Are you trained in vertebrate systematics or natural history? Would you like to work at a liberal arts college with undergraduates? We have the perfect opportunity for you.
Tenure-Track Position in Biology
University of Minnesota, MorrisThe University of Minnesota, Morris seeks an individual committed to excellence in undergraduate education, to fill a tenure-track position in vertebrate biology beginning August 18, 2008. Responsibilities include: teaching a two-year rotation of undergraduate biology courses including upper level electives in vertebrate systematics or natural history and sophomore level human physiology; contributing to the university’s general education program; curating and maintaining the discipline’s vertebrate collection; advising undergraduates; pursuing a research program that could involve undergraduates; and sharing in the governance and advancement of the biology program as well as the campus at-large.
Candidates must hold or expect to receive a Ph.D. in zoology or a closely related field by August 18, 2008. Two years experience teaching undergraduate biology is required. (Graduate TA experience is acceptable.)
The University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) is a nationally-recognized, small, selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts campus of the University of Minnesota. It has an enrollment of about 1700 students with over 120 faculty members. The campus is located in west-central Minnesota, 160 miles from Minneapolis, in a rural community of 5000 people. The college is organized into four academic divisions, of which Science and Mathematics is one. Disciplines represented in the division are Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geology, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics. The college attracts excellent students many of whom go on to graduate or professional studies. Visit www.morris.umn.edu/positions/ to learn about other open positions at UMM.
This tenure-track position carries all of the privileges and responsibilities of University of Minnesota faculty appointments. A sound retirement plan, excellent fringe benefits and a collegial atmosphere are among the benefits that accompany the position. Appointment will be at the Assistant Professor level for those having the Ph.D. in hand and at the Instructor level for others. The standard teaching load is twenty credit hours per year.
Applications must include a letter of application, resume, transcripts, a teaching statement (in which teaching goals and methods are discussed), a research statement (proposing a research program that is viable at a small liberal arts college and accessible to undergraduates), and three letters of reference. Send applications to:
Biology Search Committee Chair
Division of Science and Mathematics
University of Minnesota, Morris
600 East 4th Street
Morris, MN 56267-2128Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Screening begins January 7, 2008. Inquiries can be made to Tracey Anderson, Search Committee Chair, at (320) 589-6324 or anderstm@@morris.umn.edu.
The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
Ooooo…looks like a great job. If I hadn’t just started a new one, I’d apply. You might want to make sure this gets posted on the SICB website.
Dangit, could you guys hold off on this for about 2-3 years while I finish my Ph.D?
Wait a minute…you people in Morris are hiring for tenure-track positions that do NOT require post-doctoral experience?
Man alive, I chose the wrong field (biomedical/cell/molecular biology). Sure, there might be more people working in my field, but there are also FAR more people training in my field, meaning this type of thing is unheard of. A 2-3 year PDF is now an absolute requirement (and I don’t even get a chance to teach as a PDF).
A lot of positions at research universities will demand post-doctoral experience because they are going to emphasize research more. We don’t demand it, but the reality is that the applicant pool will have people coming out of post-docs, and they might look better than others. We don’t have to state a requirement for it to be a factor in the decision, you know.
Got any chemistry positions opening up?
Realistically, even at a liberal arts college, if it’s a college whose tenure standards include relatively high expectations for research, then somebody who’s done a postdoc is simply a better bet to survive, on average. (Which is not to say you wouldn’t take a flyer on somebody right out of grad school if they looked obviously first-rate.)
I can’t the take job, but maybe someday? This may be slightly off your topic, but relates to a career in biology. Please feel free to remove my comment if it has strayed too far off course.
Suppose a person attended 3 of 6 years of a combined BA/MD program, taking grad level coursework in medical microbiology, biochemistry, and the like (essentially completing all MD courses minus the internship), then withdrew and completed a BA in Psychology, then left both fields entirely for 6 years and worked as an office administrator in a major corporation. Would such a person, in your opinion, have any chance of acceptance into a graduate program in Biology (or biochemistry, or biotechnology) given the length of time out of the field? The supposed person is me, and I would consider my med school experience to suffice as at least an “extended minor” in biology/chemistry. Any advice from Dr. Myers or others with graduate level experience in Biology would be appreciated. Again, I don’t wish to offend my being too off topic, but this seems the best forum for this question.
Getting to Morris and working with a faculty that includes you on it, P.Z.? Makes me wish I’d finished that biology degree and done graduate study there, too.
It would be fun to be able to ask applicants if they heard about the opening first on your blog. Perhaps your HR folk might be good enough to ask?
Cool! I’m applying for a tenure track job in another dept at Morris right now. Hopefully I’ll be seeing all of you in a year or so…
It has an enrollment of about 1700 students with over 120 faculty members.
Copy SUNY on that, will’ya? I’m at a campus of 2000 students and they’re forcing us to go down to 85 faculty members, because at 89 we have “too many” for the number of students. Never mind all the upper level classes that are going untaught, or the over 50% of lower level classes taught by adjuncts.
It’s a few months shy of my expected graduation, but I’d prefer a research career at any rate. Nevertheless, you should advertise this on the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology site:
http://vertpaleo.org/membership/jobs.cfm