Astronomy Instructor, Full-time Tenure Track (BC)
2 months ago
Bakersfield
Astronomy Instructor, Full-time Tenure Track (BC) Kern Community College District Salary: $89,080.98 - $116,884.82 Annually Job Type: Faculty Job Number: FY25-2600218 Location: Bakersfield College -- Panorama Campus, CA Department: Below is our job description for this position. Please also review the Important Instructions & Additional Information section below, which contains valuable information about our application process. Basic Function Bakersfield College is seeking a faculty member for Astronomy. If you are highly motivated, eager to engage a diverse student body, and passionate about teaching and learning, we highly encourage you to submit an application. Who We Are: We are a team of innovative, caring, and thoughtful faculty, staff and administrators who are passionate about contributing to the intellectual, cultural and economic vitality of our community. We embody six core values: Learning, Diversity, Integrity, Community, Wellness and Sustainability. These values frame our work as we provide opportunities for our students who come to us from diverse economic, cultural, geographical, and educational backgrounds. We offer Associate and Baccalaureate degrees and certificates, workplace skills, and preparation for transfer. Our rigorous and supportive learning environment promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion and fosters students' abilities to think critically, communicate effectively, and demonstrate competencies and skills to become productive members of our community and world. History of Bakersfield College: Bakersfield College is located in Bakersfield, California, in the heart of the Central Valley. Established in 1913, Bakersfield College is one of the nation's oldest continually operating community colleges. The college serves 33,000 students annually on the 153-acre main campus in northeast Bakersfield, at the Delano Campus (35 miles north of Bakersfield), the Weill Institute (downtown Bakersfield), and BC South-West (southwest Bakersfield). We also offer classes at several alternative locations, including Shafter Learning Center, Arvin/Lamont, McFarland, Olive Drive Training Facility, Wasco and other regional community locations. As a recognized and highly awarded Hispanic Serving Institution, Bakersfield College students are diverse and represent the communities we serve. On Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: We are sincere about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working and learning environment for all students, faculty, staff and administrators. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. Bakersfield College has sharpened its focus on removing institutional barriers in access, momentum, and completion. We pledge to address systemic issues of environmental microaggressions, implicit bias, and racism through intentional learning. We commit to strengthening our campus culture so that students, faculty, and staff and our partners are aware of and equipped to change policies and practices that disproportionately affect marginalized students. About the Bakersfield Community: Situated in the south San Joaquin Valley, Bakersfield has a rapidly growing economy in a location that is central to some of California's best places to visit. Fresno, Los Angeles, the mountains and several great beaches are less than two hours away, and San Francisco is less than four hours away. Known for hot, dry summers and mild winters, Bakersfield has deep roots in the energy (oil, solar and wind), agriculture, and logistics industries. Despite its growth, Bakersfield has maintained the "small town feel" that residents here love. With a relatively low cost of living, plenty of community events, and availability of housing, the City of Bakersfield is a great place to live. Representative Duties Who We Are Looking For: We are recruiting faculty with demonstrated excellence in their field who embrace the instructional values of access, sound pedagogy, creativity, and innovation. We are known for our connectedness among students, faculty, staff and our diverse local population. We are looking for applicants with a continual drive to learn and improve teaching strategies and who embrace opportunities to be involved in inventive committees, engaging campus events and other collegiate endeavors. Diversity is a core value at Bakersfield College, and we encourage applicants who demonstrate an intellectual mindfulness to contribute to diversity, equity and inclusiveness. If you are interested in modeling academic excellence for your students and colleagues, we invite you to join a team that will challenge and inspire you. About the Department, Physical Science: The astronomy program at Bakersfield College has a 72-seat planetarium with a 36-foot dome, several small portable telescopes (including a Coronado H-alpha), and a great relationship with the community astronomy club to teach astronomy at all age levels and backgrounds. The planetarium has a Goto Chronos optical-mechanical projector and a Spitz SciDome 4K all-dome video projection system, all controlled by a Spitz ATM4 system. There is also a regular data projector to project rectangular lecture slides onto the dome. Tenure-track faculty hired for this position will be expected to provide a quality astronomy learning experience appropriate for community college students of diverse educational backgrounds. Teaching assignments support the general education college astronomy classes (primarily for non-STEM majors). Other duties will include serving as the director of the planetarium involving coordinating maintenance, scheduling and running community events, and maintaining the planetarium's website. The planetarium is used for the college's astronomy classes, K12 school field trips, and evening shows for the public. More information about the planetarium equipment and offerings is available on the planetarium's website at ___. This assignment may include teaching courses at various locations and different times including evenings and Friday/Saturday classes. Teaching modalities include in-person, hybrid, and online. Full-time faculty are expected to be present and engaged with their peers, regardless of instructional location or modality. Other than the main Panorama Campus, college courses may be scheduled in the greater Bakersfield area, rural communities, correctional facilities and high schools. Other duties include: participation in student recruitment and articulation, transfer programs; maintaining subject matter currency; developing and revising curriculum; using computers and technology; assessment of learning outcomes; collegial participation in departmental, college and discipline-specific professional activities. Minimum Qualifications Master's in