Director of Research & Instruction, Wheaton College, Norton, MA
Posted June 19, 2019
Wheaton College (MA) seeks a diverse pool of applicants for the position of Director of Research & Instruction in Library Services. This is an exciting time to join Wallace Library at Wheaton, a college that prides itself on a personal and engaged curricular and co-curricular learning experience for students. The college just approved a bold, innovative new curriculum, slated to launch in Fall 2020. The Research & Instruction team will play a key role in its successful implementation. Add in new leadership in the library and a newly-launched center for teaching and learning within the last year – it’s clear that great things are happening at Wheaton!
Position Summary:
The Director of Research & Instruction (R&I) reports to the Dean of Library Services and serves on the library’s leadership team. The Director leads an innovative, collaborative team of librarians and academic technologists in promoting effective student use of library and technology resources for self-discovery, empowerment, and success. The Director is responsible for the development and implementation of a creative, equitable, inclusive, and forward-looking vision for the library’s research and instruction programming and services, one aligned with College priorities and responsive to curricular, technological, and library changes. The Director partners with faculty, library staff, and campus colleagues on a broad range of teaching and learning issues. On the library leadership team, the Director works with peers in collections and access, media services, and archives and digital initiatives to ensure use of library services and collections becomes a regular part of each student’s Wheaton experience.
About Research & Instruction:
R&I is a blended library and academic technology team. The team’s primary areas of responsibilities include:
- information and digital literacy instruction,
- student research support,
- digital pedagogy infrastructure (including, but not limited to, the learning management system),
- outreach to faculty and students, and
- academic technology needs across campus.
Responsibilities of the Director of Research & Instruction include, but are not limited to, the following:
Management
- Lead, manage, develop, assess, and advocate for R&I staff and services.
- Lead the department in creating an inclusive, equitable, and respectful environment that values and affirms the diversity of the college community.
- Represent the library on college-wide groups such as the Library, Technology, and Learning Committee (LTLC).
- Achieve operational excellence through continuous development of staff, effective allocation of financial and staff resources, ongoing assessment, and adoption of best practices.
- Plan and manage the R&I budget.
- Oversee department participation in library-wide efforts such as open educational resources, digital initiatives, and collection development.
- Lead and contribute to library strategic planning discussions; develop, implement, and assess library strategic initiatives as a member of the library leadership team.
Research & Instruction Responsibilities:
- Partner with faculty and staff to build and move forward a strategic, integrated view of teaching and learning, inclusive of student research needs, pedagogy, literacies, technologies, and curricular transformation.
- Promote and extend a culture of teaching excellence among staff.
- Actively engage in the day-to-day work of the department; e.g. investigate and implement academic technology tools and systems, develop and deliver curriculum-integrated information and digital literacy instruction to students, promote curricular digital scholarship projects, support faculty in adopting and authoring open educational resources, and develop programming for faculty and staff development.
- Provide leadership and coordination around campus-wide academic technology needs; e.g. lead initiatives that improve campus experience with the learning management system, lead discussions with faculty, IT, and Media Services on software and hardware needs in classrooms and labs, work with library and IT leadership on budgetary implications.
- Participate in local, regional, and national professional communities of practice.
For full job description and application, please refer to the Wheaton College Job Site.