Teaching Assistant Professor or Lecturer

qualifications. The position is a non-tenure track, renewable, 9-month appointment, with opportunities for research or to teach additional courses each summer. The appointment title will be determined based on the successful candidate’s qualifications and experience, consistent with the UTK Faculty Handbook. The successful candidate is expected build an exceptional record of accomplishment in teaching and student engagement, leading to career-track promotions.

The successful candidate will contribute to the department’s established, highly successful professional communications course for second-year undergraduates, which emphasizes technical writing, oral presentations, and student professional development through a high-engagement, feedback-intensive instructional model. Initially, the faculty member will work closely with experienced colleagues to learn and contribute to the course’s existing structure, teaching approach, and support systems while supporting course delivery, providing individualized student feedback, and participating in coordination activities. Over time, the candidate will assume leadership responsibilities for the course, including instructional development, teaching assistant recruitment and training, recitation coordination, team grading, and oversight of the associated writing-center structure. The faculty member will also teach courses in their technical area within civil and environmental engineering; expertise in construction, geotechnical, or structural engineering is especially aligned with current departmental needs. The department has 26 tenure-line faculty lines and 5 non-tenured full-time teaching faculty and offers baccalaureate, masters, and PhD degrees with concentrations in construction, environmental, geotechnical and materials, structures, transportation, and water resources engineering. The successful candidate will join a community of innovators in engineering education both in the department and in The Tickle College of Engineering and will be supported through a strong commitment to faculty development.

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success, including adding over 30 new faculty at all levels to the college over 4 years as part of ambitious hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. Key partnerships with Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) through the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UTORII) and Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex have created an expanded opportunity space for faculty and students in the region. New facilities include the state-of-the art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building that houses UTK’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF), a National Prototype Research Center (NSPC) as part of a partnership with CNS Y-12 under construction, and new facilities for the Biomedical Engineering department and a quantum foundry in planning stages.

TCE currently has 213 tenure/tenure track and over 80 non-tenure track faculty in its nine academic departments and offers 11 undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD/DE degree programs. Affiliated with TCE and located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the UT Space Institute is a hub of aerospace and defense research. The college is also home to eight research centers and three interdisciplinary institutes. With approximately 4,800 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students, the college sits 28th among public universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings. Faculty in the college have won 33 early career awards (NSF, DOE, DARPA, AFOSR, AHA, and Sloan) since 2016. In FY25, the college had annual research expenditures of $113.9M.

Knoxville, TN is a vibrant city with a beautiful and walkable downtown, active neighborhoods, an effervescent nightlife that includes numerous theaters and museums, a rich live music scene across all genres, and eclectic restaurants. Knoxville is nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, surrounded by lakes and the Tennessee River, providing amazing access to various outdoor activities. Knoxville is within easy driving distance of four major metropolitan areas that regularly host larger cultural and entertainment events.

Responsibilities

• The standard teaching load is four courses per semester; however, teaching assignments are determined holistically and may account for course enrollment, number of sections, level of student engagement and feedback, grading responsibilities, team-teaching arrangements, and other departmental responsibilities. Faculty teaching assignments across the department are made with consideration given both to departmental needs and teaching interests of the faculty member. Immediate teaching priorities for this position are:
  • Technical Written and Verbal Communication
  • Structural, geotechnical, and/or construction engineering
• Working effectively within a collaborative teaching environment, mentoring and supervising student instructional assistants, support of students’ professional growth across the undergraduate program.

Full engagement with the students, faculty, and programs of the department through participation in faculty meetings and committees, program development, student extracurricular activities, etc.

Qualifications

• Earned M.S. or Ph.D. in Civil Engineering or a closely related field by the time of appointment.
• Candidates without a Ph.D. must have several years of relevant industry experience and will be appointed a Lecturer
• Ability to develop a diverse teaching portfolio of courses including technical communications and coursework within their technical expertise in the structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, and/or construction engineering.
• Exceptional communication skills and strong motivation to work collaboratively
• Eligibility to work in the US
• Registration as a professional engineer or ability to become registered within four years

Application Instructions

Applicants should submit 1) an application letter addressing qualifications, motivation, and teaching interests, 2) a complete curriculum vitae, and 3) the names and contact information (names, affiliation, email, and telephone number) for five references. Questions about the position should be directed to Dr. Sarah Mobley, Chair of the Search Committee (voice: 865-974-3355; email: sarahmobley@utk.edu). Applications will be reviewed beginning October 1 and will continue until the position is filled.