Learning Catalyst, Academic Professional (Open Rank)

About Us

Georgia Tech prides itself on its technological resources, collaborations, high-quality student body, and its commitment to building an outstanding and diverse community of learning, discovery, and creation. We strongly encourage applicants whose values align with our institutional values, as outlined in our strategic plan. These values include academic excellence, diversity of thought and experience, inquiry and innovation, collaboration and community, and ethical behavior and stewardship. Georgia Tech has policies to promote a healthy work-life balance and is aware that attracting faculty may require meeting the needs of two careers.

About Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech is a top-ranked public research university situated in the heart of Atlanta, a diverse and vibrant city with numerous economic and cultural strengths. The Institute serves more than 45,000 students through top-ranked undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs in engineering, computing, science, business, design, and liberal arts. Georgia Tech's faculty attracted more than $1.4 billion in research awards this past year in fields ranging from biomedical technology to artificial intelligence, energy, sustainability, semiconductors, neuroscience, and national security. Georgia Tech ranks among the nation's top 20 universities for research and development spending and No. 1 among institutions without a medical school.

Georgia Tech's Mission and Values

Georgia Tech's mission is to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute has nine key values that are foundational to everything we do:

1. Students are our top priority.
2. We strive for excellence.
3. We thrive on diversity.
4. We celebrate collaboration.
5. We champion innovation.
6. We safeguard freedom of inquiry and expression.
7. We nurture the wellbeing of our community.
8. We act ethically.
9. We are responsible stewards.

Over the next decade, Georgia Tech will become an example of inclusive innovation, a leading technological research university of unmatched scale, relentlessly committed to serving the public good; breaking new ground in addressing the biggest local, national, and global challenges and opportunities of our time; making technology broadly accessible; and developing exceptional, principled leaders from all backgrounds ready to produce novel ideas and create solutions with real human impact.

Location

Atlanta, GA

Department Information

The College of Lifetime Learning (https://cll.gatech.edu/) at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia invites applications for open rank, tenure-track, and tenured faculty positions in Lifetime Learning Systems, Learning Sciences, and AI in Education. Lifetime Learning Systems are optimized environments that are effective, highly interactive, relevant to real-world contexts and support learning across the arc of one's life. This includes the design, study, and transformation of learning systems and ecosystems spanning schools, universities, workplaces, and beyond. This search directly supports CLL's Strategy 2035 goals to catalyze a learning society, empower communities through limitless learning, engage millions of learners across lifespans, lead the world in learning systems research, and build a learner-first college for continuous adaptation.

Job Summary

The College of Lifetime Learning seeks an innovative and visionary leader to serve as its inaugural Learning Catalyst. This Academic Professional faculty position will lead the transformation of the College into a learning organization that continuously improves its effectiveness through systems thinking, evidence-based practice, organizational learning, and innovation.

The Learning Catalyst will be responsible for designing, implementing, researching, and continuously improving a college-wide learning ecosystem that enables faculty, staff, leaders, and students to learn from experience, share knowledge, adapt to change, and increase organizational effectiveness. The position will serve as the principal architect of the College's learning organization strategy and will develop scalable models, frameworks, research, and best practices that can be disseminated across higher education, industry, government, and lifelong learning sectors.

The position reports to the Dean or Designee and serves as a member of the College leadership team.

Responsibilities

Learning Organization Leadership (60%)

Enterprise Learning Strategy

Design and lead the College-wide Learning Organization Initiative by developing and implementing a strategic framework grounded in systems thinking, organizational learning, continuous improvement, and knowledge management; building structures that foster learning at the individual, team, and organizational levels across all college functions; and establishing processes that systematically translate insights and lessons learned into organizational improvement.

Systems Thinking and Organizational Development

Build systems-thinking capabilities across faculty and staff by fostering cross-functional collaboration and organizational learning communities, identifying and addressing systemic barriers to improvement, and designing methods to understand the relationships among programs, operations, research, and learner outcomes.

Organizational Learning Infrastructure

Develop and oversee the College's organizational learning infrastructure by establishing communities of practice, knowledge-sharing systems, learning laboratories, innovation networks, continuous improvement initiatives, and action-learning programs, while using dashboards and performance metrics to assess institutional learning capacity and organizational effectiveness.

