Geology - Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, invites
applications for a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor in
geology beginning August 2017. Augustana College is a selective
liberal arts college of approximately 2,500 students, most of whom
live on a wooded 115-acre campus. Rock Island, Illinois, is part of
the Illinois-Iowa Quad Cities along the Mississippi River, a diverse
metropolitan area with 400,000 residents, located about three hours
west of Chicago.
We seek a colleague, committed to excellence in teaching, advising,
mentoring, and research involving our diverse undergraduates, who is a
broadly trained geoscientist with expertise in paleontology,
stratigraphy and/or sedimentology, and who should be able to
capitalize on and help oversee the extensive rock, mineral, and fossil
collections of the Augustana’s Fryxell Geology Museum. The successful
candidate will teach a range of introductory- to upper-level
undergraduate courses, and will advise students on directed research
projects. In addition, the successful candidate must contribute to
existing and new field opportunities for students through courses and
department-sponsored academically engaging field trips. Service to the
College is also part of faculty expectations. Ancillary interest and
expertise in sustainability, economic geology, global climate change,
low-temperature geochemistry, or geographical information systems
(GIS) – which can integrate with our environmental studies program or
our Upper Mississippi Studies Center – would be highly beneficial.
We are strongly committed to the undergraduate liberal arts
traditions, realizing that a well-rounded student is one who
understands and appreciates the scientific method, the natural world,
and humans’ place in it. As our society faces complex problems,
particularly with respect to resource depletion, energy use, and
global climate change, it is vital that all students develop an
understanding of and appreciation for the Earth sciences and
interrelated Earth systems. Geology, by its nature, is an
interdisciplinary science, so we expect the new hire to have that
mind-set and to be able to develop courses attractive to a wide range
of students, from geologists to non-scientists, to participate in
interdisciplinary and interdepartmental programs, and potentially to
design community-based learning and service learning projects.
Ideally, we seek an individual who has a deep, up-to-date,
demonstrable understanding of student learning and thriving pedagogy.
Teaching load is typically five classes plus labs each year. A Ph.D.
is preferred, but ABD candidates will be considered.
Augustana’s Department of Geology, established in 1929, has a long
history of excellence as a small undergraduate program. Each student
completing the geology major must complete a senior research project
(Senior Inquiry), culminating in a written thesis, PowerPoint
presentations on campus and a poster presentation at the regional
Geological Society of America meeting. In addition to our Fryxell
Geology Museum and its extensive collections, the department houses a
Paleontology Laboratory equipped with air abrasive unit, air scribes
and dust collectors; a Sedimentology Lab; a Geochemistry Lab with a
Rigaku SuperMini XRF spectrometer, a Katanax fusion fluxer, a
hydraulic pellet press, fume hoods, kiln and muffle furnaces; an
Experimental Petrology Lab with eight cold-seal pressure vessels and
petrographic and binocular zoom microscopes; and a Rock-Cutting
Laboratory with rock saws, crusher, and thin-section and polishing
equipment. An X-Ray Diffractometer, Scanning Electron Microscope and
GIS computer lab are available in other departments on campus.
Questions may be directed to the chair of the department, Dr. Jeffrey
Strasser, at JeffreyStrasser@augustana.edu. The application deadline
is December 16, 2016. All application materials including a cover
letter, CV, unofficial graduate transcripts, research and teaching
statements and contact information for three reference letters must be
submitted through https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/7825
More information about Augustana College, the geology department and
the selection process can be found on the faculty search website
www.augustanafaculty.org, on the campus website www.augustana.edu and
on the departmental website www.augustana.edu/geology. Augustana
College is an equal opportunity employer and actively encourages
applications from women and persons of diverse ethnic backgrounds. We
do not discriminate based on age, race, color, ethnic origin, gender,
sexual orientation, disability or creed.