IET opens recruitment for faculty director of Academic Technology Services

Information and Educational Technology is recruiting a 50 percent position for a faculty director to lead Academic Technology Services, the IET unit that provides educational technology services to support teaching and learning, both within the classroom and online.

Peter M. Siegel, campus chief information officer, announced the recruitment in a letter to deans, directors, department heads and the Academic Senate.

The new director must be a member of the Academic Senate. A key part of the job will be ensuring "effective coordination with the faculty community on all aspects of educational technology investments and priorities," Siegel wrote.

"The primary objective for this position," Siegel said in a separate note to IET staff, "will be to help identify the highest priorities for educational technologies in support of the campus mission, and to lead the efforts in this area--all in consultation with the faculty community who depend on learning technologies as part of their commitment to teaching excellence."\035

"\035I am not looking for a faculty member with technical expertise in educational or information technologies. Quite the contrary,"\035 he said. Siegel established the position because educational technologies are critical to campus excellence and have a daily impact on "literally every faculty program."

Increasingly, he noted, "\034the success of large classes, improved time-to-degree, and other measures of program success depend on those technologies, and are more and more essential given the high costs of classroom construction and renovations.\035"

The strong technical and operational leadership in ATS will allow the faculty director to focus on building campus partnerships and directing the program, Siegel said.

The ATS portfolio includes SmartSite, computer rooms, classroom technological support , audio-visual and illustration services, and more. Current ATS Director Liz Gibson, commended by Siegel for excellent service to IET and UC Davis, resigned this spring, effective May 27.

The new director will report to Siegel and serve a three-year, potentially renewable term that starts in September. Faculty nominations should be submitted to vpiet-info@ucdavis.edu by June 15, 2011. More information about the position is available in Siegel's letter.