Posting Number:  H0122

Posting Date:  June 30, 2009   Closing Date:  Until Filled.

Application Procedure

Apply Online

What to include with your application:  In addition to a Harvey Mudd College employment application available at www.hmc.edu/employment, please submit a resume and a cover letter describing your qualifications. All required documents must be submitted with your application in order to be considered for this position.

Information about the position:  Salary is dependent upon qualifications with a minimum $5,000.00 per month. Usual working hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Hours may vary due to the needs of the college or department. This is a full-time, 12-month, benefits-eligible, exempt position.

What the successful candidate will do: Reporting to the Director of Educational Technology and Media Services in the Computing and Information Services Department, this position will primarily work in close relationship with faculty, students and instructional staff at Harvey Mudd College, providing professional support in the use and integration of discipline-specific information technologies and tools  with teaching and research, with particular attention to engineering, mathematical, statistical, modeling and graphing tools; and in the design, development, and implementation of course materials, learning modules, and course management software. The Scientific Computing Specialist is required to have broad knowledge of software used by the science disciplines, and interest in technology used in the Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts; interest in higher education technology in general and a willingness to learn new applications and train others in their use.

Essential Functions:

• Collaborate with faculty to provide expert support for mathematical, statistical and graphing software used by faculty in the seven HMC academic departments.
• Proactively research and evaluate software tools and toolkits. Recommend new software and other tools to faculty.
• Train students, faculty and staff in the use of discipline specific software to ensure basic levels of literacy are achieved.
• Provide support for students in the use of mathematical, statistical and design software.
• Lead and contribute to the College's faculty development program, by offering workshops for faculty and consulting with faculty one-on-one. Write documentation in the form of tutorials, web pages, FAQs, etc.
• Consult with faculty on high performance computing needs. Assess needs and make recommendations to CIS management regarding high performance computing resources.
• Collaborate with faculty to produce instructional materials and make them widely available.
• Work with User Support team to install, test and maintain software on departmental lab and research systems.
• Collaborate with colleagues within the Claremont University Consortium to develop joint projects in support of instructional technology initiatives.
• As appropriate or necessary, supervise and evaluate the performance of assigned staff.
• Keep abreast of developments in higher education technology with an emphasis on scientific and engineering disciplines; report back to the HMC community about developments as appropriate. Participate in cross-functional teams that work on educational technology projects.  Coordinate team work when assigned to the position of team leader.

What the ideal candidate will bring to this position and HMC:
Required Qualifications:
• Master's degree in engineering, the natural sciences, humanities or social sciences and three years of professional experience in instructional technology, curriculum and instruction or other related fields.

Knowledge of:

• Detailed knowledge of mathematical and statistical packages, such as Matlab, Mathematica, Maple, SPSS, and R, as well as modeling and graphing software in order to train others in their use, trouble shoot issues and evaluate other applications within the genre.
• General knowledge of parallel processing in cluster environments as well as multi-core, multi-CPU systems in order to advise faculty.
• General knowledge of programming languages such as Java, Fortran, C, or C++ in order to assist faculty in the creation of instructional software.
• Detailed knowledge of the theory and exemplary practices for integrating technology into the instructional environment of a liberal arts college.
• General knowledge of operating systems including Apple OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux. Ability to advise users on appropriate selection of operating systems to achieve identified goals.
• Application software including word processing, spreadsheets and database management, web authoring tools, multimedia software development tools, course management software, digital asset management software.

Ability to:

• Research, analyze and recommend new software and hardware.
• Communicate technical issues to users in a clear and effective manner.
• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing with a diverse population.
• Learn new software applications quickly.
• Interpret, apply and explain rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Establish and maintain cooperative and effective working relationships with others, using tact, patience and courtesy.
• Operate a computer and assigned office equipment.
• Analyze situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action.
• Meet schedules and time lines.
• Work with people in such a manner as to build high morale and group commitments to goals and objectives.
• Define realistic, specific goals and objectives and to prioritize them.
• Work with staff to provide high-quality customer services.
• Identify problems and work with staff to recommend and implement solutions.
• Work independently with little direction in a dynamic and goal-oriented work environment.
• Plan and organize work.
• Prepare comprehensive narrative and statistical reports.

Preferred qualifications:
• Ph.D. or terminal degree in the natural, applied or social sciences; work or teaching experience within a higher educational setting.