitate the design and redesign of courses to improve learning
      *Develop discipline-specific or customized programs
      *Nurture a community of shared learning among faculty
* With the CET, develop and provide a range of programs and services (e.g. seminar series, workshops, and informal discussions) for the dissemination of knowledge about effective teaching methods and new instructional technologies
* With the CET, provide confidential formative assessment for faculty who request assistance in enhancing classroom teaching
* With the CET, offer faculty support via individual consultations, classroom observations, connection to relevant scholarship
* With the CET and CEL, partner with other relevant instructional support units (e.g. Library, Writing Center) and academic departments to establish a comprehensive TA training and pre-faculty preparation program
* With the CET and CEL, establish strong partnership with Instructional Technology Support in order to serve as a clearinghouse for instructional technology across campus
* With the CET and CEL, help to develop methods for assessing student learning; train faculty in departments to undertake their own assessments.
* Role on campus
      *Direct and supervise Teaching & Learning Commons staff and academic appointees
      *Oversee the work of the Center for Engaged Teaching (CET) and the Center for Engaged Learning (CEL), and associated academic and staff appointees
      *Create visibility for UC San Diego's commitment to engaged teaching and learning
      *Create an effective coalition and build a strongly connected network among departments and campus-wide instructional/educational support units
      *Promote the scholarship of teaching and learning by conducting, coordinating, and supporting formal, peer-reviewed research on pedagogy, present in appropriate professional venues
* Role beyond the campus
      *Represent UC San Diego at local and national education meetings, communicate with analogous organizations at other universities
      *Position UC San Diego as a leader in teaching and learning by disseminating our scholarship to the larger public and by promoting the value of engaged, student-centered teaching and learning to the higher-education community

THE CANDIDATE:
* Holds an Academic Senate ladder-rank faculty appointment, including Teaching Professors (payroll title: LSOE)
* Is an established leader and highly regarded researcher in his or her academic field, with strong interest and track record in engagement in teaching and learning in higher education
* Has the leadership skills to stimulate and nurture engagement and innovation (serving as chief lobbyist for engaged teaching/innovation in teaching, including online education as well as other initiatives)
* Has demonstrated leadership and administrative skills
* Has a proven track record in attracting external funding and engaging in successful development efforts
* Is an energetic and effective administrator/leader with demonstrated success in building cross-campus collaborations and consensus while demonstrating sensitivity to considerations within, between, and across academic disciplines, departments, schools, divisions, Senate and the EVC office