Post contributed by Dr. Nanette Chadwick, Academic Sustainability Programs, Director

Academic Sustainability Programs is hiring a full-time Instructor in Sustainability Studies, to participate in teaching both SUST 2000 Introduction to Sustainability, and SUST 5000 Senior Capstone in Sustainability, beginning Fall Semester 2019. The introductory course has grown rapidly in size over the past several years, reaching up to 150 students each fall, and up to 75 in the spring, with students on the waiting lists. As such, this course is now large enough to support a full-time instructor, who would replace the hiring of many part-time instructors to each teach one section of the course. This will allow the teaching program to become more “sustainable”, with better continuity among semesters, more consistency among sections of the course each semester, and the ability for long-term development of new teaching ideas by an instructor who is focusing on sustainability studies.

The program will continue to welcome guest lectures in our courses, by faculty who are experts in topic areas that are not central to the instructor’s area of expertise. Hiring a full-time instructor will also ease the teaching load for SUST 5000 each spring semester, in which the instructor will be paired with a senior faculty member due to the advanced nature of this project-based capstone course.

The ability to hire a full-time sustainability instructor at Auburn University is evidence of the growth of our instructional program. An ever-increasing number of Auburn students are choosing to enroll in the introductory course each year, either as a free elective, as a Social Studies option in the Core Curriculum, as a course toward the Minor in Sustainability Studies, or in some cases as a required course toward their major — for example, in majors offered by the Aviation Department.

We are pleased to be able to make this transition in the teaching program, and look forward to our students being exposed to new perspectives on sustainability instruction. This position is being advertised widely; applications are welcome from both internal and external candidates. The successful candidate is expected to be announced by the end of spring semester.

If you have any questions about this position, please feel free to contact Dr. Nanette Chadwick, Director of Sustainability Programs.