Location: Multiple Countries
Verto Education is an innovative new way for students to start their college career. Through Verto, students can study abroad for the first semester or year of their undergraduate career, while still earning college credits to keep them on track to graduate in four years. Verto also partners with over a dozen colleges, including William & Mary, University of Tennessee, James Madison University, and the University of Oregon, to give students an admission decision and facilitate their transition on campus upon completion of a semester or year abroad.
Verto’s mission is to empower every student to spend impactful time abroad during their college career and graduate with a better understanding of themselves, and the world around them. Verto Education is accredited through Portland State University in Portland, OR.
Course Director, Global Health
- Contracted position reporting remotely. This is a part-time position where weekly hours and responsibilities vary according to the academic cycle.
The Position
As a Verto Course Director, you will be in charge of designing and supervising the execution of a freshman-level course in Global Health in Culture and for Verto students. The Course Director serves as the Faculty of Record at Portland State University and will be in charge of designing the course at a high level, creating lesson plans, training the teaching staff, and supervising the delivery and grading of the course. This position is 100% remote.
The Course Director will work with the in-country operations team and the instructional staff to bring this course alive in an experiential way. Please see below for more details regarding the anticipated timeline and breakdown of responsibilities. While the Course Director position is anticipated as a part-time position for the 2020-21 academic year, there is significant scope for the position to turn into full-time employment for the 2021-22 academic year as Verto grows in scale. Opportunity exists to have an impact on the trajectory of programming and curriculum at Verto for the right candidate.
Course Description:
Global Health in Culture and Context
This course examines the cultural, political, economic, and geographic contexts of meeting public health needs. Through fieldwork supporting local public health initiatives in a developing country setting, and a period spent living with families in a rural community, students gain dynamic perspectives on how communities define and meet their public health needs. Seminars and readings include investigations of how policy, the pharmaceutical industry, economics, and history shape current challenges and opportuni
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Who is responsible for public health?
This course takes place in a 3.5 week intensive block while students are in the Dominican Republic on the Costa Rica & Domincan Republic Semester. There is an existing syllabus for this course that would benefit from some revisions and deeper contextualization to the program experience.
Responsibilities and Timeline
- June:
- Collaborate remotely with the in-country program team to identify in-country experiential opportunities that align with the course and deepen the educational value of existing activities within the program itinerary.
- Build on existing course descriptions and syllabi to create Course Syllabus.
- Cultivate relationship with Field Instructor(s) for the course.
- July:
- Design lesson plans, and teaching materials (powerpoint, etc.) for each class meeting, working with the in-country program team to contextualize them within the course location.
- Design all assignments in detail.
- Design grading rubrics for each assignment.
- Train Field Instructor(s).
- August:
- Finalize course preparation and set up the course in Canvas.
- Complete field instructor training.
- September – December:
- Biweekly meetings with Field Instructors to provide coaching and guidance on content delivery.
- Support students & Field Instructors in the case of an Academic Improvement plan.
- Supervision of grading and assignments as carried out by students.
- Possibility of field visits depending on necessity and availability.
- Possibility of extension into Spring Semester running from February – May 2020.
Job Qualifications
- Education:
- PhD in Literature or a related area of study.
- Other academic qualifications accepted where a PhD is not a universally recognized terminal degree in the field of study.
- Experience:
- Minimum of 2-4 years of experience in college-level curriculum design.
- A demonstrated record of coaching graduate students in teaching freshman-level courses.
- Experience differentiating instruction to meet a wide range of student abilities and learning styles.
- Experience delivering a curriculum and facilitating experiential education with proven success.
- Experience living or working in the countries on the itinerary is preferred.
- Ability to adapt in-person lesson plans to online coursework, should we need to hold online sessions due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
- Requirements:
- Professional working proficiency in English.
- Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Able to be flexible and adapt to challenges as they arise.
- Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
- Appreciation for diversity in backgrounds, cultures, and experiences and a desire to work with a diverse student population.
- Knowledge of the subject in the local and regional context of the program locations.
- Ability to receive and apply feedback.
- Patient, enthusiastic, analytical, and solution-oriented.
- Ability to follow through with Verto Education specific documentation practices.
- Commitment to promoting diversity in cultures and experiences.
- Proven record of successfully working with students of diverse economic, racial, cultural, and educational backgrounds.
- Passion for discussion-based learning and helping students make meaning of their experiences.
- Understands the value of experiential education and travel for young people.
- Eager to learn from colleagues and enjoys open collaboration and teamwork.
- Able to maintain excellence under pressure and ever-changing conditions.
- Able to follow organizational protocols while working independently.
Work and Environmental Conditions
- This position is designed to be successfully completed by remote faculty. However, applicants from program locations are encouraged to apply.
- You will be working in an innovative educational model where you will need to be comfortable operating a non-traditional university context.
- If you are interested in teaching these courses directly on the program but do not meet the requirements for the Course Director position, please consider applying for the Verto Education Field Instructor positions posted online.
Location
Equal Opportunity Employer
Verto Education is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.