Postdoctoral Scholar, Bentonville Institute of Technology

Art and Wellness Enterprises • Bentonville, AR

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Postdoctoral Scholar is a full-time, fixed-term developmental appointment for emerging scholars and practitioners seeking to grow as educators, applied researchers, and institution builders. Working with faculty mentors and interdisciplinary colleagues, scholars help design and test courses, studios, projects, assessments, and learning experiences for Bentonville Institute of Technology’s business-infused, AI-enabled, project-based educational model. Once the university opens, scholars teach or co-teach under the guidance of an assigned faculty mentor. Each scholar also pursues a defined program of scholarship, technical practice, curriculum research, or applied project work aligned with their field and BIT’s mission.

This is a builder role, not a tenure-track appointment. Scholars receive an assigned mentor and an individual development plan that sets expectations for teaching, scholarship or professional practice, institutional contribution, evaluation, renewal, and professional development. Completion does not guarantee a continuing or faculty position at BIT.

BIT is a new institution being developed in Bentonville, Arkansas, with an inaugural undergraduate class planned for Fall 2029. It is designing a three-year, 120-credit baccalaureate program with a shared academic foundation and concentrations in Mobility Systems, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Health Systems, and Energy Systems. Postdoctoral scholars will join while courses, studios, laboratories, policies, and organizational structures are still being developed. Their curriculum maps, assessment designs, and evidence of learning will contribute to institutional approval and accreditation readiness. BIT is AI-native, and scholars are expected to use AI tools fluently in teaching, curriculum development, scholarship, and professional practice while helping students use AI responsibly.

Scholars contribute in one or more areas: Computing, AI, and Intelligent Systems; Mathematics, Modeling, and Quantitative Systems; Mobility Systems; Robotics and Autonomous Systems; Health Systems; Energy Systems; or Design, Making, and Systems Integration. The role includes developing undergraduate learning experiences, supporting student teams and mentoring, collaborating on curriculum and assessment, pursuing scholarship or applied work, engaging with external partners as appropriate, contributing to learning infrastructure and founding-institution development, and participating in professional development. The position is based on-site in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Requirements

• Doctoral degree in a relevant STEM field or closely related discipline, completed before the appointment begins.
• Demonstrated expertise in one or more of the listed discipline focus areas.
• Evidence of research, technical practice, design, building, experimentation, curriculum development, or other substantial relevant work.
• Scholarly, creative, technical, or professional outputs appropriate to career stage.
• Evidence of ability or strong potential to teach and mentor undergraduate students effectively.
• Strong communication skills, including explaining complex technical ideas to students, colleagues, partners, and broader audiences.
• Ability to collaborate across disciplinary and organizational boundaries, including on complex systems with technical and human dimensions.
• Familiarity with current AI tools and demonstrated use in daily work, with sound judgment about responsible use in teaching and professional practice.
• Interest in developing as an educator, scholar, practitioner, and collaborative institution builder.
• Ability to work with ambiguity, adapt, learn from feedback, and make progress while structures and processes are being developed.
• Physical ability to use a computer and telephone for prolonged periods, coordinate hand and eye movements, bend and stretch, and lift and transport at least 10 pounds; laboratory, studio, and makerspace activities may require extended standing and safe tool use.
• Visual acuity to review written materials.

Nice To Haves

• Experience teaching, mentoring, tutoring, or supporting undergraduate students.
• Experience with project-based, experiential, studio-based, maker-centered, or design-based learning models.
• Experience designing or substantially revising courses, projects, laboratories, or learning materials.
• Relevant industry, entrepreneurial, applied-research, product-development, clinical, laboratory, or field experience.
• Experience with academic assessment, accreditation, program review, or evidence-of-learning processes.
• Experience in a founding, start-up, rapidly growing, or substantially redesigned organization.
• Effective use of AI, computation, data, or intelligent systems within the scholar’s own field.

Responsibilities

• Develop undergraduate courses, studios, laboratories, projects, and other learning experiences aligned with the scholar’s expertise and BIT’s academic needs.
• Design rigorous, engaging learning activities based on authentic problems, systems, prototypes, and implementation challenges.
• Develop approaches for mentoring students and strengthening their technical capability, judgment, communication, teamwork, persistence, and professional practice.
• Develop assessment approaches that use evidence of student learning to improve instruction, curriculum, and student support.
• Teach or co-teach after the university opens, under the guidance of an assigned faculty mentor.
• Collaborate with faculty to design and refine courses, projects, learning outcomes, assessments, and curricular sequences.
• Integrate technical depth with AI, systems thinking, human-centered design, business and entrepreneurship, communication, and implementation.
• Participate in curriculum mapping, assessment development, and preparation of academic evidence for institutional approval and accreditation readiness.
• Work across fields and concentration areas, and document curricular prototypes, results, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• Carry out a defined program of scholarship, applied research, creative activity, technical practice, entrepreneurship, or industry-engaged work.
• Set scholarly and professional development goals with the assigned mentor and translate relevant advances into curriculum and student learning.
• Share work through appropriate professional outputs, such as publications, presentations, demonstrations, prototypes, technical reports, exhibitions, or workshops.
• Develop hands-on project-based experiences and practices supporting student teams working across technical and nontechnical dimensions of complex problems.
• Engage with industry, community, and other external partners where appropriate and under faculty or institutional guidance.
• Contribute to planning laboratories, studios, maker environments, equipment, and learning infrastructure.
• Use current AI tools thoughtfully in teaching, curriculum development, scholarship, technical work, and daily professional practice.
• Help students develop sound judgment in effective and responsible AI use, and experiment with AI-enabled feedback, learning support, design, analysis, and productivity while maintaining accountability, integrity, and transparency.
• Contribute to BIT’s responsible AI practices and to its academic culture, shared standards, faculty practices, planning, accreditation preparation, student engagement, recruitment, and launch readiness.
• Collaborate with colleagues in academic affairs, enrollment, student success, technology, facilities, and external partnerships.
• Establish an individual development plan, meet regularly with the mentor, participate in developmental reviews and professional development, and build a portfolio of contributions.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned to support evolving organizational needs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree