Postdoctoral Scholar, Bentonville Institute of Technology

Art and Wellness Enterprises • Bentonville, AR

5d • Onsite

About The Position

Bentonville Institute of Technology (BIT) is a new higher education institution under development in Bentonville, Arkansas, focused on new models of STEM education and workforce development. BIT is building a flexible, experiential educational model that combines rigorous STEM instruction with business, entrepreneurship, human-centered design, communication, systems thinking, and real-world implementation. The institution plans to enroll its first undergraduate class in Fall 2029. Postdoctoral Scholars join in early 2027 while courses, studios, laboratories, policies, and organizational structures are still being designed. Initially, faculty and staff are employed by Art and Wellness Enterprises and work within the Crystal Bridges Campus for Art and Wellness ecosystem, near the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.

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 design and test courses, studios, projects, assessments, and learning experiences for BIT’s business-infused, AI-enabled, project-based model. 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. Once the university opens, scholars teach or co-teach under the guidance of an assigned faculty mentor.

This is a builder role, not a tenure-track appointment. Each scholar has an assigned mentor and an individual development plan, with written 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; scholars may apply for future openings through established recruitment processes.

Scholars contribute to one or more discipline areas: Computing, AI, and Intelligent Systems; Mathematics, Modeling, and Quantitative Systems; Mobility Systems; Robotics and Autonomous Systems; Health Systems; Energy Systems; and Design, Making, and Systems Integration. The work includes developing undergraduate learning experiences; collaborating on curriculum, assessment, and academic model development; conducting scholarship or applied professional work; developing hands-on projects and external engagement; using AI thoughtfully in teaching and professional practice; contributing to founding-institution planning and culture; and pursuing mentorship and professional development. Curriculum maps, assessment designs, and evidence of learning may support institutional approval and accreditation readiness. BIT is pre-accreditation and pre–Title IV, with accreditation candidacy targeted before the founding undergraduate cohort enrolls in Fall 2029.

The position is on-site in Bentonville, Arkansas. Work is generally Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with occasional travel and possible evening or weekend work to accommodate business needs. The role is performed in a climate-controlled professional office and open setting near colleagues, and may also involve laboratory, studio, and makerspace environments. Physical demands include prolonged computer and telephone use, hand-eye coordination, bending and stretching, lifting and transporting at least 10 pounds, and potentially standing for extended periods and safely using tools and equipment.

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 work relevant to the position.
• Scholarly, creative, technical, or professional outputs appropriate to career stage.
• Evidence of the ability or strong potential to teach and mentor undergraduate students effectively.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain 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.
• Disciplinary depth, commitment to undergraduate learning, comfort working across fields, and ability to build while structures are still taking shape.

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.
• Industry, entrepreneurial, applied-research, product-development, clinical, laboratory, or field experience relevant to the discipline.
• 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

• Contribute to one or more discipline focus areas, developing relevant curriculum, applied work, projects, or learning experiences.
• Develop undergraduate courses, studios, laboratories, projects, and other learning experiences aligned with the scholar’s expertise and BIT’s academic needs.
• Design rigorous, engaging activities through which students apply knowledge to 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 gather and use evidence of student learning to improve instruction, curriculum, and student support.
• Teach or co-teach once the university opens, under the guidance of an assigned faculty mentor.
• Collaborate with faculty to design and refine courses, project experiences, learning outcomes, assessments, and curricular sequences.
• Integrate technical depth with AI, systems thinking, human-centered design, business and entrepreneurship, communication, and real-world implementation.
• Participate in curriculum mapping, assessment development, and preparation of academic evidence for institutional approval and accreditation readiness.
• Work across fields and concentration areas rather than within conventional departmental boundaries.
• Document curricular prototypes, results, lessons learned, and recommendations for future development.
• Carry out a defined program of scholarship, applied research, creative activity, technical practice, entrepreneurship, or industry-engaged work.
• Set scholarly and professional development goals in consultation with the assigned mentor, and translate relevant advances in research, technology, industry, and professional practice into curriculum and student learning.
• Share work through publications, presentations, demonstrations, prototypes, technical reports, exhibitions, workshops, or other professional outputs.
• Develop hands-on project-based experiences connecting theory to design, experimentation, building, testing, and implementation.
• Develop practices that support student teams working across the technical and nontechnical dimensions of complex problems.
• Engage with industry, community, and other external partners where appropriate and under the guidance of faculty or institutional leaders.
• Contribute to planning for laboratories, studios, maker environments, equipment, and learning infrastructure aligned with the curriculum.
• Use current AI tools thoughtfully in teaching, curriculum development, scholarship, technical work, and daily professional practice.
• Develop approaches that help students use AI effectively and responsibly in technical problem-solving and system building; experiment with AI-enabled feedback, learning support, design, analysis, and productivity while preserving human accountability, academic integrity, and transparency.
• Contribute to BIT’s evolving practices for responsible AI use in academic work.
• Help create academic culture, shared standards, faculty practices, and other structures appropriate to a new institution.
• Contribute to academic planning, accreditation preparation, student engagement, recruitment, and launch-readiness work appropriate to the role.
• Collaborate with colleagues in academic affairs, enrollment, student success, technology, facilities, and external partnerships.
• Model accountability, collaboration, stewardship, experimentation, high standards, and follow-through.
• Establish an individual development plan with the assigned faculty mentor and meet regularly to review progress in teaching, scholarship or professional practice, institutional contribution, and career preparation.
• Participate in professional development on teaching, project-based learning, mentorship, responsible AI, communication, leadership, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Build a portfolio documenting contributions to teaching, curriculum, scholarship, applied work, projects, and institutional development.
• Participate in periodic developmental reviews based on communicated goals and expectations, and prepare for the next career stage.
• 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