TENURE-TRACK GENETICS and/or GENOMICS
The University of the South seeks to hire a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Biology. The successful candidate will teach upper-division undergraduate courses in MOLECULAR GENETICS and/or GENOMICS, participate in the department's introductory biology classes, and maintain a research program that actively engages undergraduate students. Candidates should be enthusiastic about developing a teaching and research program in the context of the liberal arts tradition in education. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University has an undergraduate enrollment of about 1,400 and is located on a biologically diverse 13,000-acre campus on TennesseeÕs Cumberland Plateau. Review of applicants will begin on 1st October 2008 but applications will be accepted until a suitable candidate is found. Send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, statements of teaching and research interests, transcripts, and three letters of reference to: Dr. David Haskell, Chair of Biology, 735 University Avenue, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383. Please mail hard-copies of application materials; email submissions are not accepted.The University of the South is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
Further Information:
We seek applications from candidates in the fields of molecular genetics and/or genomics who can augment our current teaching and research offerings in the area of genetics and/or genomics. We invite applications from candidates with strengths in either area (i.e., molecular geneticists who use little in the way of bioinformatics should apply, and vice versa; we seek applications from a broad range of backgrounds, and will select candidates based on their potential to make significant contributions to our molecular biology program).
We are committed to excellence both in undergraduate education and in research. We place particular emphasis on blurring the line between teaching and scholarship by actively involving undergraduates in our research projects. We teach nine Òcontact hoursÓ per week in both the fall and spring semesters. This usually involves teaching one lecture+lab class and one lab section or lecture-only class. Our upper division lab classes are currently capped at 16 students. Introductory lab sections are currently capped at between 15 and 20. The person we hire for this position will be one of the faculty members responsible for teaching the molecular biology/associated areas half of introductory biology (currently, all faculty in the department spend one third of their nine contact hours in introductory classes) and will develop upper division classes in their area of expertise.
This position is tenure-track and is a newly created position in biology. The tenure decision at Sewanee is based on: (i) excellence in teaching (assessed through course evaluations, class visits, and review of teaching materials), (ii) maintenance of an active research program involving undergraduates (we do not have a numerical ÒcutoffÓ for numbers of publications or grants, but we do expect the research to be productive), (iii) participation in the administrative activities of the college (for pre-tenure faculty this is involves serving on a committee or two, and assisting with departmental functions such as advising). Faculty at Sewanee work closely with their students in a collegial atmosphere, making professional life here particularly attractive for faculty who wish to maintain active research programs with a strong emphasis on student involvement.
In late 2008 the department will move most of its teaching, research, and office facilities to the new Spencer Hall, a $22 million expansion of the current Woods Lab. Spencer Hall will house most of biology and biochemistry (with new teaching and research labs), and parts of chemistry and environmental studies.
Startup funds are available for this position and the University has endowed funds to provide ongoing support for scientific equipment. In addition, the University provides funding for faculty to attend conferences, has a modest faculty research fund to support faculty research, and has several endowed student summer internships. Existing labs in the department are equipped for cell and molecular biology teaching and research.
The University of the South (popularly known as Sewanee) is located on a wooded 13,000 acre campus on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. The University has 1400 undergraduate students drawn from around the U.S. (with a few international students). Because Sewanee is a small community, most faculty live within a few minutes walk or drive from campus. The town of Sewanee combines the life of a close community with easy access to arts and cultural events (all free for faculty), outdoor recreation (miles of hiking and biking trails in some of the most beautiful forested land in the east), and rapid access to larger cities such as Nashville and Chattanooga. These opportunities make Sewanee a very popular place in which to live and work.