Instructor, Sustainability & Environment

Summary

The Council on International Educational Exchange is seeking highly motivated, experienced, and team-oriented instructors for the intensive, interdisciplinary semester study abroad program “Sustainability and the Environment at Monteverde, Costa Rica”. Instructors will serve as members of a team of faculty and support staff that delivers dynamic, inquiry-based, and integrated hands-on learning experiences to environmental studies/science majors at our base in Monteverde as well as on field trips through Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Currently there are full-time teaching positions open for Fall 2012 for core courses and the internship program. Core courses focus on topics in these broad realms: (1) tropical conservation biology and policy; (2) sustainable development; and (3) natural history and ecology. Additionally, instructors will supervise students interning with local organizations or businesses in projects that advance sustainability in the local community.

Primary Responsibilities

Full-time instructors generally teach 2 core classes, which includes planning, delivering, and coordinating lectures, laboratories, field outings and diverse activities. Additionally, they provide academic supervision and monitor progress in student internships; they also provide guidance to the internship agencies if needed. Instructors also travel extensively (about 4 weeks in total) with participants to carefully chosen destinations around Costa Rica and Nicaragua to undertake studies integral to the curriculum. Instructors should be available for academic counseling upon request, and capable of advising students on how to find other counseling if needed. Contact hours are extensive in this concentrated and vibrant program, and may include evening and weekend commitments.

Knowledge and Skills

Applicants should hold an M.Sc. (minimum) or Ph.D. (preferred), have experience teaching US undergraduates, and have extensive knowledge about and long-term experience in Costa Rica. They should have expertise in sustainability, natural resource management, tropical ecology, international affairs, or natural history. Applicants should be bilingual (Spanish and English) and bi-cultural (Latin and North American). They should have a very strong desire and demonstrated commitment to teach, and be willing and able to act as role models. They should be progressive teachers and mentors relate well to US undergraduates. They should have demonstrated capacity to work as part of an interdisciplinary team. Applicants should be willing and able to work with local organizations and individuals in the internship program, in creative, constructive, and resourceful ways. Being flexible, adaptable, positive, energetic, and creative are highly valued traits for these positions.

Institutional Mission

CIEE is a non-profit, non-governmental international exchange organization, dedicated to the mission of helping people gain understanding, acquire knowledge, and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world. Expansive globalization has made international exchange more relevant and critical than ever, not only for competitive advantage but also for compassionate understanding. Cultivating the next generation of global citizens who can adaptively lead in a dynamic, interconnected world is the overarching goal of CIEE. To that end, CIEE labors on three fronts: university exchange programs (both inbound and outbound), advocacy for international education and exchange, and advancement and dissemination of knowledge.

Program Goals

The principal goal of the Program in Sustainability and the Environment at Monteverde, Costa Rica is to provide students with transformational experiences that facilitate their development as future leaders in sustainability and conservation movements, in any part of the world, and at any scale they choose. To this end we supply rich opportunities for students to ask questions, amass knowledge, acquire skills, and apply concepts in practice. We partner with community organizations in Monteverde in order to advance their sustainability and environmental protection practices and to provide students with first-hand experiences with local leaders working on global issues. We promote cultural awareness and exchange with our emphasis on language acquisition and via our partnership with families in our homestay program. Students leave the program transformed, and empowered to transform.

Start date and salary: August 2012. Salary commensurate with experience and degree.

Due to federal regulations a background check will be conducted as a condition of employment.