Leadership Development

Design and facilitate leadership development programs that strengthen capabilities across the College, support leaders in applying coaching, reflective practice, systems thinking, and evidence-based decision-making, and provide consultation and facilitation to academic and administrative units undertaking transformation efforts.

External Impact

Advance Georgia Tech's national and international leadership in learning organization practice by developing exportable tools, frameworks, professional development offerings, and consulting models, while establishing partnerships with education, government, nonprofit, and industry organizations focused on organizational learning and systems innovation.

Teaching Responsibilities (20%)

The Learning Catalyst will support the College's degree and non-degree educational mission by teaching credit and non-credit programs; developing offerings in systems thinking, learning organizations, organizational change, leadership and innovation, knowledge management, continuous improvement, lifelong learning, and learning sciences; mentoring learners; contributing to strategically aligned curriculum development; and integrating emerging research and best practices into instruction.

Research and Scholarship Responsibilities (20%)

The Learning Catalyst will collaborate with colleagues to advance a scholarly agenda aligned with the College's mission, focusing on learning and organizational effectiveness through research on learning organizations, systems thinking, knowledge management, continuous improvement, workforce learning, leadership, organizational change, teaching effectiveness, learner outcomes, learning ecosystems, and lifelong learning. Responsibilities include conducting studies, publishing scholarly and practitioner-focused resources, using the College as a living laboratory, evaluating internal learning initiatives, documenting scalable best practices, and collaborating with faculty researchers.

Required Qualifications

Earned terminal degree (Ph.D., Ed.D., or equivalent) in Learning Sciences, Education, Organizational Development, Systems Engineering, Human Resource Development, Organizational psychology, Leadership studies, Management, Public policy, or a related discipline.

Candidates must demonstrate expertise in systems thinking and organizational learning, a successful record of leading educational or institutional transformation and organizational change initiatives, evidence of effective teaching and learner engagement, and excellent communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills.

Rank Minimum Requirements

• Associate Academic Professional
  • This is the entry-level rank and normally requires completion of the terminal degree. In exceptional cases, this rank may be used for individuals completing a terminal degree and for a period of two (2) years. If the degree is not conferred, another position appointment is required.
• Academic Professional
  • A terminal degree
  • Significant related experience or promotion from the rank of Associate Academic Professional
  • The quality of performance and potential for development must be recognized by peers
• Senior Academic Professional
  • A terminal degree
  • Evidence of superior performance in the chosen field
  • Recognition by peers (whether national, regional, or local)
  • Successful and measurable related experience
  • Five (5) years or more as an Academic Professional
• Principal Academic Professional
  • A terminal degree
  • Evidence of superior performance in the chosen field
  • Recognition by peers
  • Successful and measurable related experience supervising others work
  • Successful and measurable related experience in a position of significant responsibility and authority within program area
  • Demonstrated impact

More information on the hiring and promotion guidelines for non-tenure track academic faculty members are available online in the GT Faculty Handbook in section 3.2.2.

Preferred Qualifications

Candidates must demonstrate expertise in systems thinking and organizational learning, a successful record of leading educational or institutional transformation and organizational change initiatives, evidence of effective teaching and learner engagement, and excellent communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills

Ten or more years of progressively responsible leadership experience

Experience leading change within higher education, research institutions, government, or large organizations

Demonstrated success building learning cultures and knowledge-sharing systems

Experience developing executive education or workforce development programs

Experience working across academic and administrative functions in complex organizations

Contact Information

Requests for information may be directed to Bill Gaudelli at dean@lifetimelearning.gatech.edu

USG Core Values

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 25 institutions of higher education and learning as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. The Institute is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environment for all. To that end, and in accordance with federal and state law, Board of Regents policy, and Institute policy, Georgia Tech provides equal opportunity to all faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including applicants for admission and/or employment, contractors, volunteers, and participants in institutional programs, activities, or services. Georgia Tech complies with all applicable laws and regulations governing equal opportunity in the workplace and in educational activities.

Equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of the University System of Georgia ("USG") and Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech prohibits discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, on the basis of an individual's race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetics, or veteran status in its programs, activities, employment, and admissions. Further, Georgia Tech prohibits citizenship status, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, and recruitment, except where such restrictions are required in order to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or Attorney General directive, or where they are required by Federal, State, or local government contract.

Background Check

A successful candidate must be able to pass a background check. Please visit: https://usg.policystat.com/policy/19298143/latest