Director of the STEM Accelerator

State of Virginia•Fairfax, VA

43d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of the STEM Accelerator is responsible for reaching the following 5 goals: Contributes to the growing body of literature on STEM education; Advances pedagogical innovation, teaching assessment, and peer evaluation; Be recognized as an educational role model and mentor to new faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants in the College of Science; Mentors MS and PhD students in STEM education and discipline-based education research; and Elevates the value of teaching in the College of Science.

Requirements

Master's degree in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
Experience in budget administration (generally 5+ years);
Experience teaching in higher education (typically 5+ years);
Track record of successful grant administration and management;
Current knowledge of STEM education research;
Superior writing and oral communication skills;
Ability to communicate with and manage diverse groups and individuals; and
Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Nice To Haves

Terminal degree in related field;
Experience teaching in higher education (typically 10+ years); and
Experience in full-time college-level administration (generally 5+ years).

Responsibilities

Represents the Accelerator for both university initiatives and public-facing communications, and leads workshops to address the evolving landscape of science education;
Creates, designs, recruits, and implements faculty development workshops connecting to any and all areas of STEM education, including such concepts as active learning, innovations in assessment, and inclusive pedagogy;
Manages Accelerator meetings and responsible for scheduling, chairing, and keeping records of Accelerator meetings;
Administers Accelerator grants by ensuring that tasks within the scope of effort are accomplished in a timely fashion and that expenditures are within budgeted allocations;
Ensures grant proposals contain necessary line items such as personnel, travel, conference costs, equipment, space renovations, equipment maintenance, etc.;
Manages Accelerator budget by checking expenditures from Accelerator budgets are within the budgeted allocations;
Reviews Accelerator budgets and expenditures with the College of Science;
Pursues funding opportunities that will increase the capacity of the Accelerator;
Manages the LA (Learning Assistants) program;
Supervises individual faculty leaders;
Directs workshops for faculty and student participants;
Applies and advocates for funding to support the program;
Coordinates expansion of the program to other Colleges at Mason;
Leads efforts to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the program;
Coordinates data collection and analysis regarding programs, especially those involving the community beyond Mason, such as FOCUS, Noyce, STEM Bridge, and Women Leaders in STEM;
Leads and contributes to education research projects, and mentors MS and PhD students for Discipline-Based Educational Research (DBER) in the College of Science;
Coordinates with multiple committees and working groups within the College of Science, to include Curriculum Committee, Faculty Matters Committee, Emerging Pedagogies Committee, any others as needed;
Creates regular reports for the College of Science leadership and faculty; and
Develops a vision to expand the Accelerator within the College of Science.