---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stéphane Ducasse <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 5:18 PM
Subject: [Esug-list] Position Vacancy: New Mexico Highlands University
To: ESUG Mailing list <[email protected]>
Position Vacancy
(Subject to funding and program approval)
New Mexico Highlands University plans to offer both an undergraduate (BS)
and graduate (MS) degree in Software-driven Systems Design. The
undergraduate program is in place and State of New Mexico approval of the
graduate program is in its final stages. Final approval during the
legislative session in February 2011 is hoped for but is not guaranteed. If
approval is forthcoming the position will be open as early as summer term
(May 2011) and definitely by fall term (August 2011). If approval is not
obtained (the legislature will be concentrating on economic issues this
session), the dates will slip to May or August 2012.
The position: Visiting Professor, School of Business Administration.
Contract is renewable annually for up to five years.
Compensation: $50,000 - $60,000, depending on qualifications, plus standard
fringe benefits (health, retirement, dental). Additional compensation, from
project work, is possible.
Expected Start Date: May 20th, 2011 or August 15th, 2011.
Qualifications:
• Masters degree in Computer Science (software engineering
specialization), MIS, Informatics or similar degree focused on software
development and systems design.
• Extensive knowledge of Squeak (ideally Pharo), its extensions (e.g.
Seaside), and libraries (CMS, version control, morphic, etc.) plus several
years experience using Squeak to develop commercial or research
applications.
• Demonstrated multi-disciplinary / cross-disciplinary commitment;
e.g. multiple degrees, publications or teaching experience across
disciplinary boundaries, multi-disciplinary honors teaching.
• Demonstrated ability to use a hybrid approach to instruction and
mentoring, combining the use of on-line and in-class resources and
techniques.
• The position does not required full-time residency in New Mexico,
but will require at least 26 weeks of residency (in two to four week
blocks), annually. Full-time residency is highly desirable, but not an
absolute essential.
Expectations: This position is unlike any other academic position, because
of the unique nature of the program it supports. Faculty are expected to
spend up to forty hours a week, while in residence, in the Studio working
with students at all levels, and delivering academic content “on-demand” and
in a highly modular and accelerated fashion. Faculty are expected to define
(and seek grant funding for) research projects and involve students in both
the conduct of the research and co-authoring of publications arising from
the research. Faculty may take on project management responsibilities
(receiving appropriate additional compensation) for commercial projects
underway in the Studio. The program emphasizes the ability to think and to
employ multiple perspectives (systems, object, design, agile, and
computational thinking) and faculty are expected to help students develop
this kind of thinking capability – far more challenging than simply
preparing them to pass a final exam.
Program: This program is unique: in focus, in structure, and in terms of
the demands placed on faculty. The stated goal of the program is to
graduate students as full-participating members of a professional community
dedicated to and capable of using computing and software technology to
analyze and solve the ‘wicked’ problems confronting business enterprises,
communities, and global societies. Graduates will be “modern polymaths”
masters not of all extant knowledge but who have learned and integrated
knowledge from multiple disciplines and domains.
The program is experience-based. All students will spend significant
amounts of time (up to thirty-two hours a week) in a Studio – simultaneously
working on real-world projects for paying customers and learning new subject
matter. Students will work side-by-side- with professionals (acting as
project managers and guarantors of successful delivery) who will provide
tacit knowledge and mentoring. [Faculty members are eligible, and
encouraged, to assume this kind of professional role – for additional
compensation.] The University works with one or more private sector
entities, the latter responsible for contracting and managing projects,
generating sufficient revenues to pay for professionals, student
apprenticeship wages, and program expenses (e.g. travel to conferences).
The program is competency-based (approximately 100 currently defined) and
not course-based. All competencies are defined at seven different levels
(from “understands concepts as evidenced by objective test” to “makes an
original contribution to the community”) and student progress (and
graduation) is based on number of competencies demonstrated at level.
Curricular subject matter is presented in highly modular form (think in
term of one-credit, 16 face-time hours) and utilizes a combination of
on-line and self-paced study, broadcast (e.g. webinar format), and in-class
workshops. Students define iterative and incremental “individual education
plans” every eight weeks and those plans, collectively, defined the
curricular material to be delivered. Knowledge integration and motivation
for learning is provided by the project and studio context in which all
instruction is delivered.
The Studio is a “one-room classroom” – all students, faculty, and
professionals occupy the same room at the same time (much like the ideal
Agile work room or the botegga where Leonardo was an apprentice and later a
Master). Multiple projects are underway, with different groups working on
different projects. The rhythm of the Studio is defined with iterative
cycles, each beginning with a planning session and ending with a
retrospective. Within the cycles are defined, repetitive, periods for
special activities like reader and writer workshops, social activities, and
learning “spikes.”
We would like to provide the students with a comprehensive development tool
and environment – Smalltalk/Squeak – as a foundation for all of their
technical software development learning and activities. The use of a
uniform environment will make it easier to focus on the thinking behind the
technology and the analysis of problems and design of solutions.
When marketplace and technical demands indicate, students will learn
prevailing technologies (ranging from HTML to Java – to relational database)
and new technologies (e.g. non-relational and document databases) as
alternatives to the Smalltalk base. Students will leave with the same level
of expertise and understanding of current mainstream tools and technologies
as graduates of any other CS / MIS program; but they will also have the
underlying foundation made possible with the common tool and environment.
If this kind of radically different program and alternative academic
appointment is of interest, please contact: (Vita is OK, but would prefer a
simple letter explaining why this is of interest to you and a description of
your qualifications.)
Dr. David West [email protected] [email protected]
1-505-231-7233
School of Business Administration, New
Mexico Highlands University
Las Vegas, New Mexico, 87701
_______________________________________________
Esug-list mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.esug.org/mailman/listinfo/esug-list_lists.esug.org
_______________________________________________
Pharo-project mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.gforge.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharo-project
