Associate Head for Teaching and Learning

Opportunity Statement

What is the role?

The Associate Head for Teaching and Learning contributes to the school's mission across the full program. Within the IBDP, the Associate Head for Teaching and Learning supports the leadership of the President by creating the conditions for an excellent, equitable, and inclusive UWC mission- and values-aligned teaching and learning environment. The Associate Head for Teaching and Learning partners with the President in leading and innovating within the education division, specifically managing curricular innovation, integration, and implementation; providing pedagogical resource development and coaching; recruiting, reviewing, growing and retaining mission- and values-aligned faculty; and stewarding the conditions for student achievement. The Associate Head for Teaching and Learning administers the curriculum (IB subjects and IB core) in keeping with UWC mission and values, UWC-USA's strategic plan and foundational documents, IBDP authorization, ISAS accreditation, best practices in experiential education, and collaboration with the NM Public Education Department.

As the leader of teaching and learning, the Associate Head models excellence in leadership, teaching, and learning. As a member of the Educational Leadership Team and the Student Success Team, the Associate Head supports and contributes to an integrated student and faculty experience across the academic, experiential, and residential curricula. As a member of the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT), the Associate Head for Teaching and Learning contributes to the ongoing development and implementation of the school's strategy, budget, and overall institutional ethos goals while working across the school with the Board, President, SLT colleagues, direct reports, faculty, staff, and students. As the face of UWC-USA's commitment to teaching and learning, the Associate Head for Teaching and Learning models to staff and students excellence in leadership, commitment to the UWC mission and values, and a clear grasp of UWC-USA's strategic and communal commitments including especially our focus on integral sustainability and constructive engagement of conflict.

Position responsibilities

1. Leadership

• Consults closely with and advises the President on matters integral to faculty excellence and student experience in the curriculum
• Collaborates with President and Heads of Faculty to plan and execute full faculty meetings and assemblies for students and/or faculty
• Leads Heads of Faculty, IB Coordinator, and the Registrar to coordinate the academic program in fulfillment of the IB Diploma and UWC-USA High School Diploma
• Leads on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access measures related to teaching and learning
• Leads on sustainability and constructive engagement of conflict as pertains to teaching and learning
• Oversee and manage cross-departmental interfaces, focusing on initiatives that impact the student experience.
• Leads hiring for academic faculty in consultation with the President on final hiring decisions
• Provides pedagogical leadership across the program, with support from other designated curriculum coordinators (e.g., Heads of Faculty, IBDP Coordinator, Director of Co-curricular Learning)
• Serves on the Strategic Leadership Team
• Serves on the Educational Leadership Team
• Serves on the Student Success Team
• Serves on the Education Committee of the Board of Trustees
• Represents the school at monthly or monthly meetings of the Academic Leads from other UWC campuses
• Serves as an Administrator on Duty (AOD) on a rotating basis
• Serves as an active, visible, and engaged convening presence in the everyday life of UWC-USA and at school activities and events
• Solves problems that emerge in the Educational Division through consultation and examination of best practices, follows up with policy revision where needed
• Collaborates with advancement leadership on strategic initiatives that cut across that division and the educational division [e.g. external interfacing (marketing/ communications), alternative revenue, fundraising (campaign), etc.]

• Leads or collaborates on special initiatives assigned by the President

• Together with Associate Head for Student Life, acts in place of the President when the President is away from campus and unavailable

