[edm-announce] UTA LINK Research Lab Post Doctoral Research Position

From: Stephen Fancsali <sfancsali@xxxxxxxxx>
To: edm-announce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:42:58 -0500
[on behalf of George Siemens]

I’m pleased to announce a new post doc position at LINK Research Lab at
University of Texas Arlington (we will be announcing several additional
positions in the next month in various topic areas).

The first position, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, is focused on assessing
labour market data, specifically how the changing nature of work impact
higher education institutions. For example, what type of work will we be
doing in an age of increasing automation? How do universities identify
important trends that require alteration of teaching practices from current
models? What will the university look like in a global learning and
knowledge economy? What will we teach? How will we teach? How will our
students (and employees) learn?

We’ve taken a slightly different approach to this position, reflective of
the networked and interconnected world of work and higher education. The
successful candidate can work remotely from UTA for part of their time.
Supervision will be done by Drs. Shane Dawson, Dragan Gasevic, & George
Siemens. Additionally, the candidate will spend 2-3 weeks at University of
Edinburgh and 2-3 weeks at University of South Australia (Adelaide). The
international trip costs will be covered by participating universities,
separate from the position salary.

The formal stuff:
The official position description is here:
http://www.uta.edu/hr/eos/faculty-search/posting/DDTL02122015PDF

Overview:
The relationship between work and formal education is changing. A
traditional view holds that formal education prepares individuals for a
lifetime of employment. Education in this view is event based. Essentially,
once the degree has been completed, the individual moves into the
workforce. However, as a result of the complexities and challenges
associated with the modern economy, this model is no longer the norm. The
traditional full time student is now a minority in the USA, as part time
learners and mid-career masters students and alternative programs (such as
competency based and online learning) increase in numbers. The nature of
work and employment is also changing, as routine labor is increasingly
automated. Bill Gates recently stated that within a decade, 50% of today’s
jobs will be automated. The repercussions that this has for the economy and
the quality of life for people are significant. The impact on the future of
universities and colleges, specifically in relation to how higher education
prepares individuals for employment, is an important area of research. The
skills/employment gap refers to the relationship between what learners know
and can do when they graduate and what employers expect. A second gap, that
of developing the whole person (such as in a liberal arts education) versus
developing an individual for primary employment, also exists as work moves
to a creative economy. The balance between formal education, learning,
work, creativity, and knowledge advancement will be the primary focus of
this post doc position.

This position will appeal to individuals with strong awareness of labor
data, employment trends, and how automation is altering work and how this
in turn influences the role of higher education institutions in society.

Experience of Applicants
Applicants will have a completed, or soon to be completed, PhD in areas
related to this position such as: higher education reform, higher education
policy and strategy, job and labor market statistics and trends, impact of
automation on work, expanded and changing learning opportunities through
digital learning and emerging assessment models (competency based
learning), or history of labor and the role work plays in the health and
well being of members in a society.

Position Details
The position will run for a duration of three years with annual renewals.
This position contributes significantly to University of Texas Arlington’s
new strategic plan (http://www.uta.edu/strategicplan/), notably regarding
sustainable communities (and megacities), sustainability, global impact,
health and the human condition, and data-driven discovery.

Specific activities include:
- conducting research (including grant writing and co-supervision of
doctoral students)
- engagement with state and national agencies in assessing and evaluating
prominent employment trends
- identification and assessment of effectiveness of new higher education
and work-to-university-to-work models
- developing models of employment and higher education interaction (triple
helix model)
- evaluation of the economic impact of higher education on regional
economies as employees return to universities to re-skill/upgrade
- presenting at the main conferences in the knowledge domains relevant to
this position
- publishing in the major journals in the field;
- interacting with some stakeholder (internal and external to the
university) groups/partners;
- institutional collaboration and knowledge transfer/translation to Texas
and national university systems
- analysis of international labour and education trends
- translation of research findings to practice

Position stipend: $50,000 USD annually

The candidate will report directly to the LINK Research Lab Executive
Director (Dr. George Siemens) and with input and collaboration with
Professor Dragan Gasevic (Research Scientist, UT Arlington and Chair in
Learning Analytics, University of Edinburgh, Scotland) and Shane Dawson
(Research Scientist, UT Arlington and Associate Professor at the Centre for
Teaching Innovation and Digital Learning, University of South Australia,
Australia) and will have the option of remote research at collaborating
institutions up to 60% external to the University of Texas at Arlington
post approval from the Link Research Lab Executive Director).

Applications materials should be submitted digitally to:


Laurel Mayo, Director, LINK Research Lab
email address: lsmayo@xxxxxxx
[edm-announce] UTA LINK Research Lab Post Doctoral Research Position

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