Nakatani Teaching and Learning Center Director

Universities of Wisconsin•Menomonie, WI

2d•Onsite

About The Position

UW–Stout invites visionary educators and scholar-practitioners to apply for the Nakatani Teaching and Learning Center (NTLC) Directorship—an opportunity for an educational leader who is passionate about transforming how faculty teach and how students learn in a dynamic polytechnic environment. The NTLC Director serves as the campus’s foremost champion of teaching excellence. Reporting to the Director of Multimodal Instructional Supports within Academic Affairs, the Director provides strategic leadership for one of UW–Stout’s most distinctive institutional assets: the NTLC which has defined a culture of innovative, evidence-based, career-focused instruction. The Director: oversees instructional development across the institution, aligned with the university’s strategic priorities builds campus-wide coalitions around effective pedagogy, stewards resources, and positions the NTLC as a leader within the UW System and the broader teaching and learning community. This is an annual appointment with potential for part-time teaching. The appointment begins July 1, 2026.

Requirements

Master’s degree or higher with demonstrated expertise in teaching and learning.
Five or more years of effective teaching experience in higher education.
Demonstrated track record of designing, leading, and assessing instructional professional development programs.
Evidence of strong collaborative skills and the ability to build productive relationships across the academic institution.
Deep commitment to student success frameworks including Universal Design for Learning, High Impact Practices, project-based learning, and others.
Currency with learning technologies and their application within in-person, hybrid, and online contexts.
Effective written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills appropriate for diverse academic audiences.
Strong organizational and project management skills, including demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities.
Capacity to conduct and apply research and evaluation in alignment with UW–Stout’s polytechnic tenets.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated success in a faculty leadership role.
Demonstrated success building a culture of effective teaching across in-person, hybrid, and online modalities.
Experience in program or center administration, including budget development and oversight, staff supervision, and strategic goal-setting aligned with institutional priorities.
History of successful grant writing and external funding development.
Proven ability to lead complex cross-campus communication and relationship-building efforts in higher education.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary institutional leader and spokesperson for teaching and learning excellence, representing the NTLC to internal stakeholders, the UW System, and national professional communities.
Develop and drive a strategic vision for the NTLC in collaboration with the Director of Multimodal Instructional Supports aligned with UW–Stout’s polytechnic mission, the University’s strategic priorities, and the Nakatani Endowment Fund’s purpose.
Monitor and respond to state, national, and international trends in higher education pedagogy, student success, and learning technology to keep UW–Stout’s instructional culture forward-facing.
Chair the Nakatani Teaching and Learning Center Advisory Committee, guiding governance and strategic alignment.
Represent UW–Stout in the UW System Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID) network, including managing the Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars selection process and supporting faculty attendance at the OPID spring conference.
Design, implement, and rigorously assess a portfolio of instructional development programs—including Communities of Practice, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Teams, workshops, speaker series, and sharing communities—aligned to institutional goals and evidence-based best practices.
Lead the First Year Instructor Program and co-facilitate the New Instructor Workshop in partnership with Human Resource Services, Learning Technology Services, and the Instructional Design Program, ensuring new faculty are equipped and supported from day one.
Develop and assess programming that advances High Impact Practices, Universal Design for Learning, and other student success frameworks proven to close equity gaps and improve outcomes.
Establish and nurture instructor communities—in-person, hybrid, and online—that sustain collegial growth across career stages and modalities.
Cultivate strategic partnerships with aligned campus units—Learning Technology Services, Stout Online, the Instructional Design Program, the Provost’s Office, and academic departments—to advance integrated instructional support across the institution.
Build and maintain effective communication channels with instructors, department chairs, academic staff, and students to ensure programming is responsive to evolving needs.
Represent NTLC interests in Academic Affairs planning conversations and contribute to institution-wide curriculum and assessment initiatives.
Create, manage, and oversee the NTLC budget, working in close partnership with the Stout University Foundation and the Provost’s Office to ensure sound stewardship of endowment and operational funds.
Develop and submit competitive grant proposals to secure external funding for teaching and learning innovation, research, and capacity-building.
Supervise NTLC support staff, currently including a 0.25 FTE Graduate Assistant; exercise hiring, performance management, and professional development responsibilities accordingly.
May include part-time teaching assignments.
Maintain an active engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), contributing to the advancement of polytechnic education.
Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
Provides leadership and oversight of all staffing, compliance, information systems, and facility needs for the center or institute.
Provides leadership and oversight in financial operations including developing and administering budgets and oversight of grants management, contracts, and other funds to ensure adherence to accounting practices and compliance with sponsor rules, regulations, and law.
Directs strategic planning initiatives and establishes unit objectives to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, space, staffing resources, and alignment with the strategic plan.
Obtains and validates data needed for strategic decision-making.
Partners with Center Director and other senior leaders to advance the Center/Institute to a position of academic and professional distinction by fostering excellence in all programs and maintaining, supporting, and successfully renewing appropriate federal, state, and local designations and accreditations.
Provides leadership in center philanthropic activities including donor interaction and coordination of stewardship and prospect development.
Responsible for effective communication and marketing of unit center activities, philanthropic opportunities, community outreach, and accomplishments.