The UCLA Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) was established in August 2024 to support UCLA’s educational mission to engage a university-wide community of scholars composed of educators and the diverse learners they serve in a collaborative process to discover and advance knowledge and practice across the disciplines both in and beyond the classroom. The TLC is poised to be a key driver of innovation and excellence in teaching across UCLA’s broad academic landscape, a campus resource for programming in support of learning-centered, engaging, equity-minded, and evidence-based teaching practices, and an advocate of visionary, reflective, and effective educators and pedagogical research scholars.
The TLC is recruiting an Executive Director, who will advance the TLC mission to bring together a campus wide community of educators, support their well-being, equip them with the instructional skills and pedagogical knowledge to elevate their teaching, and further inspire an enduring commitment to student success. The Executive Director reports directly to the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and is a core member of the TLC senior leadership team, which also includes the Assistant Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning/Chief of Staff and the Director of Communications and Creative Services. The Executive Director manages a team of four full-time Directors, each of whom oversees a portfolio of programs, services, and resources encompassing educational development for UCLA faculty and instructors of record, professional learning (including Teaching Assistant training) for UCLA graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, instructional design and media production, and educational assessment.
As a university-wide teaching support unit, the TLC is positioned to reimagine the design and delivery of our campus wide programs and services as well as to enable the campus to implement the priorities described in Goal 4 of the 2023-28 UCLA Strategic Plan. The Executive Director will lead the evolution of TLC wide programming in alignment with these strategic priorities, TLC mission and goals, and other emerging initiatives to advance teaching, promote pedagogical research, and equitably support student learning.
Core responsibilities of the Executive Director include, but are not limited to, leading the coordinated and integrated development of TLC programming, identifying and leveraging the strengths of each unit, and ensuring communications with and delivery of programs, services, and resources to university stakeholders reflect the timely needs and interests of our educator community. The Executive Director is a key driver of TLC’s efforts to continuously evaluate benchmarks and assess the impact and effectiveness of all TLC programming, which to amplify impact will rely on establishing partnerships and systematizing collaborations with distributed teaching support units and tailoring TLC programming to align with the diverse instructional needs of myriad disciplines.
Specific programs that the Executive Director will oversee include a multi-tiered TLC instructional innovation grants program supporting teaching and curricular innovation. The Executive Director also will directly manage the expansion of university teaching awards programs and serve as the lead for celebratory events associated with the awards programs. Working closely with the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, the Executive Director will establish a new unit within the TLC devoted to pedagogical research, bringing together faculty, including Professors of Teaching, TLC staff, and campus partners (including students) as thought leaders in investigatory teams to identify research themes, secure funding, and pilot projects that elevate teaching excellence, accelerate instructional innovation, and promote pedagogical experimentation and discovery across the disciplines at UCLA.
The Executive Director represents the TLC on UCLA, UC system, and national committees and projects as well as initiates programmatic growth and scholarship in areas central to the TLC’s mission and goals in addition to UCLA’s strategic priorities. The Executive Director may engage in undergraduate or graduate teaching and curriculum development. In addition, the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning is amenable to the incumbent accepting a part-time appointment in the Adjunct Professor series.
Qualifications
- As a normal requirement, the appointee should have the terminal or top degree in the appointee’s field or the highest degree that is commonly expected for appointment in the activity.
- Demonstrated experience (8-10 years) in a college or university setting, preferably in academic administration.
- This position is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement within the state of California; the incumbent must reside within the state of California or be willing to relocate.
- Experience in teaching (preferably in person and online) and curriculum development at the university level; ability to teach courses as assigned by the Vice Provost.
- Experience in managing a teaching and learning center within a college or university setting, including program execution and assessment, budgetary oversight, personnel supervision, and project administration.
- Skill in interacting effectively with and managing large groups of faculty, staff, and students of differing social, educational, economic backgrounds.
Document Requirements
- Curriculum Vitae – Your most recently updated C.V.
- Cover Letter
- Statement of Teaching
- Statement of Research (specifically education-related research)
- Statement on Contributions to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – An EDI Statement describes a faculty candidate’s past, present, and future (planned) contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion. To learn more about how UCLA thinks about contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion, please review our EDI Statement FAQ document (https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/shortcuts/edi_statement_faq).
- Reference check authorization release form – Complete and upload the reference check authorization release form (https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/shortcuts/reference_check_release_form).
Reference Requirements: 3-5 required professional references (contact information only)
As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status.