Available Positions
The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Colgate University has an opening beginning Fall 2021 for a full-time position. The primary responsibility will be teaching introductory physics laboratories for the non-calculus courses: Physics 111 (mechanics) in the fall and Physics 112 (electricity and magnetism) in the spring. For Fall 2021, the 3-hour labs are scheduled for at least three afternoons. In the spring and following semesters, there will be three to four laboratory sections per week, depending on enrollment.
In addition, the position will include other options for working with students and improving pedagogy, particularly organizing our peer-led workshops for the Physics 111-112 sequence. Strong candidates will be able to guide student workshop leaders, tutors, and mentors from across the physics curriculum to develop good pedagogical practices and enable positive interactions between students. The position may also include other activities such as advising students who are interested in teaching careers, developing new lab experiments and pedagogies, assessing teaching effectiveness, and helping to create an inclusive and exciting learning environment for all students at Colgate, including students from groups typically under-represented in physics and astronomy.
Colgate is a highly selective liberal arts university of 2900 students situated in the village of Hamilton, in central New York. The Physics and Astronomy Department is located in the Ho Science Center, housing dedicated laboratories for teaching and research, plus support facilities for building or upgrading laboratory infrastructure. The department has 11 continuing faculty members. For more information see our website.
Applications should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a document describing previous teaching and student mentoring experience, and two letters of recommendation to be uploaded to Academic Jobs Online. Review of applications will begin on July 1, 2021, and continue until the position is filled. Letters should primarily address teaching experience. Candidates should have at least a bachelor’s degree, while a master’s degree in physics or science education is preferred.
Colgate strives to be a community supportive of diverse perspectives and identities. All applications should speak directly to the candidate’s ability to work effectively with colleagues and students across a wide range of identities and backgrounds. It is the policy of Colgate University not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of their race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, marital status, disability, Protected Veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, being or having been victims of domestic violence or stalking, familial status, or any other categories covered by law. Colgate University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Candidates from historically underrepresented groups, women, persons with disabilities, and Protected Veterans are encouraged to apply. Applicants with dual career considerations can find postings of other employment opportunities at Colgate and at other institutions of higher education in upstate New York at https://upstate-ny.hercjobs.org/jobs.
Email inquiries to Enrique Galvez (egalvez@colgate.edu) are welcome.
Guidance for Applicants to Faculty Positions
When we read your application, we are looking for evidence that you will be successful as a teacher and researcher at Colgate University. Here’s some guidance on what makes strong teaching, research, and diversity statements.
Teaching Statement
We’re looking for evidence that you’ve thought deeply about teaching and are committed to being a successful teacher and mentor at a four-year college. There are many forms that this evidence can take. Typically your statement will be 1 – 3 pages. Some things that could be included are:
- Describe any teaching experience you’ve had. What did you do that you were proud of? What did you learn from the experience, and what would you do differently in the future? How would that teaching be similar to or different from your teaching at Colgate?
- What have you learned about teaching, outside of direct experience as a teacher? What effective instructional practices did you observe when you were a student? What have you learned by reading the science education literature? What are you particularly interested in trying at Colgate?
- What are your goals for students? You might pick a course and explain what you hope students will take out of it. In addition to specific content mastery, what else do you want your students to gain from the course? How will you design your teaching of the course to make that happen?
- What courses would you feel best prepared to teach? In addition to teaching in physics and astronomy, we expect our faculty to teach courses to a general audience of students in our liberal arts curriculum. Most scientists teach in the Scientific Perspectives component, where the main objective is to teach students about the scientific process and how science interacts with society. What ideas do you have for teaching in this program?
You cannot include all this information in a statement of reasonable length, so use that freedom to write about whatever you care about the most, and also feel free to write about things that are important to you, but that we have not remembered to include in this list.
One note: We do not normally read student evaluations from your previous teaching, but if there are any that particularly illustrate what you’re trying to accomplish, you may quote them in your statement.
Research Statement
We expect that, beyond being an effective teacher, you will also contribute to knowledge and involve students in the research process. Your statement should convince us that you have chosen an exciting area of research and have thought of projects that can be accomplished in an undergraduate environment. Typically your statement will be 2 - 3 pages.
Please remember that while some of us may work in fields of research adjacent to your own, others will be working in completely different areas in physics or astronomy. Please aim to convince all of us that your field of research is promising.
We’d like to know what your lab will look like. Please make clear the type of equipment you will need and the timeline for setting it up. We do have start-up funds available, and we hope to be able to supply all the resources needed for you to be successful, but our funds are not unlimited. In case there is some question about whether your plans are feasible at Colgate, it may be helpful to provide budgetary information: “I could start with apparatus X that would cost about $Y, along with $Z for general supplies. If more funds are available, I would also purchase Z at a cost of $W, but this could also be acquired through future grant funding from Q source.” Very rough numbers, even +/-50%, are acceptable here.
Let us know how undergraduates can contribute to and learn from your research. All our students complete senior research projects, and many work in our labs for summers and during the academic year. Your statement should give us a general understanding of the sorts of student projects you might mentor.
If you have established research collaborations, or if you hope to establish collaborations, describing them will help us see that you have the resources necessary to complete your research.
Diversity and Inclusion Statement
Colgate is committed to providing a supportive environment where students from diverse backgrounds can thrive. Diversity includes not only race and ethnicity, but also socioeconomic status, gender identity, and all the other things that make our students unique human beings. Write a brief statement (probably 1/2 to 1 page) that describes how you will provide an inclusive environment to students in your classroom and laboratory.