Career Center

Davidson College invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Practice in Data Science to teach in the College’s interdisciplinary minor in Data Science and to lead Data CATS, which supports students, faculty, and staff from multiple disciplines in data analytics work. Data CATS also collaborates with external partners on a contract basis. 

The College welcomes candidates with enthusiasm for teaching data science in a liberal arts college with a strong interdisciplinary focus. The successful candidate will be energized to support both students from diverse backgrounds and faculty from a wide range of disciplines with their courses and independent research projects using data science methods and software for data analytics, data visualization, and building dashboards. 

Candidates with diverse professional backgrounds are invited to apply, including those with experience in industry or other roles outside of academia. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree with substantial professional experience in data science and/or a master’s degree or PhD in a relevant field, skills in Python and/or R, and introductory statistics knowledge. Desired skills and knowledge include machine learning, R Shiny, SQL, Stata, and/or advanced statistical methodology. Some experience teaching data science to undergraduate students or other beginning learners is preferred.

Professors of Practice are non-tenured but renewable positions with support for professional activities and the possibility of rank advancement. The initial contract is for two years, beginning July 1, 2023. Compensation will be competitive at the assistant professor rank in computer science and related fields.

The duties of the Assistant Professor of Practice in Data Science include the following:

• Teach three courses per year: Two sections of Data Science and Society, in which students collect, process, analyze, and present data (in R) to expose and help each other understand issues of social and economic justice; and one elective in the Data Science minor such as Applied Machine Learning or another data science course in their area of expertise (see information about the minor here for examples). 

• Lead the Data CATS consulting program, located in the E.H. Little Library, and build the program’s capacity to support research and working with data across the curriculum 

• Recruit, hire, train, and supervise student and faculty Data CATS consultants

• Hold office/consulting hours for students, faculty, and staff to support their courses in statistics, research methods, computing, and data visualization

• Consult and collaborate on projects with students, faculty, staff, and external partners, including Center for Civic Engagement and the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Develop training resources and offer workshops for faculty, staff, and students in the use of modern data science methods

• Contribute to the broader field of data science or data science pedagogy, which may include traditional academic scholarship, non-academic publications, presentations at professional conferences, the development of products (e.g. software tools, dashboards, websites, etc.), program assessment, and/or partnerships with community organizations or businesses

Apply online at http://employment.davidson.edu and attach 1.) a cover letter of application, 2.) a C.V. or resumé, and 3.) a one or two page Statement of Contributions to Inclusivity in Teaching that addresses how your pedagogy is consonant with Davidson’s institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion.  You will include contact information for three references.  We will contact references with instructions on submission only after we have a short-list of candidates, and confirm that step with you.

The cover letter should directly explain how your experience in data science or data science pedagogy have prepared you to 1) teach undergraduates from a broad range of backgrounds and 2) to support the data science needs of students, faculty, and other partners. 

The Statement of Contributions to Inclusivity should describe how you will approach teaching, mentoring, and advising a diverse student body that includes members who are often excluded from data science. Specifically, please answer how your past experiences, knowledge, and/or training inform your answers to the following questions: 

1. What barriers prevent students from feeling welcome and included in data science and from accessing opportunities or resources during their undergraduate education and/or on the job market?  

2. How will you work to alleviate these barriers in your teaching, mentoring, consulting, and/or campus workshops?

Your past experiences and/or training that have contributed to your viewpoints or practices related to diversity, inclusion, and justice could include, but are not limited to, formal and informal teaching and mentoring experiences, education, outreach, and/or lived experiences.  Please note that, while we welcome whatever you choose to share, we do not expect you to reveal any aspects of your identity or disclose personal hardships in this statement (approximately 500-1000 words).

All application materials should be submitted by March 15, 2023. 

Davidson College is a highly selective, residential, four-year liberal arts college, located twenty miles from Charlotte, N.C. The College is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country. At Davidson College, we believe the college grows stronger by recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty and staff committed to building an inclusive community. In order to achieve and sustain educational excellence, we seek to hire talented faculty and staff across the intersections of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, political perspectives, abilities, cultures, and national origins.

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Davidson College seeks out intellectually curious students who are committed to developing their talents for lives of leadership and service.Small classes enable our renowned faculty to work closely with students, engaging them directly in original research and creative work across the arts, sciences, social sciences, and humanities. In the classroom and beyond, Davidson cultivates students' compassion, creativity, resilience, and moral courage.

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