1. Administration

• Manages the Teaching and Learning Department

• Manages the development of the curriculum and supporting policies
• Documents and reports to the President on the curriculum on an annual basis; provides reports to the President for SLT and Board
• Coordinates the implementation of curriculum and policies among faculty and students
• Establishes common language and norms for grading and reporting
• Works with Heads of Faculty and faculty to ensure appropriate integration of the Diploma Programme: academic courses, CAS, TOK, EE and college counseling
• Creates and maintains regular reports on the performance of students and faculty in order to help assess the quality of the educational experience and provide the President with information for purposes of retention consideration
• Communicates with ISAS and the IBO regarding periodic accreditation/authorization and evaluation
• Leads the annual review, revision, and approval of the Faculty Manual
• Develops and implements the student advisory program
• Makes recommendations regarding course offerings to the President, including possibilities of adding or phasing out courses and associated faculty positions
• Maintains an annual cycle for reviewing and updating policies, including risk management
• Leads mandated policy development in accordance with "Culture" in the IB standards and practices
• Contributes to periodic timetable review and design
• Executes delegated portions of the IB accreditation, ISAS accreditation, and NMPED diploma certification processes
• Coordinates decision-making for key technology changes in the academic division
• Manages the budget and credit card changes for the educational program
• Advises the faculty on employee policies and oversees compliance
• Documents and monitors in-school assessments
• Manages of the teaching and learning components of the school's annual calendar

• Coordinates implementation of the curriculum and policies among faculty

• Plans faculty orientation in collaboration with the President, Associate Head for Student Life, Senior Director of Bartos, and Heads of Faculty; leads designated elements of orientation

• Creates timetable and IB assessment dates and works with other program leaders to coordinate other program calendars

• Plans Heads of Faculty and faculty meetings in collaboration with the President; leads designated elements of these meetings

• With Heads of Faculty, coordinates grade reporting and editing with teaching faculty, and grade report finalization with the Registrar

• Coordinates implementation of the curriculum and policies among students
• Plans student orientation in collaboration with the President, Senior Director of Bartos, and Associate Head for Student Life; leads designated elements of orientation
• Communicates clearly and consistently on behavioral expectations of students to students, employees, parents, and national committees; oversees compliance
• Coordinates with advisors to monitor progress in the educational program
• Collaborates with the Health Team and Associate Head for Student Life to identify students of concern and communicate with national committees and families
• Collaborates with the Student Success Team to formulate and implement support for students of concern
• Advises and approves students' subject selection and course changes
• Advocates for and receives student concerns regarding their academic programs and relationships with teachers, staff, and peers
• Fosters ongoing student and faculty collaboration in the educational program

• Supports and develops mission-aligned faculty
• Guides the Heads of Faculty to provide ongoing pedagogical leadership for faculty, including classroom management, teaching methods, and the promotion of key elements in the curriculum (e.g., approaches to learning, approaches to teaching, CAS learning outcomes, the IB learner profile, etc.) in alignment with the mission, values, and campus commitments of UWC-USA
• Plans internal professional development and training sessions for faculty in collaboration with the President and Heads of Faculty; leads designated elements of these sessions
• Works with the faculty to determine external professional development opportunities; makes recommendations to the President
• Informs the school community of, and monitors, IB-mandated professional development
• Guides Heads of Faculty to provide pedagogical guidance on assessments and standardizing of grades across departments, subjects, and courses

• Maintains timely and effective communication with key stakeholders
• Key stakeholders include the President, Educational Leadership Team, faculty, students, parents or guardians, community partners, national committees, UWC partners, and the IBO
• Communicates with families and national committees for academic issues
• Communicates jointly with the Associate Head for Student Life to families and national committees for infractions of student handbook
• Participates in regular family Town Hall meetings with the President, Associate Head for Student Life, and Director of Future Pathways to inform and update families throughout the year
• Communicates regularly in a professional learning team with Academic Leads from other UWC campuses
• Works closely with Human Resources for employee compliance, absences, hiring, coaching, warnings, and termination

• Other responsibilities include, as needed
• Collaborates with the college counseling office to shape guidance for students regarding their post-graduation commitments
• Collaborates with the admissions office to monitor student acceptances and readiness for the academic curriculum
• Collaborates with the alumni office to monitor progress of alumni or students who transition to other programs
• Enforces employee policies for faculty in the academic program, their children, spouses or pets
• Teaches an academic course as time allows

III. Supervision

• The Associate Head for Teaching and Learning provides direct supervision of IBDP Coordinator, Heads of Faculty, Registrar, and the Research Support Specialist, to include mentoring them and guiding them through a thorough program-wide performance review cycle and recommending retention decisions to the President
• The Associate Head also has supervisory responsibility for the faculty and includes the I