Director of ESL, College Writing & Academic Resources - Palestine

Director of ESL, College Writing & Academic Resources
Al-Quds Bard (AQB)
The Director of ESL, College Writing, and Academic Resources is responsible for developing and maintaining AQB’s ESL support services. S/he works closely with the Academic Resource Center Coordinator and the AQB graduate and undergraduate faculty to integrate ARC services with AQB’s rigorous writing program in English and Arabic Composition, First- and Second-Year Seminar, the writing intensive courses in the disciplines, and the MAT Program. The Director is responsible for the overall management and development of AQB’s Academic Resource Center (ARC) and staff. S/he oversees the development of writing throughout the AQB curriculum — from the first year to the undergraduate senior year project and graduate research projects — in collaboration with the AQB faculty and Dean. In addition to teaching two courses each year, the Director will:
• Assess the level of English language proficiency within the undergraduate and graduate programs, and integrate ESL pedagogy and support into AQB’s writing curriculum and tutoring programs.
• Establish and deliver in collaboration with the ARC Coordinator a formal pre- and in-service training program for AQB Fellows in tutoring methodology, with a focus on the writing process in a second-language context.
• Supervise the work of AQB Fellows and the ARC Coordinator and provide professional mentorship, and oversee the continued development of ARC to meet the growing demands of AQB programs.
• Ensure the continued development of a two-semester, year-long Composition Course for all first-year students that both supports the work of the First Year Seminar Program but also expands on that work by focusing on development of vocabulary, sentence level clarity, summary, argumentation, analysis, quotation and citation.
• Ensure the continued development of the Arabic Composition course—that it is integrated into the writing and analytic objectives of the undergraduate curriculum and addresses language and cultural specific argumentation styles.
• In collaboration with project advisors, develop and conduct a developmentally responsive sequence of in-class and outside-class workshops to support student work on senior projects and MAT academic and classroom research projects. These workshops will ensure that students have the support and interventions needed to move through research writing work in a timely and effective manner. Workshops will cover topics including research skills and tools, plagiarism, grammar, project planning, academic citation, effective revision strategies, techniques of scholarly writing, and time management and study skills. The Director will also help to build peer-review networks among MAT students.
• Work with AQB faculty to design and provide curricular support for Writing in the Discipline Initiatives, as well as junior and senior year writing objectives.
• Organize workshops for faculty on issues such as English as a Second Language in context, managing student workloads, crafting assignments that are creative, effective, and that discourage plagiarism; responding to papers, and developing revision friendly assignments.
• Establish and oversee the maintenance of an ARC website with current program information and a repository of faculty and student resources.
• Establish a weekly block of time dedicated to work with MAT students so that MAT students, on their own or by recommendation of faculty, can sign up for writing support sessions of 30-60 minutes in length.
The ideal candidate will have an advanced degree in a relevant discipline or significant experience teaching and administering writing programs for ESL populations at the post-secondary level. A Master’s degree in TEFL or TESOL is desired. Experience in the Middle East, knowledge of Arabic, and experience with Bard’s writing pedagogy are strongly desired. To apply, please send a cover letter, with resume and the names of three references by email only to hr12064@bard.edu. Al Quds Bard is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we welcome opportunities from those who contribute to our diversity. AA/EOE