physics, astronomy or astrophysics OR - Bachelor's in physics or astronomy AND Master's in engineering, mathematics, meteorology or geophysics OR - The equivalent. Certain combinations of education, experience, and other accomplishments in the field may be judged as equal to the stated minimum qualifications for these positions. Candidates who feel they possess such equivalent qualifications must request and submit an ___ ___ form. Supporting documents must be included with the completed form. AND A demonstrated sensitivity to students with diverse academic, socio-economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and students with disabilities Note: Degrees and credits must be from accredited institutions (Title V Section 53406). Any degree from a country other than the United States, including Canada and Great Britain, must be evaluated by an evaluation service. Note: The screening of candidates will be conducted by a screening committee. The screening committee reserves the right to limit the number of interviews granted. Meeting the minimum qualifications for a position does not assure the applicant of an interview. Knowledge & Abilities The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate that they are broadly prepared and have a depth of knowledge in the discipline. In addition, the successful applicant will be able to demonstrate the following knowledge and abilities: • Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with colleagues in an environment that promotes innovation, teaching, learning and service to diverse student population;, • Ability to effectively work with students with a wide range of skills, motivations, academic and vocational goals;, • Ability to develop curriculum, including curriculum delivered via different modalities; -Ability to participate in recruitment and articulation activities with local schools, colleges and universities;, • Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing;, • Ability to maintain subject matter currency;, • Ability to assess student, program, and institutional learning outcomes; Maximum Placement Level Salary: $ 116,884.82 annually SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONSFirst Review of Applications: Complete application packets will be accepted until the position is filled; but those received by January 30, 2026, are assured consideration. The College reserves the right to extend time limits or reinitiate the recruitment/selection process at any point. Completed application packet MUST include: • Completed Online Application for Employment form, • Current resume, • Letter of interest (Cover Letter), • Statement of personal philosophy of teaching, • Copy of legible transcripts, • Copy of sample syllabi, • List of five (5) professional references - Listed on application form It is the applicant's responsibility to redact (or remove) any personal information from all documents prior to uploading. This includes Social Security Numbers, Date of Birth, and any photos of the applicant. Foreign Degree: Applicants with foreign degrees from colleges or universities outside of the United States must have their coursework evaluated by a professional association that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, INC. (ACEI). A copy of the evaluation must be submitted with your on-line application. Applicants who require reasonable accommodation to participate in the selection process should contact Human Resources to make the necessary arrangements. ___ Note: The District is strongly committed to achieving staff diversity and the principles of equal employment opportunity. The District encourages a diverse pool of applicants and does not discriminate on the basis of national origin, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, race or ethnicity, color, medical condition, genetic information, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, or because he/she is perceived to have one or more of the foregoing characteristics, or based on association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law, in any of its policies, procedures or practices. ___ The District does not provide sponsorship for authorization to work in the United States. Work authorization should be established at the time of application submission Important Instructions & Additional Information Complete applications received by the "assured consideration date" above are guaranteed to be reviewed by Human Resources. If you apply after this date, there is no guarantee that your application will be reviewed. However, we still recommend that you apply because recruitments remain open and are posted until filled. The District and/or College reserves the right to extend time limits and/or repost or restart recruitments at any point. Completed applications must include the following. • Completed online application for employment, • Current resume, • Letter of interest (cover letter), • List of 5 (five) professional references (entered in online application), • Copy of legible transcripts (if required for the position) It is the applicant's responsibility to redact or remove any personally identifiable information from all documents prior to uploading. This includes Social Security Numbers, Date of Birth, photos, etc. International or Foreign Degrees Applicants with international or foreign degrees from colleges or universities outside of the United States must have their coursework evaluated by a professional association that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, INC. (ACEI). A copy of the evaluation must be submitted with your online application. Accommodations Applicants who require reasonable accommodation to participate in the selection process should contact Human Resources to make the necessary arrangements. (For more information, see our ___.) Discrimination Free Work Environment Discrimination based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation of any person, military and veteran status, or the perception that a person has one or more of these characteristics is illegal and violates Kern Community College District policy. The Kern CCD Equal Employment Opportunity Plan guides the development, implementation, and monitoring of the District's efforts to foster equal employment opportunities and workplace diversity. See our ___ for more information. Work Authorization Kern Community College District does not provide sponsorship for authorization to work in the United States. Work authorization should be established at the time of application submission. E-Verify The Kern Community College District participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, please visit ___. Helpful Links All applicants must apply online at ___. Emails will not be accepted. jeid-5082431886fe444fa522d92f3efdeb29
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