Title:  Director of the Digital Literacy Center

Department:  Undergraduate Studies

Created in 2009, Undergraduate Studies (US) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro fosters a learner-centered experience for undergraduate success by promoting learner success and persistence, enhancing faculty/staff engagement and development, and cultivating integrative and collaborative learning.  Professionals in US work collaboratively and interdependently, both internally and externally, to offer comprehensive academic support, sustain high impact undergraduate pedagogy, create complementary faculty/staff development and engagement, implement innovative technological practices, and explore meaningful intersections between scholarship and interdisciplinary learning.  US especially seeks interactive working relationships with our campus and community colleagues to create a community dedicated to learning and scholarship.  US pledges to function organically, constantly seeking and manifesting realignments and new approaches in order to most ably respond to evolving responsibilities, opportunities and necessities.  Guided by our mission, values, vision, and current strategic areas, US further promises to create an inclusive and transparent environment of high energy and great expectations, with unwavering mutual respect for all learners.

Digital Literacy Description:

The newly established Digital Literacy Center (http://digitalliteracycenter.uncg.edu/) is located inside Jackson Library’s Digital Media Commons.  The DLC is part of the Multiliteracy Centers, which include Writing and Speaking Centers.  The DLC is an integral part of a new initiative, funded in part by a U.S. Department of Education Title III—Strengthening Institutions grant to the Undergraduate Studies unit at UNCG.  The grant will permit UNCG to enhance its provision of excellent educational services to its low income and diverse population.  Specifically, through a combination of developmental advising, digital literacy, and targeted faculty development, UNCG will promote self-efficacy among students. Advancing digital rhetorical skill among the students and faculty is seen by UNCG and the US division as an integral component in this process.

Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies or his designee, the Director of the Digital Literacy Center position is a full-time, 10-month administrative appointment.  While initial funding for this position is grant supported, the position subsequently will be funded by the University on a permanent basis.  Teaching assignments are possible but will require approval  of the Dean.  The Director will be responsible for all activities of the Digital Literacy Center for both students and faculty.  The DLC’s faculty and student staff will support the development of digital literacy for their fellow students and faculty by providing them with the following:  1) a support framework for digitally integrated reading, speaking, listening, research, and critical thinking; 2) a collaborative instructional environment; 3) access to digital technologies for all, but especially for disadvantaged, lower income, minority, rural student populations who may not otherwise have access; 4) resources to allow innovative work; 5) facilities to accommodate a variety of learning styles; and, 6) support for the development of more effective and sophisticated digital assignments and projects.  Duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

•Design, implement and maintain a curricular, pedagogical, and institutional direction for the DLC that meets the needs of UNCG’s students, faculty, and staff.

•Develop and maintain DLC pedagogy that supports the “Access to Education and Student Success” section of the UNCG Strategic Plan, including access for non-native speakers, transfer and non-traditional students, at-risk, and online populations.

•Supervise, monitor, and evaluate DLC staff in all efforts, including ongoing staff training, Online DLC development, faculty workshop development, and course-specific workshop development.

•Train and teach undergraduate and graduate staff to serve as digital literacy consultants.

•Provide and maintain an organizational system that recruits and trains up to 50or more student-staff members across a five year period.

•Maintain and analyze records and create annual reports, making them available as necessary to students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

•Participate in assessment initiatives for DLC services and faculty development workshops.

• Advise individual faculty members to improve the teaching of communication in their discipline.

•Develop and maintain the Online DLC, grounded in multimodal composition theory and pedagogy.

•Secure funding for operation, equipment, and personnel for the terrestrial and online DLCs and their summer services.

•Staff, train, and supervise summer DLC services.

Qualifications:

•Masters required, doctorate preferred, in appropriate field (e.g. Media Studies, Rhetoric, Composition, Communication).

•Significant training, research, and publication in digital communication pedagogies.

•Administrative experience in digital, writing, speaking, or other similar peer consultation center required.  •Undergraduate teaching experience required.

•Familiarity with current technologies used to support innovative teaching practices requiring digital communication.

•Significant outreach, especially workshop experience.

•Ability to work with faculty and students in a variety of disciplines.

Contact:

Please submit electronically a letter of interest, c.v., and contact information for three professional references to Dr. Stephen R. Yarbrough at sryarbro@uncg.edu.  Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Compensation:

Commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Effective Date:

August 1, 2013

UNCG:

One of the 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, UNCG is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with high research activity.  It was established in 1891 and became coeducational in 1963.  Enrollment is approximately 18,500 students, including over 3,500 graduate students.  The UNCG campus is adjacent to a historic neighborhood one mile from downtown Greensboro, a city of nearly 260,000 in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina.  The Triad of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point has a population of approximately 1.6 million and enjoys an excellent quality of life.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has a strong commitment to serve its highly diverse community. As such, UNCG welcomes applications from women, underrepresented racial/ethnic minority group members, persons with disabilities, members of sexual minority groups and others who would enrich the University’s mission.

UNCG is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

EEO/AA