Title
Instructional Faculty
Location
Providence, RI
Description
Instructional Faculty teach College Unbound’s 8-week courses including required major courses and general education and major electives. They contribute to the ongoing improvement of core courses and develop and deliver electives. Every course is designed and delivered so that students apply their learning to the development of their CU Core Project. Instructional faculty support CU’s approach to high-touch, high-challenge learning by holding one-on-one meetings with students at the start and end of the course, providing frequent formative feedback that supports and challenges learners, using multiple modalities to communicate and engage with learners, and by collaborating with Lab Faculty and the Provost’s office to identify and support students who fall behind or are otherwise struggling.
Most 8-week courses are offered for 3 credits, making them intensive teaching and learning sprints. At a minimum, instructional faculty should expect to spend 45 hours of engaged academic time delivering the course in addition to time spent preparing lessons, providing feedback and grading, and communicating with individual students in virtual or in-person office hours.
Successful instructional faculty:
● Are student-centered.
- See and respond to students as individuals.
- Go the extra mile to understand and address student needs and goals.
- Are willing and prepared to work one-on-one with students.
- Know how to listen attentively.
- Personalize learning for every student, assessing needs and providing appropriate resources.
- Demonstrate appreciation for and sensitivity to diversity among individuals.
● Scaffold learning.
- Know when to provide instruction and when to let students take charge of their learning.
- Know how and when to move from explaining through modeling to coaching.
● Hold high standards for students, and have the positive expectation that all can perform at high levels.
● Communicate passion for their area of expertise and take joy in teaching and learning.
● Demonstrate empathy for learners.
- Are themselves life-long learners who understand that learning new things is hard.
- Understand that adults balance work, family and school.
● Are experimenting teachers who continues to refine teaching.
- Engage in reflective practices—use reflection to improve educational practice and relationships with students and staff. Support other learners in their reflective practices.
- Participate in ongoing professional development training and activities as appropriate.
- Demonstrate computer proficiency and willingness to learn appropriate instructional technologies.
- Take initiative/are self starters.
- Adapt to changing conditions; understand a culture of change and ambiguity.
- Articulate a personal set of values and goals pertaining to education.
- Engage in risk-taking in the field of educational change.
● Establish and maintain cooperative, professional relationships with others.
- Demonstrate communication skills that are clear, direct, and responsive.
- Manage conflict.
- Give and receive constructive feedback.
Responsibilities:
Course Design and Instruction:
● Develops and delivers courses that advance the college’s mission and are aligned with its guiding principles.
● Shows command of material and depth of knowledge in the subject area(s) taught.
● Encourages students to integrate new learning with prior learning, including learning from experience.
● Organizes, presents and communicates material effectively.
● Applies methods of assessment in line with stated learning outcomes and college standards.
● Provides substantive feedback in a timely manner.
● Reflects thoughtfully on teaching activities, experiences, and approaches, and implements changes and/or makes innovations in teaching and/or course design as appropriate.
● Submits a syllabus in advance of each term following the college’s guidelines.
● Ensures proper documentation of student learning to meet standards of CU.
● Submits assessment of student learning to Provost’s Office at or before midterm and in end-of-semester grades and narrative assessments.
● Contacts a student’s lab faculty and [email protected] when a student misses more than one class, falls more than a little behind on assignments, or is otherwise struggling.
Professional Development:
● Attends summer faculty orientation, professional development workshops, and participates in ongoing professional development during the academic year.
● Contributes to the collaborative improvement of teaching, learning, and the student experience at College Unbound.
Administration:
● Reports attendance weekly.
● Keeps other assignment completion records.
Most 8-week courses are offered for 3 credits, making them intensive teaching and learning sprints. At a minimum, instructional faculty should expect to spend 45 hours of engaged academic time delivering the course in addition to time spent preparing lessons, providing feedback and grading, and communicating with individual students in virtual or in-person office hours.
Successful instructional faculty:
● Are student-centered.
- See and respond to students as individuals.
- Go the extra mile to understand and address student needs and goals.
- Are willing and prepared to work one-on-one with students.
- Know how to listen attentively.
- Personalize learning for every student, assessing needs and providing appropriate resources.
- Demonstrate appreciation for and sensitivity to diversity among individuals.
● Scaffold learning.
- Know when to provide instruction and when to let students take charge of their learning.
- Know how and when to move from explaining through modeling to coaching.
● Hold high standards for students, and have the positive expectation that all can perform at high levels.
● Communicate passion for their area of expertise and take joy in teaching and learning.
● Demonstrate empathy for learners.
- Are themselves life-long learners who understand that learning new things is hard.
- Understand that adults balance work, family and school.
● Are experimenting teachers who continues to refine teaching.
- Engage in reflective practices—use reflection to improve educational practice and relationships with students and staff. Support other learners in their reflective practices.
- Participate in ongoing professional development training and activities as appropriate.
- Demonstrate computer proficiency and willingness to learn appropriate instructional technologies.
- Take initiative/are self starters.
- Adapt to changing conditions; understand a culture of change and ambiguity.
- Articulate a personal set of values and goals pertaining to education.
- Engage in risk-taking in the field of educational change.
● Establish and maintain cooperative, professional relationships with others.
- Demonstrate communication skills that are clear, direct, and responsive.
- Manage conflict.
- Give and receive constructive feedback.
Responsibilities:
Course Design and Instruction:
● Develops and delivers courses that advance the college’s mission and are aligned with its guiding principles.
● Shows command of material and depth of knowledge in the subject area(s) taught.
● Encourages students to integrate new learning with prior learning, including learning from experience.
● Organizes, presents and communicates material effectively.
● Applies methods of assessment in line with stated learning outcomes and college standards.
● Provides substantive feedback in a timely manner.
● Reflects thoughtfully on teaching activities, experiences, and approaches, and implements changes and/or makes innovations in teaching and/or course design as appropriate.
● Submits a syllabus in advance of each term following the college’s guidelines.
● Ensures proper documentation of student learning to meet standards of CU.
● Submits assessment of student learning to Provost’s Office at or before midterm and in end-of-semester grades and narrative assessments.
● Contacts a student’s lab faculty and [email protected] when a student misses more than one class, falls more than a little behind on assignments, or is otherwise struggling.
Professional Development:
● Attends summer faculty orientation, professional development workshops, and participates in ongoing professional development during the academic year.
● Contributes to the collaborative improvement of teaching, learning, and the student experience at College Unbound.
Administration:
● Reports attendance weekly.
● Keeps other assignment completion records.
Requirements
Instructional Faculty have master's degrees or higher or terminal degrees plus the requisite experience as practitioners in their field and demonstrated experience facilitating adult learning.
For more information and how to apply, please visit the So You Want to Teach at CU page.
For more information and how to apply, please visit the So You Want to Teach at CU page.