Amsterdam University College (AUC) was established in 2009 by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and is looking for a Director of Eduction.

The Director of Education is responsible for:

• assuring that AUC’s mission of “Excellence and Diversity in a Global City” is realised for each individual student;
• the development, planning, implementation, management and evaluation of the AUC curriculum and the AUC tutoring system;
• the human resources management of academic staff (faculty);
• the cross-disciplinary coordination of the team of Heads of Studies and Senior Tutor in order to create together with them an engaging, high quality, and broad liberal arts and sciences programme at Bachelor level;
• Assuring the quality of the AUC curriculum, i.e. the development and coordination of the system of course evaluations, semester evaluations, etc., and on the basis of this the implementation of improvement measures (including professional development / training for academic staff), as well as the fulfilment of accountability requirements, i.e. annual reports, accreditation reports, etc.;
• the development, updating and adoption of guiding documents such as the Academic Standards and Procedures (OER), the Faculty Handbook, the Tutor Handbook, the Student Handbook, the Codes of Conduct, the Course Catalogue and the timetable;
• the organisation of class enrolment per semester, i.e. course planning, scheduling, and the assignment of students to courses, as administered in the course management system;
• library provisions;
• the development and maintenance of relations with relevant units within VU and UvA and with relevant external organisations (e.g. accreditation bodies, the Ministry of Education).

The Director of Education is assisted in these tasks by the Heads of Studies, the Senior Tutor and the Programme Coordinator.

The Director of Education reports to the Dean and supports the development and implementation of the overall mission, strategy and positioning of the college.

Candidates:

• are committed to developing excellence and diversity in teaching and learning;
• possess a doctorate (PhD);
• have considerable experience of teaching in relevant undergraduate contexts with a deep commitment to teaching (SKO or equivalent);
• demonstrate a particular interest in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching (and research);
• have experience in managing study programmes and academic staff and can demonstrate excellent organisational and leadership skills;
• have experience in quality assurance mechanisms (including experience to prepare and steer accreditation trajectories);
• have a strong international profile and network and a good understanding of (and preferably experience with) liberal arts and science education;
• have a very high level of English language proficiency and preferably fluency in Dutch;
• are willing to engage with students and to join a multidisciplinary and international team;
• are able to reach out to external stakeholders and constituencies to enrich the curriculum and the student learning experience.

A 30.4 hours a week (0.8 fte) appointment is offered, which will be combined with teaching tasks and/or other AUC tasks to extend it to a maximum 38 hours a week (1.0 fte). A temporary contract for one year will be offered in the first instance, with possibility of extension. Depending on academic record and experience, salary for the position is €5,485 to €7,072 gross per month, based on 38 hours per week. UFO profile: Education Institute Director/Directeur Onderwijsinstituut. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.   The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Amsterdam University College

AUC’s profile:

• a broad liberal arts and sciences programme at Bachelor level, offering breadth and depth of learning by focusing on far-reaching themes and real-world problems in science and society, thus crossing the boundaries between science, social sciences, and the humanities;
• aiming high at academic excellence, honours degree, selection of students and high calibre staff;
• an international and intercultural focus reflected in a diverse and international student and staff body, an international curriculum and classroom setting, with English as the language of teaching and learning;
• an engaging academic and social context supported by small class size, an attractive and modern residential college setting, and state-of-the-art facilities;
• reaching out to the community through off-campus community engagement or in-company internships.
• tutoring at AUC is an integrated element of the teaching and learning model: tutors have a central role in guiding the students’ learning experience and they also teach in the programme.

Key data:

• 900 students (all undergraduate/Bachelor)
• 45 (headcount) core faculty (academic staff, wetenschappelijke personeel in dienst)
• 250+ (headcount) academic staff involved in teaching (total, internal and external)
• 250+ (unique) courses
• €5M teaching budget